LaVelle Smith Jr is an American

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 ...

and dancer. Known for his work in the music videos of singers such as

En Vogue En Vogue is an American vocal girl group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the singl ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

Beyoncé Knowles 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 culturally significant figu ...

, Smith has won the

MTV Video Music Award The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

for

Best Choreography The MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography is a craft award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and choreographer of the music video. From 1984 to 2007, the full name of the award was Best Choreography in a Video. The biggest winner ...

five times.

Biography

Smith had originally wanted to pursue a career in drama, auditioning at the Youth Performing Arts School in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. Upon failing the audition, Smith was given the option to study dance. Graduating from YPAS in 1983, Smith moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and was employed by

Gus Giordano Gus Giordano (July 10, 1923 – March 9, 2008) was an American jazz dancer. He performed on Broadway, theatre and television. He founded the Gus Giordano Dance School in 1953 and Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago in 1963. He also created the First ...

in the dance troupe Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago. Unhappy with the level of pay, Smith auditioned for numerous dancing roles, while facing

racial prejudice Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race or ethnicity over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination ...

. "When that happens, you realize that you have to be even better or move to L.A. where it doesn't matter," he said later. Noticed by singer

, Smith landed a job as a dancer before becoming his choreographer. Smith worked on three of Jackson's world tours;

Bad Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being *Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored trolley ...

, Dangerous and

HIStory History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. He also worked as a choreographer in

Michael Jackson's Ghosts ''Michael Jackson's Ghosts'' is a 1996 short film starring Michael Jackson, directed by Stan Winston, and written by Stephen King and Mick Garris. It is based on a story by Garris, Jackson and King. ''Ghosts'' tells the story of an eccentric ...

, and for the musical '' Thriller - Live''. Smith appeared on the concert tours of

The Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known f ...

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

and

Rhythm Nation 1814 Tour The Rhythm Nation World Tour 1990 was the first headlining concert tour by American recording artist Janet Jackson. It was launched in support of her fourth studio album ''Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814'' (1989), and also contained material ...

. Smith also worked for

Victoria Beckham Victoria Caroline, Lady Beckham (; born 17 April 1974) is an English fashion designer, singer, and television personality. She rose to prominence in the 1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Posh Spic ...

after the Spice Girl made a return as a solo artist. Smith was awarded four MTV Video awards for co-choreographing En Vogue's music videos " My Lovin'" (1992), " Free Your Mind" (1993), "

Whatta Man "What a Man" is a song written by Dave Crawford, and originally recorded for Stax Records' Volt imprint by Linda Lyndell, whose recording reached number 50 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart in 1968. The song was sampled and reinterpreted as "What ...

" (1994) and Michael Jackson's duet with sister Janet, " Scream" (1995). The music video for

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, ...

's "

Crazy in Love "Crazy in Love" is a song by American singer and songwriter Beyoncé featuring guest vocals from American rapper Jay-Z. It was written by Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and Rich Harrison, and produced by the last two. "Crazy in Love" is a pop, hip hop, and ...

" won Smith his fifth

MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography The MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography is a craft award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and choreographer of the music video. From 1984 to 2007, the full name of the award was Best Choreography in a Video. The biggest winner ...

in 2003.''Thriller Live'' creative cast
. '' Thriller - Live''. Retrieved on February 13, 2009 His other awards include a SSDC Bob Fosse award and an

Emmy award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

. Smith was also the youngest inductee into the Millers Gallery of Greats. Smith has choreographed ''Invincible: A Glorious Tribute To Michael Jackson'' featuring Jeffrey Perez and Pete Carter. Smith's work with Michael Jackson is the subject of the 2019 documentary film ''The Man Behind The Dance.'' In 2022, Smith appeared as a featured guest at Kingvention, the annual Michael Jackson fan convention held in London.

Personal life

Moving from

Los Angeles, California 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, ...

back to South Shields, England in 2001, the choreographer wanted to get away from the expensive party lifestyle of the city and open up a Kebab shop called Hot Bitez. Michael Jackson's guitarist,

Jennifer Batten Jennifer Batten (born November 29, 1957) is an American guitarist who has worked as a session musician and solo artist. From 1987 to 1997, she played on all three of Michael Jackson's world tours, and from 1999 to 2001, she toured and recorded w ...

also lives in the town. In his leisure time, Smith enjoys inspiring others to pursue their dreams and holds a free dance class at the Home of the Innocents. The free entry is due to Smith recalling "being young and not being able to afford dance classes. I just want to inspire them. There are opportunities out there, and it may just be a sentence that you say that they latch on to and that sparks them."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Lavelle, Jnr American choreographers American dancers Emmy Award winners Living people Artists from Louisville, Kentucky Year of birth missing (living people) African-American choreographers 21st-century African-American people