Tony Testa

Last updated
Tony Testa
Descendants 2 premiere.png
Born
Anthony Joseph Testa

(1987-03-31) 31 March 1987 (age 38)
Occupation(s)Choreographer, Filmmaker, Photographer, Mixed-media Artist
Years active2005–present
Spouse
(m. 2015;div. 2020)
Websitewww.tonytestaofficial.com

Tony Testa (born 31 March 1987) is an American choreographer, film-maker, photographer, educator and performer. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early life

Testa started dancing at age eight in his hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado at Westin Arts Academy & Artistic Fusion Dance Academy. [5] 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. [6] [7] [8]

Career

Testa with Janet Jackson in 2008 Tony Testa & Janet Jackson.jpg
Testa with Janet Jackson in 2008

After moving to LA in 2005, [9] Testa choreographed for Britney Spears, [10] [11] [12] Jennifer Lopez, [13] [14] Versace, [13] Ariana Grande, [13] Demi Lovato, [15] The Grammy's, [13] & over 20+ kpop projects for SM Entertainment. [16] [17] [18] He was hired by director & mentor Kenny Ortega [19] as an associate choreographer for Michael Jackson's final tour, This Is It, [10] [20] & co-choreographer for Dancing With The Stars , The Rocky Horror Picture Show , [21] and Descendants 2. [22] .

In 2010 he choreographed Kylie Minogue [23] in "All The Lovers", "Better Than Today" and "Get Outta My Way" music videos & in 2011 was the associate director and choreographer for her Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour. [24] In November 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 [25] and for One Direction on Saturday Night Live (Season 37, Episode 18).

Testa rehearsing at LACMA (2015) Tony Testa LACMA.jpg
Testa rehearsing at LACMA (2015)

His choreographies have been featured at the LACMA alongside Noah Purifoy "Junk Data", [13] & in shows directed by Franco Dragone. [9] In 2021 he was on the cover of GASP ZINE: issue 10 "The People's Issue", [26] & his photography was shown at both GASP GALLERY & in Vanity Fair Magazine (Italy). [27]

Testa is also a dance educator for the New York City Dance Alliance [28] and Monsters Dance [29] conventions.

Collaborative Films

On set for ORIGIN with Johnson (2023) ORIGIN BTS.jpg
On set for ORIGIN with Johnson (2023)
DisInteGrated (2021) DisInteGrated Poster.png
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 films.dance "DisInteGrated" [30] [31] was an official selection for 6 film festivals including Hollyshorts [32] where it screened at the world famous Grauman's Chinese Theater. With an original musical score by the British jazz singer, Zara McFarlane, [33] DisInteGrated won best experimental film at the Los Angeles Movie Awards [9] & was featured on Nowness. [34]

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 [9] 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) [35] & was an official selection for the BronzeLens Film Festival in Atlanta, GA. [36]

B1: Movement Through Images

b1 premiere in Fort Collins, CO (2024) B1 movement through images.png
b1 premiere in Fort Collins, CO (2024)

After apprenticing with Greek Theater Director, Dimitris Papaioannou, [9] 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 [37] in his hometown of Fort Collins, CO. [38]

Testa rehearsing B1 "Human Remains" at TED 2025 in Vancouver, BC Tony Testa TED 2025.png
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, [39] & LA Dance Chronicle. [40] "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. [41] His solo performances of "Human Remains", an excerpt of the B1 film, were performed live by Testa at Congress viii in Los Angeles, & at the TED 2025 flagship conference in British Columbia. [42]

B1: Movement Through Images has since exhibited in Burbank, CA, Phoenix, AZ, [43] & Vancouver, B.C.

References

  1. "DCW 2025 Selected Films".
  2. Top Los Angeles choreographers frolic in fountains for Dance Camera West | arts•meme
  3. "Tony Testa Explores Dance Through Film & Photography with World Premiere of b1 in Fort Collins | NOCO Style Magazine". 3 September 2024.
  4. "Tony Testa". NYCDA. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  5. Owens, Jennifer. "Alumni". Artistic Fusion Dance Academy. IBU. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  6. Kay, Tonia. "Why do a demo reel?". Answers4dancers. Archived from the original on 22 April 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  7. Spirit, Dance (2009-01-14). "The Reel Deal: Dance on Camera". Dance Spirit. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  8. Grover Dale (2010-05-03). Tony Testa's Homemade Demo Reel . Retrieved 2025-09-06 via YouTube.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tony Testa | Choreographers, Directors". MSA Agency. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  10. 1 2 Choreographer Tony Testa Checks Out 'Viva Elvis' | Las Vegas Review-Journal
  11. "There is one choreographer in Britney's career that we totally overlooked". BreatheHeavy | Exhale. 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  12. "TOUR CHOREOGRAPHER FOR BRITNEY COMES TO SYDNEY! – Dance Life". www.dancelife.com.au. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tony Testa | Choreographers, Directors". MSA Agency. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  14. "Tony Testa". Axis Connect. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  15. "Tony Testa | Choreographer, Director, Editor". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  16. Joonni. "SHINee Takes Group Photo With Choreographer Tony Testa". soompi.com. Enswers, Inc. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  17. SHINee meets Tony Testa - Yahoo News Singapore
  18. Girl, Car Door Guy's (2018-06-04). "Choreography Ranking: Tony Testa's K-Pop Dances". Car Door Guy's Girl. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  19. "Tony Testa". Axis Connect. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  20. Murray, Rebecca. "Kenny Ortega Discusses 'Michael Jackson's This Is It'". About.com. IAC/InterActiveCorp. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  21. The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again (TV Movie 2016) - Full cast & crew - IMDb . Retrieved 2025-09-05 via www.imdb.com.
  22. "Disney Branded Television Press" . Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  23. "Tony Testa - Other works". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  24. "Tony Testa Faculty Bio | Broadway Dance Center". broadwaydancecenter.com. 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  25. The Voice UK (TV Series 2012– ) - Full cast & crew - IMDb . Retrieved 2025-09-06 via www.imdb.com.
  26. "GASP ZINE 10: "THE PEOPLE'S ISSUE" FEATURING TONY TESTA". GASP ZINE. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  27. Panizza, Raffaella. "Stefania Spampinato" . Retrieved 2025-09-05 via PressReader.
  28. "Faculty". nycdance.com. NYCDA. Archived from the original on 2017-08-14. Retrieved 2013-04-12.
  29. "EDUCATORS". Monsters Dance. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  30. levine, debra (2021-11-22). "Quarantine blues, back-to-nature edition | arts•meme" . Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  31. "Daring D2D Film Festival Moves With Impressive Awe and Tears". L.A. Dance Chronicle. 2023-10-31. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  32. "August 11-20, 2022". hollyshorts2022.eventive.org. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  33. "Spotify – Web Player". Spotify. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  34. "DisInteGrated". Oct 18, 2021.
  35. "ORIGIN".
  36. "Welcome to the 16th Annual BronzeLens Film Festival". bronzelens.eventive.org. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  37. "b1 FORT COLLINS, CO (FILM + PHOTO EXHIBITION + LIVE PERFORMANCE)". b1. 2024-09-27. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  38. Staff (2024-09-03). "Tony Testa Explores Dance Through Film & Photography with World Premiere of b1 in Fort Collins | NOCO Style Magazine" . Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  39. "tony testa | arts•meme". 29 August 2023. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  40. "Denna Thomsen and Zak Ryan Schlegel's Congress VIII Continues the Magic". L.A. Dance Chronicle. 2023-08-31. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  41. Vargas, Steven (2023-08-30). "On my mind". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  42. Testa, Tony (2025-06-06). A spine-tingling dance of light and shadow . Retrieved 2025-09-06 via www.ted.com.
  43. "CALENDAR". b1. 2025-07-19. Retrieved 2025-09-06.