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 t ...

teacher,

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

, 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 p ...

'' 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 has ...

'' 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 ...

. 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

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

b-boy Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...

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 Timothy Earl Solomon (born August 5, 1961), known as Popin' Pete , is an American dancer, choreographer who popularized the "popping" dance style and member of the Electric Boogaloos. Pete’s career has spanned over forty years since the emergen ...

" 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 found ...

on a basketball scholarship where he earned an

associate's degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of 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 bachelor's degree. The f ...

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,

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 ...

, Jon B, IMx, rapper Bow Wow, and

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medalist

Tara Lipinski Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American former competitive figure skater, actress, sports commentator and documentary film producer. A former competitor in women's singles, she is the 1998 Olympic champion, the 1997 World ...

. 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 ba ...

. 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 Laurieann Gibson (born July 14, 1969) is a Canadian choreographer, director, television personality, singer, actress, and dancer. She has choreographed dance numbers for musical artists such as Michael Jackson, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, and Beyo ...

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 s ...

'', '' Dance Flick'', ''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 ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series ''Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

''. Since season three 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 Broadway Dance Center is a dance school located at 322 West 45th Street west of Times Square in New York City. It was founded in 1984 as one of the first "drop-in" dance training schools in the world, offering classes in jazz, tap, ballet, conte ...

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