Anthony Joseph Testa (born 31 March 1987) is an American choreographer, creative director, educator and dancer.

Early life

Testa started dancing at age eight in his hometown of

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality in Larimer County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The population was 169,810 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, an i ...

at Westin Arts Academy & Artistic Fusion Dance Academy. Testa married actress

Stefania Spampinato Stefania Spampinato (born 17 July 1982) is an Italian actress. She is best known for starring in the series ABC's ''Grey's Anatomy'' and the ''Grey's Anatomy'' spinoff ''Station 19'' as Dr. Carina DeLuca, an Italian OB-GYN. Life and career ...

in May 2018. The divorce was finalized in December 2020.

Career

His career as a choreographer began when he made a demo reel using his mother's video camera. In 2002 Tony was picked by choreographer

Brian Friedman Brian L. Friedman (born May 28, 1977) is an American dancer and choreographer. Friedman has created the choreography for many popular music artists – such as Britney Spears, Cher, Beyoncé Knowles, and Mariah Carey – as well as for music ...

to tour with

Aaron Carter Aaron Charles Carter (December 7, 1987November 5, 2022) was an American singer and rapper. He came to fame as a teen pop singer in the late 1990s, establishing himself as a star among preteen and teenage audiences during the first years of th ...

for his Jukebox tour. His demo reel was seen by

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

, who hired him to choreograph for her promotional tour that year. Testa has choreographed for

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

,Choreographer Tony Testa Checks Out 'Viva Elvis' , Las Vegas Review-Journal
/ref> and for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

's '' Dance on Sunset'' (2008). In 2010 he began choreographing for

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

on her "

All The Lovers "All the Lovers" is a song recorded by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue for her eleventh studio album, ''Aphrodite (Kylie Minogue album), Aphrodite'' (2010). Parlophone released it on 11 June 2010 as the lead single from the album. ...

", "

Better Than Today "Better Than Today" is a song recorded by Australian singer Kylie Minogue for her eleventh studio album, ''Aphrodite (Kylie Minogue album), Aphrodite'' (2010). The track was originally written and produced by Nerina Pallot and Andy Chatterley ...

" and "

Get Outta My Way "Get Outta My Way" is a song recorded by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue for her eleventh studio album ''Aphrodite'' (2010). "Get Outta My Way" was written and produced by Mich Hansen, Lucas Secon, Damon Sharpe, Peter Wallevik, Dan ...

" music videos. He was the associate director and choreographer for her Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour (2011). Testa was hired by director

Kenny Ortega Kenneth John Ortega (born April 18, 1950) is an American director, producer, choreographer, and concert creator. He is best known for his work with Disney Channel, notably the '' High School Musical'' film trilogy, cult classics such as '' Newsi ...

as an associate choreographer for

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 Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

's final tour This Is It, ''

Dancing With The Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'' featuring

Corbin Bleu Corbin Bleu Reivers ( ; born February 21, 1989) is an American actor and singer. He began acting professionally in the late 1990s before rising to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role as Chad Danforth in the ''High School Musica ...

, ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 independent musical comedy horror film produced by Lou Adler and Michael White, directed by Jim Sharman, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The screenplay was written by Sharman and Richard O ...

'' benefit for The Painted Turtle, and the remake of ''

Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romance film, romantic drama film, drama Dance in film, dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tel ...

''. In November 2011, Testa co-directed the opening of the

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...

with

Wade Robson Wade Jeremy William Robson (born 17 September 1982) is an Australian dancer and choreographer. He began performing as a dancer at age five, and has directed music videos and world tours for pop acts such as NSYNC and Britney Spears. Robson was ...

. Later that year he served as the Creative Director for Season 1 of ''

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing reality competition television series. Created by John de Mol and Roel van Velzen, it premiered on BBC One on 24 March 2012. Based on the original Dutch singing competition '' The Voice of Holland'', and ...

'' and for

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, were an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group consisted of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik (until his departure in 2015), Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. The group sold o ...

on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' (Season 37, Episode 18). In 2012, Testa choreographed for the K-pop band

Shinee Shinee ( ; ; ; stylized as SHINee) is a South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2008. The group consists of four members: Onew, Key (entertainer), Key, Choi Min-ho, Minho, and Taemin. Originally a five-piece band, Jonghyun died on ...

in their music video "

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", which earned the band the award for Best Dance Performance Male Group at the

2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards The 2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards took place on November 30, 2012, at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Hong Kong. The ceremony was the third consecutive Mnet Asian Music Awards to occur outside of South Korea. It was reported by inte ...

. He choreographed the music videos and live performances for Shinee's "Dream Girl," " Everybody", and "Married to the Music" as well as

TVXQ TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!; , ), known as Tohoshinki in Japan, is a South Korean pop duo formed by SM Entertainment, composed of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. Originally a five-member boy band which also consisted of members Kim Jae-joong, Hero ...

's " Catch Me" (known in Korea as "Hulk Dance") and "

Something Something may refer to: Philosophy and language * Something (concept) * "Something", an English indefinite pronoun Music Albums * ''Something'' (Chairlift album), 2012 * ''Something'' (Shirley Bassey album), 1970 * ''Something'' (Shirley Scot ...

". Testa choreographed

Super Junior Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band. The group is composed of Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook, and Kyuhyun. Han Geng, Kibum, and ...

's " Mamacita" and " Super Clap". For

Exo Exo (; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean-Chinese boy band based in Seoul formed by SM Entertainment in 2011 and debuted in 2012. The group consists of nine members: Xiumin, Suho, Lay Zhang, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen (singer), Chen, Chanyeol, ...

, Testa choreographed the band's "

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

" and "

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". He was the art director for Exo's first solo concert The Lost Planet. He choreographed " Lion Heart" by

Girls' Generation Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piec ...

with Shim Jae-won, "Fire Truck", "My First and Last" and "

Cherry Bomb A cherry bomb (also known as a globe salute or kraft salute) is an approximately spherical exploding firework, roughly resembling a cherry in size and shape (with the fuse resembling the cherry's stem). Cherry bombs range in size from in diame ...

" by NCT. Testa is a dance educator for both the New York City Dance Alliance and Monsters Of Hip Hop dance conventions, and a guest speaker at the TEDx conference in Los Angeles in June 2013.

Choreography

*Concert tour for

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), she starred in the Disney Channel short series ...

- Choreographer (2011) *Promotional Concert Tour for

. - Choreographer (2008) *Promotional Concert Tour for the singer Janet Jackson and

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop g ...

. Aired on NBC Today Show- Co-Choreographer (2006) *Music Videos for the singer Kylie Minogue. Songs titled "Get Outta My Way" and "All the Lovers" - 2010 *Dance Spirit Magazine Article.(2008)

Director

*AMAs live performance by singer

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

and DJ

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...

- Co-Creative Director & Choreographer (20 November 2011) *Saturday Night Live for the band 1 Direction - Creative Director (7 April 2012) *The Voice UK - Season 1 - Creative Director (28 April - 3 May 2012) *Concert Tour for

. Tour name: Aphrodite: Les Folies World Tour. - Associate Director & Choreographer (19 February 2011 – 14 July 2011) *Leicester Square Theatre show for Polly Rae: The Hurly Burly Show. - Associate Director (2011)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Testa, Tony 1987 births Living people American choreographers American music video directors