LaTonya Swann (born February 4, 1991) is an American

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

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 ...

, print model,

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

, and the first winner of

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

's Born to Dance (TV series):

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 Beyon ...

Life and career

LaTonya Swann was raised in District Heights,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and graduated from Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High School in 2009. She was a member of the Jr

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

All Star Dance Team, and Capitol Movement Faculty and Alumni, training in hip hop, jazz, ballet, and contemporary. After winning the $50,000 prize on Born to Dance in 2011 Swann 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, ...

and working bicoastally, opened a large scale dance studio in

Capitol Heights, Maryland Capitol Heights is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located on the border of both the Northeast & Southeast quadrants of Washington. Per the 2020 census, the population was 4,050. The town of Capitol Heights is offici ...

which shares the name of her "Seize The Dance" chest tattoo. Swann has worked as a dancer and/or actress with

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

Dawn Richard Dawn Angeliqué Richard (born August 5, 1983) is an American singer from New Orleans, Louisiana. She began her career auditioning for MTV's '' Making the Band 3'' in 2004, during which she formed the girl group Danity Kane. The group signed wi ...

, Cassie,

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums ''Enrique Iglesias (album), Enrique ...

Lil Mama Niatia Jessica Kirkland (born October 4, 1989), better known by her stage name Lil Mama, is an American rapper. She experienced top 10 ''Billboard'' placements at 17 with her debut album '' VYP (Voice of the Young People)'' (2008), which debuted ...

Aloe Blacc Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 7, 1979), known professionally as Aloe Blacc (), is an American singer and rapper. He is known for his guest performance on Avicii's 2013 single "Wake Me Up (Avicii song), Wake Me Up", which peaked on ...

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

Cher Lloyd Cher Lloyd (born 28 July 1993) is an English singer. She participated on the The X Factor (UK series 7), seventh series of the television talent show ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor'' in 2010, where she finished in fourth place. F ...

Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, lead gui ...

Memphis May Fire Memphis May Fire is an American metalcore band formed in Denton, Texas, and currently signed to Rise Records. The band currently consists of lead guitarist Kellen McGregor, lead vocalist Matty Mullins, bassist Cory Elder, and drummer Jake Garla ...

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie (formerly Tinie Tempah), is a British rapper and singer. He has been signed to Parlophone since 2009, now a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his ...

Jonas Åkerlund Hans Uno Jonas Åkerlund (; born 10 November 1965) is a Swedish filmmaker and musician who is best known for his work in music videos. Åkerlund was a member of the Swedish black metal band Bathory. He has directed well-known videos for artists ...

, Gil Green,

Colin Tilley Colin Tilley (born June 27, 1988) is an American filmmaker, music video director, and television commercial director. Tilley is the CEO and owner of Boy in the Castle Productions. He has directed more than 300 music videos. Tilley directed, pr ...

Rich Lee Richard "Rich" Lee is an American music video and commercial director. He has directed music videos for Eminem, Lana Del Rey, Maroon 5, The Black Eyed Peas, Norah Jones, Michael Bublé and The All-American Rejects. Rich Lee started his professi ...

Joe Dante Joseph James Dante Jr. (; born November 28, 1946) is an American film director. His films—notably ''Gremlins'' (1984) alongside its sequel, ''Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990)—often mix the 1950s-style B movie genre with Counterculture of th ...

Matt Alonzo Matt Alonzo (born April 16, 1985) is an American director, video editor and filmmaker. Early life and career Alonzo grew up in Carpinteria, California and studied at Brooks Institute. His big break came in 2008 when he filmed and edited a Lil W ...

Jon Jon Augustavo Jonathan Augustavo, better known as Jon Jon or Jon Jon Augustavo, is an American filmmaker, commercial director, and music video director who has written and directed works for artists including Macklemore, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Mike Posner, Al ...

Melina Matsoukas Melina Matsoukas (born January 14, 1981) is an American music video, film, commercial and television director. She is a two-time Grammy Award winner and four-time MTV Video Music Awards winner for her "We Found Love" and " Formation" music video ...

, and

So Me Bertrand Lagros de Langeron, known professionally as So Me, is a French graphic designer, animator, director and music producer. He is the art director for Ed Banger Records and also releases his own tracks on that label. He has created videos f ...

. She has worked as a choreographer on television, tours, music videos, and stage plays including

106 and Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rat ...

WDCW WDCW (channel 50), branded DCW 50, is a television station in Washington, D.C., serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Hagerstown, Maryland–licensed independent ...

and ''Royal The Stage Play'' written and directed by Chris Clanton. She has been a celebrity judge and instructor for

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

Move If You Want It Dance Competition, and celebrity guest instructor for Get Kids Movin National Kids Fitness Convention.

''Born To Dance''

Swann first appeared on the debut of Born To Dance: Laurieann Gibson August 2, 2011 at 10pm ET bringing in 1.2 million viewers. The show was produced by Laurieann Gibson and The Ted & Perry Company and included an appearance of

with her Monster Ball Tour Performance being the final show challenge.

"Born to dance" episodes

Career credits

Television

*2010: ''

So You Think You Can Dance (U.S. season 7) ''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 ...

'' - Vegas Week Contestant; Adechike Ballroom Partner *2011: ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

'' - Guest with Laurieann Gibson & Born To Dance Top 3 *2011: ''

The Mo'Nique Show ''The Mo'Nique Show'' is an American talk show hosted by comedian and actress Mo'Nique. Airing on BET, the series began October 5, 2009. The show's second and final season premiered on Monday, October 4, 2010. Overview The show ran all-new episo ...

'' - Guest Dancer *2011: '' Born to Dance (TV series)'' - Contestant; Winner *2011:

Latin Grammy Awards of 2011 The 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards was held on Thursday, November 10, 2011, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and was hosted by Lucero and Cristián de la Fuente. The eligibility period for recordings to be nominated is July 1, 201 ...

Performance - Dancer *2012: '' Shake It Up (season 3)'' - Spirit Squad Member *2013:

''Young & The Throne'' (QC Show Segment) - Actress, "Imani" *2013:

''Queen Charis Show'' - Choreographer *2013: ''

The Graham Norton Show ''The Graham Norton Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Graham Norton. It was initially broadcast on BBC Two, from 22 February 2007, before moving to BBC One in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton ...

'' - Dancer, Lady Gaga "

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

" Performance *2013: ''

The X Factor (UK TV series) ''The X Factor'' is a British reality television music competition, and part of the global '' X Factor'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Premiering on 4 September 2004, it was produced by Fremantle's British entertainment company, Thames ...

'' - Dancer, Lady Gaga "Venus" Performance

Film

*2014 : ''Warriors Fan Trailer'' (Ram Bhat) - Principle, Lizzies

Choreography and appearances

*2003-2008: Capitol Movement Annual Dance Concert DC - Dancer, Choreographer *2012: Cassie ''"

King of Hearts The king of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck. King of Hearts may also refer to: Games * The king of hearts has five sons, card game that may have been a precursor to Cluedo Books * King of Hearts (Alice's Adventures in ...

"'' Performance 106 & Park - Assistant Choreographer, Dancer *2013: ''Get Kids Movin Fitness Convention'' - Guest Instructor *2013:

Move If You Want It Competition - Celebrity Judge & Instructor *2014: ''Royal The Stage Play'' ( Chris Clanton) - Choreographer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swann, LaTonya 1991 births Living people People from District Heights, Maryland