Dave Scott (born 1974) is an American

hip-hop dance Hip hop dance is a range of street dance styles primarily performed to hip hop music or that have evolved as part of hip hop culture. It is influenced by a wide range of styles that were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in ...

teacher, choreographer, and talent developer. He gained widespread success from his choreography in movies, primarily the 2004 dance film ''

You Got Served ''You Got Served'' is a 2004 American dance drama film written and directed by Chris Stokes, who was also the business manager of the performers who were the film's main characters: recording artist Marques Houston and the boy band B2K. The plo ...

'' and the 2008 dance film '' Step Up 2: The Streets''. He is a resident choreographer 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 ha ...

'' and The PULSE on Tour dance convention.

Early life

Dave was born and raised in Compton,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He is 6'4 and has never taken any dance classes or had any formal training. He started dancing as a hobby when he was 15. He learned how to dance from watching musicals, b-boy movies, and music videos, namely those of

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

whom he cites as one of his influences. He acknowledges hip-hop dance pioneers Stefan " Mr. Wiggles" Clemente and Timothy " Popin' Pete" Solomon as influences as well. As a teenager, he further developed his skills by forming his own b-boy crew and battling other crews in his neighborhood. After graduating high school, Scott attended

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founded ...

on a basketball scholarship where he earned an

associate's degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of Tertiary education, post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelo ...

in business. He got his first professional dance job while in Utah by chance when he was asked to replace a dancer on a concert tour after being spotted dancing in a club. He later returned to California and started his career by dancing on tours and in music videos.

Career

From tours and music videos, he built relationships in the dance community and moved into teaching classes and doing choreography for film and television. He describes his choreography style as aggressive, melodic, and energetic. He has worked with singers such as

Ginuwine Elgin Baylor Lumpkin (born October 15, 1970), better known by his stage name Ginuwine, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. He began his career as a member of Swing Mob in the early 1990s. Signing to Epic Records as a solo ...

B2K B2K (Boys of the New Millennium) was an American boy band that was active from 1998 to 2004, and again from 2018 to 2019. In 1998, the group was formed by American dance choreographer Dave Scott and Interscope A&R Keshia Gamble. The members ...

Tyrese Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American actor and singer. He released his self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the single " Sweet Lady", peaking at number twelve on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second ...

Brian McKnight Brian Kelly McKnight (born June 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, radio host and multi-instrumentalist. He is most recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range and melisma. McKnight is known for h ...

Jon B Jonathan David Buck (born November 11, 1974) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. His debut album, ''Bonafide'' (1995), went platinum. Early life Born in Providence, Rhode Island, United States and raised in Altadena, ...

IMx Immature (later known as IMx) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B boy band, managed by record producer Chris Stokes (record producer), Chris Stokes. Its members include Marques Houston, Marques "Batman" Houston (born August 4, 1981), Young Rome, ...

, rapper Bow Wow, and Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski. He is the choreographer and co-creator of teen R&B group

Mindless Behavior Mindless Behavior was an American boy band who were best known for the singles " My Girl" and "Mrs. Right", produced by Walter Millsap. The band was put together in Los Angeles in 2008, by Keisha Gamble, Vincent Herbert and Walter Millsap. The ban ...

. In 2012, he co-choreographed the

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', ...

video game ''The Hip Hop Dance Experience'' with Laurieann Gibson and b-boy David "Kid David" Shreibman. As of May 2013, he is a mentor/judge on Danceamatic.com, a website that host monthly choreography competitions.

Film

In 2001, Scott formed the teen R&B group

and served as their choreographer and stylist. With the group he went on to choreograph the movie ''You Got Served'' which featured all four singers in primary roles. In 2004, he won an American Choreography Award for Best Choreography in a Feature Film. Following the success of the movie, he released an instructional dance DVD, ''You Got Served:Take it to the Streets'' which teaches viewers how to do the dance routines featured in the film. In addition to ''You Got Served'', he co-choreographed ''Step Up 2: The Streets'' with Jamal Sims and Nadine "Hi Hat" Ruffin. In 2008, he won a Fred and Adele Astaire Award for Best Choreography in Film. Scott also choreographed the movies ''Fresh'', ''

Stomp the Yard ''Stomp the Yard'' is a 2007 American dance drama film produced by Rainforest Films and released through Sony Pictures' Screen Gems division on January 12, 2007. Directed by Sylvain White, ''Stomp the Yard'' centers on DJ Williams, a college stu ...

'', ''

Dance Flick ''Dance Flick'' is a 2009 American musical comedy film directed by Damien Dante Wayans in his directorial debut and written by and starring many members of the Wayans family. The film was set for release in the United States on February 6, 2009, ...

'', ''House Party 4'', and ''Coach Carter''. In 2010, Scott appeared in the independent documentary ''MOVE'' — a film about how people in the dance industry were able to go from dancing as a hobby to dancing as a career. He choreographed the 2013 film '' Battle of the Year: The Dream Team'' which is based on the 2007 documentary '' Planet B-Boy''.

Television

In 2003, he was a guest choreographer on '' The Wade Robson Project''. He was also a guest choreographer on '' Step It Up and Dance'' and on season seven of '' Dancing with the Stars''. Since

season three 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 tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

he has been a recurring hip-hop choreographer on the show ''

''.

Teaching

In conjunction with Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Scott serves as the director of the Los Angeles Hip Hop Intensive. He is a faculty member with PULSE dance convention, Millennium Dance Complex, and Broadway Dance Center.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Dave People from Compton, California Dance teachers American choreographers So You Think You Can Dance choreographers Participants in American reality television series 1974 births Living people African-American choreographers 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people