{{Short description|American choreographer}} {{Infobox person | image = Descendants 2 premiere.png | caption = | birth_name = Anthony Joseph Testa | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1987|3|31|df=y}} | birth_place = Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | other names = | occupation = Choreographer, Filmmaker, Photographer, Mixed-media Artist | years_active = 2005–present | spouse = {{marriage|Stefania Spampinato|2018|2020|reason=divorce}} | website = {{URL|www.tonytestaofficial.com}} }} '''Tony Testa''' (born 31 March 1987) is an American choreographer, film-maker, photographer, educator and performer.<ref>{{cite web | title=DCW 2025 Selected Films | url=https://www.dancecamerawest.org/dcw-2025-selected-films }}</ref><ref>[http://artsmeme.com/2013/05/01/top-los-angeles-choreographers-dance-camera-west-fountain-frolic/ Top Los Angeles choreographers frolic in fountains for Dance Camera West | arts•meme<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Tony Testa Explores Dance Through Film & Photography with World Premiere of b1 in Fort Collins | NOCO Style Magazine | date=3 September 2024 | url=https://nocostyle.com/2024/09/03/tony-testa-explores-dance-through-film-photography-with-world-premiere-of-b1-in-fort-collins/ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tony Testa |url=https://www.nycdance.com/faculty/tony-testa |access-date=2025-09-05 |website=NYCDA |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Early life == Testa started dancing at age eight in his hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado at Westin Arts Academy & Artistic Fusion Dance Academy.<ref name="Artistic Fusion">{{cite web|last=Owens |first=Jennifer |title=Alumni |url=http://www.artistic-fusion.com/about-us/alumni/ |work=Artistic Fusion Dance Academy |publisher=IBU |access-date=7 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609223709/http://www.artistic-fusion.com/about-us/alumni/ |archive-date=9 June 2013 }}</ref> His career as a choreographer began at 16 years old when he made a demo reel using his mother's video camera. The reel was seen by Janet Jackson, who hired him to be a choreographer for her promotional tour shortly after.<ref name="Demo Reel">{{cite web |last=Kay |first=Tonia |title=Why do a demo reel? |url=http://www.answers4dancers.com/connect-up/are-demo-reels-important.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130422110831/http://www.answers4dancers.com/connect-up/are-demo-reels-important.html |archive-date=22 April 2013 |access-date=7 April 2013 |work=Answers4dancers}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Spirit |first=Dance |date=2009-01-14 |title=The Reel Deal: Dance on Camera |url=https://dancespirit.com/the-reel-deal-dance-on-camera/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=Dance Spirit |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wjk_LsAWeM |title=Tony Testa's Homemade Demo Reel |date=2010-05-03 |last=Grover Dale |access-date=2025-09-06 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
== Career == left|350x350px|Testa with Janet Jackson in 2008|alt=Testa and Janet Jackson|thumb After moving to LA in 2005,<ref name="msaagency.com">{{Cite web |title=Tony Testa {{!}} Choreographers, Directors |url=https://msaagency.com/tony-testa/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=MSA Agency |language=en-US}}</ref> Testa choreographed for Britney Spears,<ref name="rj">[http://www.reviewjournal.com/norm-clarke/choreographer-tony-testa-checks-out-viva-elvis Choreographer Tony Testa Checks Out 'Viva Elvis' | Las Vegas Review-Journal<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-11 |title=There is one choreographer in Britney's career that we totally overlooked |url=https://exhale.breatheheavy.com/forums/topic/783055-there-is-one-choreographer-in-britneys-career-that-we-totally-overlooked/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=BreatheHeavy {{!}} Exhale |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=TOUR CHOREOGRAPHER FOR BRITNEY COMES TO SYDNEY! – Dance Life |url=https://www.dancelife.com.au/tour-choreographer-for-britney-comes-to-sydney/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=www.dancelife.com.au}}</ref> Jennifer Lopez,<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web |title=Tony Testa {{!}} Choreographers, Directors |url=https://msaagency.com/tony-testa/ |access-date=2025-09-05 |website=MSA Agency |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tony Testa |url=http://www.theaxisconnect.com/tony-testa2 |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=Axis Connect |language=en-US}}</ref> Versace,<ref name="ReferenceA" /> Ariana Grande,<ref name="ReferenceA" /> Demi Lovato,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tony Testa {{!}} Choreographer, Director, Editor |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2626513/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}</ref> The Grammy's,<ref name="ReferenceA" /> and over 20 K-pop projects for SM Entertainment.<ref name="Shinee Sherlock">{{cite web|last=Joonni|title=SHINee Takes Group Photo With Choreographer Tony Testa|url=http://www.soompi.com/2012/03/14/shinee-takes-group-photo-with-choreographer-tony-testa/|work=soompi.com|publisher=Enswers, Inc.|access-date=7 April 2013}}</ref><ref>[http://sg.news.yahoo.com/shinee-meets-tony-testa-061500024.html SHINee meets Tony Testa - Yahoo News Singapore<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Girl |first=Car Door Guy's |date=2018-06-04 |title=Choreography Ranking: Tony Testa's K-Pop Dances |url=https://cardoorguysgirl.wordpress.com/2018/06/04/choreography-ranking-tony-testas-k-pop-dances/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=Car Door Guy's Girl |language=en}}</ref> He was hired by director and mentor Kenny Ortega<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tony Testa |url=http://www.theaxisconnect.com/tony-testa |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=Axis Connect |language=en-US}}</ref> as an associate choreographer for Michael Jackson's final tour, This Is It,<ref name="rj" /><ref name="This is it">{{cite web |last=Murray |first=Rebecca |title=Kenny Ortega Discusses 'Michael Jackson's This Is It' |url=http://movies.about.com/od/michaeljacksonthisisit/a/kenny-ortega.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207031618/http://movies.about.com/od/michaeljacksonthisisit/a/kenny-ortega.htm |archive-date=7 February 2017 |access-date=7 April 2013 |work=About.com |publisher=IAC/InterActiveCorp.}}</ref> and co-choreographer for ''Dancing With The Stars'', ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'',<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1267299/fullcredits/ |title=The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again (TV Movie 2016) - Full cast & crew - IMDb |language=en-US |access-date=2025-09-05 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref> and ''Descendants 2''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Disney Branded Television Press |url=https://www.detpress.com/disneybrandedtelevision/bios/tony-testa/ |access-date=2025-09-05 |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2010, he choreographed Kylie Minogue<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tony Testa - Other works |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2626513/otherworks/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}</ref> in "All The Lovers", "Better Than Today" and "Get Outta My Way" music videos, and in 2011 was the associate director and choreographer for her Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-02-28 |title=Tony Testa Faculty Bio {{!}} Broadway Dance Center |url=https://broadwaydancecenter.com/faculty/tony-testa |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=broadwaydancecenter.com |language=en}}</ref> In November of that same year, Testa co-directed the opening of the American Music Awards with Wade Robson, and served as the Creative Director for both Season 1 of ''The Voice UK''<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1971245/fullcredits/ |title=The Voice UK (TV Series 2012– ) - Full cast & crew - IMDb |language=en-US |access-date=2025-09-06 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref> and for One Direction on ''Saturday Night Live'' (Season 37, Episode 18). thumb|Testa rehearsing at LACMA (2015) His choreographies have been featured at the LACMA alongside Noah Purifoy's "Junk Data",<ref name="ReferenceA"/> and in shows directed by Franco Dragone.<ref name="msaagency.com"/> In 2021, he was on the cover of GASP ZINE: issue 10 "The People's Issue",<ref>{{Cite web |title=GASP ZINE 10: "THE PEOPLE'S ISSUE" FEATURING TONY TESTA |url=https://www.heresyourzine.com/print-is-not-dead/p/preorder-gasp-zine-10-the-peoples-issue-featuring-tony-testa |access-date=2025-09-05 |website=GASP ZINE |language=en-US}}</ref> and his photography was shown at both GASP GALLERY and in Vanity Fair Magazine (Italy).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Panizza |first=Raffaella |title=Stefania Spampinato |url=https://www.pressreader.com/italy/vanity-fair-italy/20191030/282961041940036?srsltid=AfmBOooMpnHpQf7HPFzfpRUGn0vxipMSfnhhS1RcChNGJHHdoWHk9a_t |access-date=2025-09-05 |via=PressReader}}</ref>
Testa is also a dance educator for the New York City Dance Alliance<ref name="NYCDA Faculty Bio">{{cite web|title=Faculty|url=http://www.nycdance.com/Faculty/Bios/Tony_Testa.aspx|work=nycdance.com|publisher=NYCDA|access-date=2013-04-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814135224/http://www.nycdance.com/Faculty/Bios/Tony_Testa.aspx|archive-date=2017-08-14|url-status=dead}}</ref> and Monsters Dance<ref>{{Cite web |title=EDUCATORS |url=https://www.monstersdance.com/educators |access-date=2025-09-05 |website=Monsters Dance |language=en-US}}</ref> conventions.
== Collaborative Films == left|thumb|267x267px|On set for ORIGIN with Johnson (2023) thumb|302x302px|DisInteGrated (2021) In 2021, Testa & long time collaborator, Wade Robson, co-created an experimental short film featuring choreography performed by Testa. After its premiere on [http://www.films.dance/disintegrated films.dance] "DisInteGrated"<ref>{{Cite web |last=levine |first=debra |date=2021-11-22 |title=Quarantine blues, back-to-nature edition {{!}} arts•meme |url=https://artsmeme.com/2021/11/22/quarantine-blues-back-to-nature-chapter/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-31 |title=Daring D2D Film Festival Moves With Impressive Awe and Tears |url=https://www.ladancechronicle.com/daring-d2d-film-festival-moves-with-impressive-awe-and-tears/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=L.A. Dance Chronicle |language=en-US}}</ref> was an official selection for 6 film festivals including Hollyshorts<ref>{{Cite web |title=August 11-20, 2022 |url=https://hollyshorts2022.eventive.org/films/62dc5ec4efe03800304f9b92 |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=hollyshorts2022.eventive.org}}</ref> where it screened at the world famous Grauman's Chinese Theater. With an original musical score by the British jazz singer, Zara McFarlane,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Spotify – Web Player |url=https://open.spotify.com/album/6DuzaW5YpndeZBhlEl0WO3 |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=Spotify |language=en}}</ref> DisInteGrated won best experimental film at the Los Angeles Movie Awards<ref name="msaagency.com"/> & was featured on Nowness.<ref>{{Cite web |date=Oct 18, 2021 |title=DisInteGrated |url=https://www.nowness.com/series/films-dance-jacob-jonas/disintegrated }}</ref>
In 2023 Testa and Keean Johnson, co-directed "Origin" starring Popin' Pete and Robert Green. The film was shot mainly underwater, where Testa called upon his freediving experience<ref name="msaagency.com"/> to make the picture. The performers trained for several days in a scuba diving training facility to prepare for shooting. Origin premiered live at the Monsters Dance finale in a warehouse in Brooklyn, NY (2023)<ref>{{cite web | title=ORIGIN | url=https://www.mumble-inc.com/origin }}</ref> & was an official selection for the BronzeLens Film Festival in Atlanta, GA.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome to the 16th Annual BronzeLens Film Festival |url=https://bronzelens.eventive.org/films/origin-686ea1af80e1802246b98eb8 |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=bronzelens.eventive.org}}</ref>
== B1: Movement Through Images == left|thumb|350x350px|b1 premiere in Fort Collins, CO (2024)
After apprenticing with Greek Theater Director, Dimitris Papaioannou,<ref name="msaagency.com" /> Testa's focused shifted away from commercial projects and towards creating original works. He converted his garage into a blackbox theatre and began prioritizing choreographic experiments with a camera.
In 2022 he assembled a group of 22 performers and created a deeply ambitious film & photographic series which premiered at a horse barn/hunting lodge<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-27 |title=b1 FORT COLLINS, CO (FILM + PHOTO EXHIBITION + LIVE PERFORMANCE) |url=https://www.blackbox.dance/calendar/vqnddu6x4ziae4n9yor2te9g7sidzn |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=b1 |language=en-US}}</ref> in his hometown of Fort Collins, CO.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |date=2024-09-03 |title=Tony Testa Explores Dance Through Film & Photography with World Premiere of b1 in Fort Collins {{!}} NOCO Style Magazine |url=https://nocostyle.com/2024/09/03/tony-testa-explores-dance-through-film-photography-with-world-premiere-of-b1-in-fort-collins/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |language=en-US}}</ref>thumb|Testa rehearsing B1 "Human Remains" at TED 2025 in Vancouver, BC
“Human movement connects individuality to the power of the whole at every phase: in the studio, in the camera, in the performance space and in our collective awareness”, Testa says.
B1 was met with universal praise by ArtsMeme,<ref>{{Cite web |title=tony testa {{!}} arts•meme |date=29 August 2023 |url=https://artsmeme.com/2023/08/29/made-in-los-angeles-dance-manufacturing-by-raiford-rogers-tony-testa/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> & LA Dance Chronicle.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-31 |title=Denna Thomsen and Zak Ryan Schlegel's Congress VIII Continues the Magic |url=https://www.ladancechronicle.com/denna-thomsen-and-zak-ryan-schlegels-congress-viii-continues-the-magic/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=L.A. Dance Chronicle |language=en-US}}</ref> "His use of props and technology was incredibly inventive and meshed well with his choreography, which combined tap, contemporary, hip-hop and, surprisingly, boxing. The piece felt cinematic and visceral, packed with energy", said Steven Vargas for the LA Times.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vargas |first=Steven |date=2023-08-30 |title=On my mind |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/newsletter/2023-08-30/beyonce-renaissance-tour-la-sofi-what-to-know-l-a-goes-out |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> His solo performances of "Human Remains", an excerpt of the B1 film, were performed live by Testa at [https://www.legalize.dance/con-artists Congress viii] in Los Angeles, & at the TED 2025 flagship conference in British Columbia.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/tony_testa_a_spine_tingling_dance_of_light_and_shadow |title=A spine-tingling dance of light and shadow |date=2025-06-06 |last=Testa |first=Tony |language=en |access-date=2025-09-06 |via=www.ted.com}}</ref>
B1: Movement Through Images has since exhibited in Burbank, CA, Phoenix, AZ,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-19 |title=CALENDAR |url=https://www.blackbox.dance/calendar |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=b1 |language=en-US}}</ref> & Vancouver, B.C.
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==External links== *{{cite web|title=Choreographers|url=http://msaagency.com/tonytesta/|work=MSA Agency|access-date=12 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724072923/http://www.msaagency.com/tonytesta/|archive-date=24 July 2013|url-status=dead}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Testa, Tony}} Category:1987 births Category:Living people Category:American choreographers Category:American music video directors