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Dancer And Choreographer Tony Testa Talks About His Career With Dance Site Jigtv.Com
Feb 21st
(March 5, 2009âDenver, CO) Taking some time from his busy schedule of working with professional musicians and dancers, choreographer Tony Testa sat down to talk with JigTV.com about his career, which started at the young age of 14. Since then he has performed with the likes of Aaron Carter, Janet Jackson, and Britney Spears.
As part of JigTV’s professional dancer interviews, Tony talked about how first gig was with Tap Kids, an off-Broadway production directed by Lisa Hopkins, during which he made some good friends and had his first experience touring. Tap Kids toured on the weekends, he said, leaving time during the week for school, baseball, and wrestling.
At the age of 16, Tony Testa was taking a dance class with Brian Friedman, another choreographer featured on JigTV, when Brian asked him to perform in a show he was choreographing for Aaron Carter. Shortly after that, he put together a choreography reel before moving to Los Angeles. Tony highly recommends putting together a choreography reel so that people can show studios what they can do, even if choreography isn’t their strongest point. People looking for dancers need to know what they can do, and a choreography reel is the best way to show them.
In addition to taking dance classes, Tony emphasizes the importance of networking and knowing the right people, but says it has to be for the right motives. “If you’re obviously trying to network just for money purposes, people can see through that,” he says, but adds that he has found that as long as you do what you love, are true to yourself, and do what you do best, people will seek you out.
As proof of the success of these efforts, when Tony was 18 he got a call from Janet Jackson’s director, who had seen his choreography reel and wanted him to audition for Janet’s show. He got the position of junior choreographer to work under the director and another professional choreographer. “I was beyond intimidated!” Tony said. He had never worked with other choreographers before, so that job helped him learn a lot.
Recently, Tony performed with Britney during MTV’s Video Music Awards. He and the others dancers rehearsed for three weeks, and he was very satisfied with the performance.
To view the full interview with Tony Testa, visit JigTV.com.
Dancer Suzi Taylor Talks To Social Dance Site Jigtv.Com About Her Life As A Professional Dancer
Feb 9th
Professional dancer Suzi Taylor recently sat down for an interview with JigTV.com to offer insight into her life and career as well as pointers for aspiring dancers.
As an internationally renowned choreographer and dancer, Suzi Taylor has worked with some of the biggest organizations in dance today, such as the New York City Dance Alliance and Steps on Broadway. In her exclusive JigTV.com interview, she delves into a bevy of topics surrounding the modern world of dance.
Chelsea Latimer, host of the online dance community\’s interview series – which also provides online video dance classes with top dancers and choreographers – talks with Suzi about her background, what she has learned from her students, her recovery from double hip replacements, and what common mistakes new dancers can avoid.
Suzi\’s main piece of advice for dancers worldwide is to discover \”secondary talents.\” \”The hip replacements I had made me realize I had to rely on other strengths,\” she tells JigTV.com. \”You can adapt so much even when you lose strengths.\” JigTV.com agrees with the concept of capitalizing on new strengths and provides users with opportunities to learn dance from a long and varied list of famous choreographers, including Bryan Tanaka, Blake McGrath, Tony Testa, and Galen Hooks. JigTV.com also provides video blogs posted by pro dances, video classes, how-to guides, and other information that gives users the chance to continually learn from the best of the dance world.
To view the entire interview, check out JigTV.com.
