The audition was daunting, but Jeune drew on the experience and support of Saintus, who had taken him into his home as well as his school. ''Sometimes people make you believe that just because you are Haitian you cannot do anything good,'' Jeune says. 'But Jeanguy Saintus, my mentor, he always made me believe in myself. He would always say `Just because you are from this place doesn't mean you can't do anything.' I was, of course, intimidated, but I said 'I'm just going to dance and show them what I can do.' ''

He immediately won a full scholarship. ''He was born to dance. We all saw that,'' says Daniel Lewis, dean of New World's dance department. ``He was a wild maniac in movement. If you put him in a classroom, he took up all the space.''

But the obstacles were as visible as Jeune's talent. He was older than the other students, who had years of formal training he lacked. He was on his own in a strange country, at a highly demanding conservatory.

''He had a raw beautiful way of moving with absolutely no technique,'' Lewis says. ``He didn't know how to relate to everyone else. He'd been out there a long time on his own, and he had that personality where you're out for yourself, you're gonna get what you need out of life. But he came through in the end really well. It's not a transition everyone can make.''

Jeune's scholarship did not allow him to take a job, and though he had a series of sponsors, he was broke and often hungry. Sometimes he missed class because he didn't have bus fare or went days without food. ''I had to get to class, because if I didn't I would lose my scholarship,'' he says. 'Sometimes I would worry: `Would I survive the next day? Would I graduate?' ''

EVER THE OPTIMIST

But his doubts didn't affect his dancing.

''He's not afraid to do anything, and he doesn't hold back,'' says Natalie Rogers, assistant to famed modern dance choreographer Garth Fagan, who rehearsed Jeune in a Fagan work at New World. ''It's very important as a dancer to have a sense of self. Who you are comes out very clearly when you're a performer.'' Fagan was so impressed by Jeune that he helped pay his living expenses and invited him to join his company.

With its glitzy pop style, So You Think You Can Dance seems an unlikely destination for Jeune. He auditioned in Miami in February ''just to have fun,'' and was one of 20 contestants selected from thousands of hopefuls. The dancers are divided into couples -- Jeune's partner is Asuka Kondoh, a Latin ballroom dancer from San Francisco. The couples perform a new routine on each Wednesday night's show.The audience votes, and the lowest-rated couple is eliminated on the air on Thursdays. The single winner on Aug. 6 takes home $250,000. A few contestants from previous seasons have gone on to Dancing With the Stars.

Jeune's teachers hope he'll follow a less-commercial route. ''He's better than what they're putting on the show,'' Lewis says. ``The show is fun, not art. He's an artist.''

Jeune seems not to know what he'll do next. He's said he hopes to choreograph, to tour, to work as an actor, to help orphaned children who struggle like he once did. But he seems confident that, win or lose, things will go well.

''Only one person will win this prize,'' he says. ``So I'm just gonna be myself, and whatever happens, happens.''

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