Melvin Shane Sparks (born June 25, 1969) is an American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

best known for his work as a

on ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...

'' and judge on ''

America's Best Dance Crew ''America's Best Dance Crew'', often abbreviated as ''ABDC'', is an American competitive dance reality television series featuring both national and international dance crews. The show was produced by singer, record producer, and former ''Ameri ...

''.

Early life

Sparks was born on June 25, 1969, in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. He is the youngest of three children born to Melvin and Wanda Sparks, both police officers. Sparks spent some time in the hospital after his birth due to

scoliosis Scoliosis (: scolioses) is a condition in which a person's Vertebral column, spine has an irregular curve in the coronal plane. The curve is usually S- or C-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others ...

. Sparks became interested in dance at the age of 11 when he started performing in talent shows. His interest in teaching became apparent when he started offering dance lessons from his own backyard. Dance became extremely important to Sparks after his sister's boyfriend was murdered, as it became a way for him to escape and feel safe.

Career

Dance career

In 1993, Sparks moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Three months after his move, he was offered a chance to substitute a hip-hop class at the Millennium Dance Complex, formerly known as Moro Landis, located in the North Hollywood Arts District. He soon became an assistant for this hip-hop class. When the teacher left, he took over the whole class. Due to his skill as a teacher and dancer, his class expanded from only three people to a record high of 175 people.

''So You Think You Can Dance''

Sparks is best known for being one of the judges and choreographers on the reality dance competition, ''

''. According to ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'', Gaynor accepted the role. The show features a broad variety of American and international dance styles including classical, contemporary, ballroom, hip-hop, street, club, jazz, and musical theatre styles, amongst others, with many subgenres within the categories represented.

''America's Best Dance Crew''

Sparks was a judge on MTV's dance competition

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

'' from seasons 1 to 4. He did not return to judge for the fifth season due to his arrest. Singer

Omarion Omari Ishmael Grandberry (born November 12, 1984), better known by his stage name Omarion, is an American R&B singer, dancer and actor. He rose to prominence as lead vocalist of the boy band B2K, which was formed in 1998 and managed by record e ...

replaced Sparks during

season 5 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

. Omarion left after season 5, so he could focus on his music career. In season 6, D-Trix from Quest crew took over the spot as the third judge.

Legal issues

Sparks was arrested on December 18, 2009, on a felony warrant. Dancer Monique Fronti alleged that Sparks sexually assaulted her while she was underage. Sparks pled no contest and was charged with committing sexual intercourse with a minor under the age of 16. He said that he believed she was of legal age because she worked behind the front desk at the studio. He was sentenced to serve 135 days in a " pay-to-stay" jail and did so over the course of two years while continuing to work and travel internationally. Sparks was not required to register as a sex offender under the terms of his no contest plea.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparks, Shane 1969 births American choreographers America's Best Dance Crew Living people So You Think You Can Dance choreographers Judges in American reality television series