Series / The Next Step

The Next Step is a live-action Canadian drama series on Family Channel. It tells the story of the Next Step studio's dancers training to win Regionals for the first time in 10 years. The studio has three troupes: J-Troupe, for junior dancers; B-Troupe, for amateur dancers, and A-Troupe, for professional dancers. Tension starts when the new girl, Michelle, shows up and Emily, the dance captain, becomes threatened by her. This jealousy could get in the way of the dancers focusing on their top priority of teamwork and winning Regionals.

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This series provides examples of:

• Accidental Misnaming: Luther Brown calls West "Southside." West even references the fact that his name is not hard to get, but, is flattered nonetheless.
• Adults Are Useless: Throughout the seasons, the adult studio owners of The Next Step relinquish most of the control to the teenaged dancers on the team which contributes to the massive amount of drama that takes place at the studio. Most notably seen in Season 2 with Kate, when she makes Amanda the dance captain of A-Troupe, oblivious to the fact that she's The Mole who's still on their rival team and trying to take the studio down from the inside.
• A Lady on Each Arm: Subverted in Season 5, when Eldon cuts in the middle of Michelle and Emily's dance during the studio prom. He reminisces about how he was romantically involved with both of them at the same time, only to have both girls pull away and continue dancing as a duo.
• Aloof Big Sister: During Season 1, Emily gains this attitude towards Riley after she calls Emily out in front of the entire studio, announcing that Emily did not give Kate and Chris any input on the dance positions for their routine for Regionals, and says that Michelle should not be in the back row.
• Alpha Bitch:
  • Throughout Season 1, Emily exhibits this.
  • Moreso than Emily, Amanda exhibits this from Season 1 to late Season 2.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Giselle in the episode "First Date" after she makes it into A-Troupe to replace Emily, who left the studio for Elite.
  • Noah in Season 3.
  • Richelle and Skylar in Season 4.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other:
  • James and Riley in the episodes "First Date," "We Are Family," and "Game On."
• Backstabbing the Alpha Bitch:
  • This is how Stephanie views Tiffany voting for Michelle to be the new dance captain instead of Emily.
  • Chloe, West, Daniel, Michelle, Riley, and James do this in creating a dance routine behind Emily's back in order to dethrone her as dance captain.
• Beta Bitch: Stephanie during Season 1.
• Better as Friends: As of the episode "Hazy Shade of Winter" Hunter just wants to be friends with Michelle shortly after telling her that he wants to be with Emily.
  • Emily and West come to this in the episode "Coming Home".
• Birds of a Feather: Eldon and Thalia.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Amanda in Season 2.
• Bittersweet Ending:
  • In "Sabotage" Michelle becomes the new dance captain, leaving Emily betrayed and in tears. Due to failing his math exam, James will be pulled from the studio.
  • "Game On" ends with James having hope of getting back together with Riley and Riley in turn realizes how much she misses James. Meanwhile, Emily has to risk getting her peers to hate her again, as part of a plan to get Amanda kicked out of the studio after realizing that she's The Mole.
  • "What Dreamers Do" ends with The Next Step winning Nationals, only to later find out that they're being evicted from their studio. This episode ends with Lucien giving Kate a proposition: his studio, Elite, merges with The Next Step.
  • Although A-Troupe wins Internationals at the end of "How It Ends," Riley and Eldon are left wondering what happens now that the team has won it all.
  • "No Good Deed," ends with Amy getting back onto A-Troupe, but at the cost of Piper's spot.
• Break the Cutie:
  • In the episode "Can you Keep a Secret," Michelle finds out about Chloe's job when she sees her on the bus, and agrees to keep the job a secret by Chloe's request. Yet, because of her job, which causes her to arrive late and leave early, Chloe is met with displeasure and is believed to be undedicated. One day, Chloe ends up having to leave before solo dance auditions and returns up after they end. Because of this, Emily completely downgrades her about it, telling her that she deserves to be in B-Troupe. Chloe ends up running out of the studio, crying. Poor girl.
  • Unfortunately, Emily's mistreatment of Chloe continues through to Season 2 when she isolates herself from the team in order to gain Amanda's trust.
  Chloe: You're just gonna let [Riley] leave like that? You should go help her.
  Emily: Help her? Maybe I should help you pay for your classes.
  • This escalates to the point that Emily is forced to help Amanda frame Chloe for robbery, causing Kate to pin the blame on the latter girl. Chloe is driven to tears.
• Both Sides Have a Point: What leads to Michelle and Emily finally burying the hatchet in season 5. While Emily being hostile towards Michelle for her being given seemingly special treatment compared to Emily’s Hard Work Hardly Works, Michelle has had to sacrifice her home life and focused whole heartedly on dancing, contrasting Emily managing to maintain a normal life (beyond the brief alienation of Riley)
  • Break the Haughty: Emily goes through this when she loses her captaincy to Michelle. Needless to say, Emily feels betrayed and becomes absolutely mortified.
• British Stuffiness: Inverted with Ella.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Phoebe.
• But Not Too Gay: In Season 4, Nick and Ben are introduced as a gay couple. Although, the most physical interaction between the two is a mere pat on the back. Meanwhile, almost every canon pairing (of which are all heterosexual) have shared at least one kiss.
  • The people behind the series have claimed that the lack of physical affection between Nick and Ben has little to do with the common belief that a gay couple is inappropriate for a children's show, but rather the discomfort of the actors.
• Casting Gag: It is widely acknowledged, even by the show runners themselves, that many of the characters have storylines that relate to their actors' real lives. For example:
  • Alfie is Swiss. His actor, Giuseppe Bausilio, is Swiss as well.
  • On the show, Thalia is revealed to have a Polish mother and be fluent in Polish, both of which apply to her actress, Taveeta Szymanowicz.
  • Sloane is proclaimed to be French and speak French, both of which apply to her actress Erika Prevost, who is half French-Canadian.
  • Cierra and Skylar, played by Cierra and Skylar Healey respectively, play sisters on the show and are sisters in real life.
• Celebrity Star:
  • Canadian band Brighter Brightest makes an appearance "Video Killed the Radio Star."
  • Canadian dancer, Stacey Tookey appears throughout the Regionals competition in Season 1.
  • World-renowned choreographer, Luther Brown appears in "Run This Town" to assist in the boys' small group choreography.
  • Tre Armstrong appears throughout the Nationals competition in Season 2.
  • Ballet dancer, Sonia Rodrigues is the auditioner for The Nutcracker in "The Nutcracker Prince."
  • Ashley Leggat appears throughout the Internationals competition in Season 3.
• Control Freak: Emily during Season 1
• Changed My Mind, Kid: When Emily is injured during Nationals, the Darkest Hour falls upon the team as they don't have enough dancers to compete in the final round. When they're about to forfeit on these grounds, Amanda decides to dance in Emily's place despite attempting to take down The Next Step all season.
• Character Development:
  • Michelle starts off as the Naïve Everygirl and Shrinking Violet, but yet becomes more assertive and confident as time progresses.
  • Eldon becomes less awkward and delusional about being with Emily. Eventually, Eldon enters a serious relationship with Thalia.
  • There's also Emily, who Took a Level in Kindness towards Eldon, Riley, and even Michelle, and improves her own mindset based on advice given to her from Eldon so she can improve on her dancing as well as grow confident in herself.
  • Stephanie starts off as a bossy, rude, and snarky girl who isn't very accepting of change, yet becomes nicer and friendlier towards the other dancers as the series goes on, while still retaining her snarkiness.
  • Amanda starts off as a genuinely mean and Draconian dance captain, only to later become a mole with her sole intention to be to ensure that her rival team fails. Amanda eventually becomes aware of her vindictive nature and attempts to become a better individual, of which she ultimately does become. Amanda even references that she used to be very mean, but is now a "big old softie.".
• Childhood Friends:
  • Richelle and Noah.
  • Giselle and Daniel.
  • LaTroy and Sloane.
• Childhood Friend Romance:
  • Richelle develops a crush on Noah, who she has been best friends with since they were in J-Troupe.
  • Sloane develops feelings for LaTroy. She even admits that she cannot pinpoint the exact time when she began liking him, but that it feels like she has for a long time.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander:
  • West and Phoebe fall under this the most.
  • Beth exhibits this as well.
  • Thalia is later revealed to have shades of this.
• Color Motif:
  • Elite Dance Academy is distinguished by the black and white colored clothing and uniforms they wear, making them appear colder and more robotic. This is lampshaded by Emily:
  Emily: I mean are you really that unoriginal? Can you not dress yourself?
  • More specifically, Amanda is seen solely in black and white for the entirety of Season 1 excluding Elite's finale costumes. In Season 2, dark purple and accents of color work their way into her wardrobe although her dancewear remains purely black and white, a sign that she is The Mole. By the end of the season, Amanda adorns The Next Step's uniform in a white wall sequence to represent that she's officially become reformed. In Season 3 purple dominates her wardrobe signifying that she's now a good guy, and in Season 4 she wears a variety of colours such as blue, orange, and pink.
• Defector from Decadence: Chloe eventually leaves the E-Girls and becomes a part of a group that has created a secret routine to dethrone Emily as dance captain due to becoming tired of Emily's ill-treatment of her.
  • Amanda leaves due to growing tired of Elite resorting to cheating in order to win against The Next Step.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • This happens to Giselle after she is demoted to B-Troupe.
  • This happens to both Tiffany and Stephanie in Season 2, when they are demoted to B-Troupe.
• Despair Event Horizon:
  • This happens to Emily after having her dance captaincy taken away in "Sabotage."
  • This happens to Michelle at the end of "Hazy Shade of Winter" and at the beginning of the episode "Game On" to the point where she leaves The Next Step.
• Determinator: Nearly every character in the series falls into this.
• Did You Get a New Haircut?: When Riley gets her braces off, she is determined to have everybody notice the change, although nobody can seem to guess that she got her braces off and she is instead met with a series of guesses that are incorrect, such as having gotten a new haircut, or being happy because she is wearing a tropical shirt. Eventually, Michelle figures it out.
  Riley: Notice anything different about me?
  Cierra: Well, you seem very happy.
  Riley: Yes, yes! And why would that be?
  Cierra: You won the lottery.
  Riley: No, no. Uh... but try again!
  Skylar: Your shirt! It's, like, islands. It's a choice.
  Cierra: The hair! It's the hair.
• Disproportionate Retribution: While Amanda certainly isn't innocent; she attempts to get rid of costumes to ruin The Next Step's chances at Nationals and robs the studio, to scratch the surface of her deeds, she pays for her actions long after she becomes reformed. Kate is the person who instigates this the most, seemingly unable to forgive her for what she did to her studio. She makes Amanda an alternate for Internationals while calling her the weakest dancer, sends her on an exchange program to Sweden after Amanda makes it clear she does not want to go and even finds someone else who does, and is angry when she auditions for a touring company despite being proud of Chloe when she seizes the same opportunity. Amanda makes note of this unfair treatment in the Season 4 episode "Welcome to the Jungle":
  Amanda: I can't really say I'm upset that Miss Kate is leaving... I just hope the next studio head is more reasonable.
• Don't Split Us Up: Cierra and Skylar make a pact that if one of them makes it onto A-Troupe and the other doesn't, neither of them will be on the troupe. When Skylar makes it onto A-Troupe and Cierra doesn't, Skylar decides to stay in the troupe, much to Cierra's chagrin.
• Downer Ending:
  • In "Changes," Emily still has a grudge against Riley for being a part of the group responsible for overthrowing her as dance captain. When Riley tries to speak to her, Emily outright says that she doesn't even think of her as a sister.
  • "Break Stuff" ends with Daniel spraining his ankle, thus disallowing him from dancing at Regionals.
  • In "It Takes Two", Riley catches Beth kissing James and runs away, crying and questioning her relationship with him.
  • "What I'll Do" has James successfully convince Riley that his kiss with Beth meant nothing and that he still loves her, only for it to fail one once Riley sees Beth enter the room, causing her to break up James.
  • "Hazy Shade of Winter" ends with Michelle deciding to leave the Next Step.
  • "Sacrifice" ends with Amanda telling Emily that she has to break up with Hunter to prove her loyalty to her.
  • "Heartbreaker" ends with Amanda forcing Emily to break up with Hunter so that she could prove her loyalty to her.
  • "Better Than This" ends with A-Troupe attending Michelle's debate to convince her to re-join the Next Step. Unfortunately, Michelle refuses.
  • "Under Pressure" ends with Emily being suspended from The Next Step, after being framed for stealing the studio's money for Nationals by Amanda.
  • "You Love Me" ends with it appearing as though the team will be unable to compete in the finals due to Emily's injury.
  • "The Times They Are A Changin'" ends with Emily bidding a farewell to the Next Step, as she won't be able to dance due to her sprained knee.
  • "She's Not You" ends with Lucien being revealed to be the judge of the final round of Internationals.
  • "Simple Twist of Fate" ends with A-Troupe not qualifying for Regionals.
• "How Deep Is Your Love" ends with Noah receiving a premature call from the doctor's office which states that Noah needs immediate back surgery from which he may never recover.
  • "Heat of the Moment" ends with Piper witnessing Riley kissing Alfie and, thus, cheating on James, her older brother.
  • "Karma Police" ends with Riley breaking up with James.
• Dramatic Irony: In the Season 2 episode "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better", Amanda dramatically reveals to the audience that she is still at Elite in talking heads, information that she's been hiding in an attempt to gain The Next Step's trust and take their studio down.
• Dream Sequence: In "Love Will Tear Us Apart," Riley dreams of kissing Alfie.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: "Just Dance" ends with James successfully convincing Michelle to return to The Next Step and getting back together with Riley.
• Establishing Character Moment: When Phoebe is first introduced, she performs an interpretive dance that dutifully establishes how zany she is.
• Everybody Hates Mathematics: James struggles with math throughout Season 1 and his mother, Deborah, even references the fact that unless he leaves the studio, he will never pay attention to his math work, as nobody likes math.
  Deborah:James will do what he always does, which is find something more fun to do than math. And that's not hard, root canals at the dentist are more fun than math!
• Evolving Credits: Each season of the show has opening credits with different people in them.
  • There are multiple opening credits for Season 3, as there are many character departures.
  • Season 4's opening credits feature completely different effects and designs from past credits.
• Fake Defector: In Season 2, Amanda, joins The Next Step in order to prevent the studio from winning Nationals, all while still being a part of Elite.
• Fangirl: Riley is revealed to be one towards the band BrighterBrightest in the episode "Radio Killed the Radio Star".
• First Kiss: Emily kisses Eldon in the first episode of Season 1.5 after she's seen sitting by herself for the second time and Eldon comforts her.
  • In the episode "First Date", Riley and James share their first kiss on their first date.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In the Season 1 episode "Fancy Footwork", Riley asks if her hairpiece is in tight enough while preparing to compete. It apparently wasn't, since it falls out during the performance which causes The Next Step to lose the round.
  • In the Season 2 episode "Sacrifice", Kate chooses Giselle, Thalia and Amanda to compete in a local trio competition. Amanda comments that it will be strange competing against her own team, but it doesn't matter because she'll win either way. This foreshadows the fact that she would rather win than compete with her team, which is what happens when she takes Emily's place on The Next Step's finale dance and wins Nationals.
• Frame-Up: Zigzagged. Originally, Amanda steals the lockbox money in order to frame Chloe, an innocent party. Emily, who is faking allieship with Amanda in order to prove that she is The Mole does not want Chloe to take the blame, and so interferes with Amanda's trap to frame her instead, the true guilty party. However, Amanda figures out where Emily's real loyalties stand and she's the one who ends up getting framed in the end.
• Friend Versus Lover: Sloane falls for her best friend, LaTroy. Although, LaTroy does not like her back and develops a relationship with her other friend, Amy. As a result, Sloane falls out with both LaTroy and Amy. Sloane later makes up with Amy and attempts to make up with LaTroy.
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • Emily exhibits this toward Michelle in Season 1.
  • Hunter becomes this to Eldon, once he finds out that Michelle is with Eldon.
  • In Season 2, Riley exhibits this attitude towards Beth, one of James's ex-girlfriends.
• Girl Posse:
  • The E-Girls until their disbandment.
  • The Zero Percent Club
• Guardian Angel: Margie is implied to be this to Chloe in "Do The Right Thing."
• As of Season 3, Amanda ends up joining The Next Step for real.
• Lily and Angela become reformed in Season 7.
• Heel Realization: Daniel experiences this in "I Hope I Get It" after Stephanie is chosen over him to be the member of A-Troupe to replace Chloe.
• Hidden Depths:
  • In Season 1, Stephanie decides that she wants to become a triple threat.
  • Since Chloe's father lost his job, she has to juggle two jobs and dance in order to pay for the latter. Because of this, she often leaves the rehearsal early or arrives late, yet she is too embarrassed to tell the other dancers about it.
  • During the auditions for a solo spot in the Regionals routine, Daniel tweaks his ankle, causing a previous injury to return, yet he hides this so he can keep his solo.
  • Emily reveals that she isn't very confident about her own dancing, which is why she does not incorporate her peers' moves into her routine; she simply cannot do them.
  • During the recap episode, Riley questions whether or not coming up with the plan to overthrow Emily as Dance Captain was a good idea, since it practically destroyed her relationship with her sister.
  • West is full of this all throughout Season 2:
    • For instance, he enjoys slipping dollar bills into library books and grows a fondness for Emily despite Emily thinking of herself as horrible to be around.
  • Zara reveals herself to be a mathlete.
• Hypocrite: In "Hazy Shade of Winter," Michelle confronts Emily after seeing her kiss her ex-boyfriend, Hunter, claiming it to be an act of disregard for the history she had history with with him. Although, a season ago, it was Michelle who was crushing on and seeking out Eldon even though Emily was still in a relationship with him. Thankfully, Emily points this out, making Michelle realize that she herself isn't any better.
• I Have Brothers: After Ella displays expertise in sports and other boy-ish activities, she explains that she has five older brothers.
• If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: In order to prove her loyalty, Amanda tells Emily she must break up with her boyfriend Hunter. Albeit asking for another task at first, she does eventually complete this assignment and becomes allies with Amanda.
• Important Haircut: Riley sports short hair from Season 2, onward.
• Informed Ability: Emily is noticeably not as strong a dancer as the rest of the cast, but other characters are frequently impressed by her talent.
  Chloe: Her flexibility is insane!
• It's All About Me:
  • Emily states that "E-Girls" really just stands for "Emily Girls," while the other members just think it's because all of them have an "ee" sound to the ends of their first names (minus Giselle).
  • Emily states that she thinks of the studio as an "Emilyocracy."
  • As the show progresses, this trope applies most to Michelle, who regularly brags about being the best dancer or complaining about her life.
• It's All My Fault: Riley says a variation of this in the re-cap episode of Season 1, as she feels completely responsible for destroying her relationship with Emily.
• It's a Wonderful Plot : The Season 7 Christmas Special is very reminiscent of the Christmas movie.
• I Told You So: Emily says this to Riley right after revealing to her that Amanda is The Mole.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Near the end of the episode "Heartbreaker," Beth exhibits this in backing off of James once she realizes that James loves Riley more than he loves her.
• The Prankster:
  • Ella is the largest example of this.
  • James exhibits this on occasion.
  • Once she befriends Ella, Riley begins to exhibit this.
• Ladykiller in Love: James, who falls in love with Riley.
• Laughably Evil: Lucien is the comedic antagonist who owns The Next Step's rival dance studio Elite Dance Academy and engages in activities such as imitating a poor French accent solely to annoy Kate.
• Leaningonthe Fourth Wall: James states in a Confession Cam that he could see Stephanie being on television.
• "L" Is for "Dyslexia": Jude's dyslexia causes her to struggle with learing choreography which causes her to fail in the alternate auditions
• Long-Distance Relationship: This occurs when James moves to England for a hip-hop competition, leaving Riley at the studio.
• Love Triangle:
  • There's a Love Triangle between Michelle, Emily, and Eldon.
  • There's a Love Triangle between Beth, James, and Riley.
  • There's a Love Triangle between Hunter, Eldon, and Michelle which officially ends after Hunter reveals that he wants to be with Emily as of the episode "Hazy Shade of Winter".
  • A Love Triangle later develops between LaTroy, Amy, and Sloane.
• Manipulative Bitch:
  • Emily, Stephanie and Tiffany exhibits this until Season 1.5 and Season 2.
  • Amanda is this even moreso than Emily was, especially during Season 2.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: Eldon has claimed many-a-time to have multiple brothers.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal:
  • Happens to Chloe in Season 1 when she gets yelled at one too many times by Emily, and defects to Michelle's side in order to replace the former as dance captain.
  • In Season 2, Amanda chooses to switch allegiances when her team fails to encourage or stand with her after losing her round at Nationals and placing third in the overalls.
  Amanda: Lucien, and the rest of the Elite team... don't give me the time of day. Especially when I need their support the most.
• Morality Pet: In Season 1.5, Eldon becomes this towards Emily.
• Motivational Lie: In-Universe. To quell Noah's fear of kissing her for the first time, Amanda lies that she already kissed him while he was under anesthetic. Thankfully, she was lying.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • During earlier Season 1.5, Riley feels guilt for being a part of taking away Emily's captaincy, thus destroying her relationship with her.
  • During episode 13 Season 1, Eldon confesses his love for Emily (complete with a radio and cue cards) in front of the entire studio, which makes Emily feel embarrassed to the point where she tears apart one of the cue cards and says that she'll never be his girlfriend. This causes Eldon to walk away from Studio A, feeling heartbroken. Later in the episode, it's revealed that Emily feels guilty for what she did.
• Oblivious to Love:
  • Prior to the episode "It's My Party," Abi, a B-Troupe dancer, is oblivious to Noah's crush on her.
  • Noah is blissfully unaware of Richelle's crush on him.
  • LaTroy does not know that Sloane likes him in fact, it is Henry who has to tell him as much.
• Odd Couple: Amanda and Noah.
• Odd Name Out: The E-Girls clique is made up of girls whose names all end in the sound "ee": Emily, Stephanie, Tiffany, Riley, later, Chloe.... and Giselle. To compensate, Giselle gained the nickname 'Ellie'... but the nickname was not enough to save her from being ousted from the group once she was demoted to B-Troupe.
• Only One Name: Applies to all of the show's characters, except for guest stars, Chuck Anderson, Lisa Thompson and, later, West and Giselle.
• Out of Focus: Mostly avoided in the first season, but as the show progresses there is an increasing number of characters who contribute very little to the plot despite being on the team. Max, Cassie, Heather and Kenzie are examples of characters who are easily forgotten about due to their lack of relevance to the story. This is a symptom of the show's own shift to focusing on individual character interactions rather than focusing on the team as a whole.
• Pieinthe Face: Eldon smashes a whole cake into Hunter's face in "Sacrifice."
• Properly Paranoid: Emily is suspicious of Amanda when she becomes a part of The Next Step.
• Poverty for Comedy: In Season 2, James must find a four-leaf clover for Riley as a task to get back together with her. Originally meaning to enlist the help of the baby ballet class, James offers 100$ to whoever can find him one. While young children don't care about money, their teacher, Chloe, does. She runs out of the room to start her search, the implication being that she really needs the money. It's even more (comedically) heartbreaking when she returns with the four-leaf clover to find that James got one elsewhere...
• Pun-Based Title: The Season 6 episode "No Shell" centers around the characters of Noah and Richelle. "Nochelle" is the name of their relationship in fanon.
• Put on a Bus:
  • Happens to Chris after he leaves The Next Step to become choreographer of a rival studio, Superstar Dance Academy.
  • Happens to Stephanie and Tiffany after being demoted to B-Troupe in Season 2.
  • Daniel after leaving the Next Step studio.
  • This happens to Chloe after she accepts a role in "The Nutcracker," and is, thus, replaced by Stephanie.
  • Max leaves A-Troupe to attend university.
  • Thalia is invited to dance at Wojdan Dance Academy and leaves the team.
  • Stephanie makes her exit to pursue her dream of becoming an actress.
  • Cassie and Alfie are both written out of Season 5, the reason for their absence left unexplained.
  • Skylar fails her A-Troup audition and leaves to take a spot on Gemini Dance Studio's team, subsequently becoming the dance captain there.
• Put on a Bus to Hell: While arguably through no fault of her own, Amanda suffers this fate when she is kicked off of the Regionals dance by Riley in Season 4, left betrayed and unable to compete in the finals. After this, she is written out of the show completely and her exit is only mentioned on the interlude mini-season, "The Off Season: Season 1".
• Suddenly Ethnicity: This occurs when Thalia reveals that her mother is Polish and that she can, therefore, speak Polish, leaving her peers shocked and amazed.
• The Fake Cutie: Invoked by Amanda to gain the trust of the A-Troupe members while she's still at Elite. Exemples include the Season 2 episode "Sing" when Amanda claims she is nervous to audition for James' band while stating in talking heads that joining will be good for her cover and she will be able to use their trust to her advantage in taking down The Next Step, and in the Season 2 episode "Heartbreaker" when Amanda greets Hunter in a sweet voice before immediately turning to Emily and berating her for not having broken up with him yet.
• The Mole: Amanda.
• The Quiet One: Max.
• The Rival:
  • Elite and, later, Gemini, is this to The Next Step.
  • Hunter and Eldon become this to each other in Season 2 but eventually become friends in "Sacrifice."
  • In Season 3, Shantel, a dancer originally from Elite, is this to Giselle.
• "Reason You Suck" Speech: Michelle delivers one to Emily during the Season 1 finale after Emily tells Kate that some of the dancers have come up with their own choreography behind her back.
  Michelle:Emily is a horrible dance captain! You're bossy, you're rude, you yell at people, you don't include anyone's ideas! You make us not even wanna dance! A good dance captain doesn't tear the team apart.
• Trademark Favorite Food: James has an undying and highly referenced love for shawarma.
• Rebel Prince: Alfie.
• Redemption Demotion : Amanda earns her redemption in Season 3, but is now informed by Kate that she is one of the weakest dancers on the team and is made an alternate.
• Relationship Upgrade:
  • Emily gains a crush on Eldon and they eventually become an Official Couple.
  • Happens to James and Riley after their first date.
• Reformed, but Rejected: James and Eldon have this initial attitude towards Hunter once he tells them that he wants to become friends.
  • Despite Amanda making A-Troupe in Season 2, Emily does not believe that she's changed from her old ways. Turns out, she was right all along.
  • Michelle initially has this attitude towards Amanda in Season 3.
  • Lily is initially rejected by the team at the beginning of Season 7.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Shantel quits the Next Step after Giselle is chosen to be the new dance captain over her in "I'm Your Captain."
• Secret-Keeper: After her father lost his job, Chloe got one in order to pay for dance. Too embarrassed to tell her wealthier comrades, Chloe keeps this a secret for most of Season 1.
• Shout-Out: Almost every episode title of the series is named after a title of a song, most of which were popular at some point.
• Spin-Off:
  • Taking The Next Step, a reality series produced for CBBC that sought to find a young British dancer to appear on the show as a guest star.
  • Lost and Found Music Studios, a series created by Family that is set in the same universe as The Next Step, in a music studio just down the hall from the dance studio.
• Take a Third Option: In Season 1, the dancers are assigned duets. Naturally, Eldon agrees to being both Michelle and Emily's partner, leaving Chloe without one. After being told to so by James, Eldon ultimately picks Chloe to be his duet partner and performs a flawless duet with her. How this is possible when they had not rehearsed a routine prior, God alone knows.
• Teacher/Student Romance: Riley and Alfie in Season 4.
• Team Mom: Kate is this to the dancers of the studio, especially Emily and Stephanie.
• Technician Versus Performer: In Season 5, TNS East are the technicians, and TNS West are the performers. This is frequently commented on by the characters, who interpret "technique" as meaning only ballet and contemporary, despite hip hop (TNS West's specialty) also requiring very specific technique.
• Terrible Trio: Emily, Stephanie and Tiffany become this later on in Season 1.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Daniel "Old Friends" and from "Game, Set, Match" to "I Hope I Get It."
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • Emily towards Eldon during and, later, Michelle.
  • Stephanie towards Michelle when Michelle lets her return to the studio after she was rejected by Elite.
• Tsundere: Emily is a Tsundere throughout Season 1 towards Eldon
• Undercover as Lovers: Hunter and Emily pretend to like each other in order to get Michelle and Eldon jealous.
• Undying Loyalty: Stephanie towards Emily.
  • Tiffany also has this towards Stephanie.
• Unknown Rival: During the majority of Season 1, Michelle is unaware that Emily is threatened. Eventually, Michelle catches on.
  • Emily does not realize that Amanda does not trust her in Season 2, until Amanda frames her for stealing the Regionals money.
  • Beth is most likely unaware of Riley's dislike for her.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension:
  • This is the bane of Thalia and Eldon's relationship in Season 3. While the two clearly like each other, to the point that even J-Trouper, Noah, is aware, Thalia and Eldon are not allowed to act upon their feelings because... James doesn't want them to? Huh.
• Useless Security Camera: A security camera is located in the Closet in the Music Room. Although, the footage from this camera is never used when attempting to find out who stole the Nationals costumes.
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • In Season 2, Amanda steals money from The Next Step, initially to frame Chloe but pivoting to frame Emily, for robbery in order to get her kicked off of A-Troupe. She succeeds in this goal, planting the lockbox key on Emily but keeping the money for herself. She's eventually found to be the true culprit in the episode "Just Dance" when Chloe and Riley watch her pay for juice using a bill found in the lockbox. They ultimately kick her off of the team, but nothing else is said about the money she stole: not even after she is reformed.
  • The dance captain diary is a secret book owned by many (but not all) of the dance captains that have ever been appointed at The Next Step in order for their predecessors to read their advice. It is passed from Emily to Richelle, Richelle to Giselle, Giselle back to Emily, who finally gives it to Skylar when she becomes the dance captain in Season 4. After this, there is no mention of the diary again and Skylar doesn't pass her A-Troupe audition and leaves for Gemini Dance Studio. Ironically enough, it's Emily who cuts Skylar from A-Troupe and we don't see her ask for the diary back.
• Where da White Women At?: Every single black male character on the show who has been in a relationship/has developed a crush, has done so with a white female character.
• Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Despite the clear shots of Toronto throughout the episodes, considerable footage of the Canadian flag, and almost every character being from Canada, the series' characters have never said that they are in Toronto nor Canada.
  • The showrunners have claimed that this is a result of the unwillingness of isolating viewers who are from other countries, seeing as the series has a large following outside of Canada.
  • There have been planned scenes in which characters say they are in Canada, although they have all been cut, allegedly because of time restraints.
  • Particularly egregious during Internationals, when all the other teams except The Next Step are referred to by their country's name.
• Working with the Ex: This is an inevitable trope, as all the dancers who date and break up are members of the same dance studio.
• Why Did It Have To Be Children/Chicken?:
  • For an unknown reason, Chloe has a fear of children, as revealed in the episode "Steal My Sunshine."
  • After being attacked by one as a child, Riley has an ongoing fear of chicken, as revealed in "Bad Moon Rising."