LaTonya Swann | |
|---|---|
 Niko Tumamak and Swann at UW-Madison Dance Competition | |
| Born | February 4, 1991 District Heights, MD, U.S. |
| Occupation | Dancer, choreographer, actress, model, philanthropist, |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Website | |
LaTonya Swann (born February 4, 1991) is an American dancer, choreographer, print model, philanthropist, and the first winner of BET's Born to Dance (TV series): Laurieann Gibson. [1]
LaTonya Swann was raised in District Heights, Maryland and graduated from Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High School in 2009. She was a member of the Jr Washington Redskins All Star Dance Team, and Capitol Movement Faculty and Alumni, training in hip hop, jazz, ballet, and contemporary. [2] [3] After winning the $50,000 prize on Born to Dance in 2011 Swann moved to Los Angeles and working bicoastally, opened a large scale dance studio in Capitol Heights, Maryland which shares the name of her "Seize The Dance" chest tattoo. [1] Swann has worked as a dancer and/or actress with Lady Gaga, Dawn Richard, Cassie, Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Lil Mama, Aloe Blacc, Beyoncé, Cher Lloyd, Avenged Sevenfold, Memphis May Fire, Pharrell Williams, Alicia Keys, Tinie Tempah, Jonas Åkerlund, Gil Green, Colin Tilley, Rich Lee, Joe Dante, Matt Alonzo, Jon Jon Augustavo, Melina Matsoukas, and So Me. She has worked as a choreographer on television, tours, music videos, and stage plays including 106 and Park, WDCW and Royal The Stage Play written and directed by Chris Clanton. She has been a celebrity judge and instructor for University of Wisconsin–Madison Move If You Want It Dance Competition, [4] and celebrity guest instructor for Get Kids Movin National Kids Fitness Convention. [5]
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 Lady Gaga with her Monster Ball Tour Performance being the final show challenge. [6]
| Season | Week | Dancers | Challenge | Description | Episode title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born to Dance (season 1) | 1 | Top 20 | Casting | "Aspiring dancers vie for top honors and a $50,000 prize in this reality-competition series starring celebrity choreographer Laurieann Gibson. First up: Laurieann and her team preside over open casting calls for female dancers." | The Search Begins |
| 2 | Top 17 | Essentials of Dance | "Laurieann teaches the essentials of dance to her charges, zeroing in on ballet, hip-hop and jazz. Elsewhere, the dancers cook up dinner plans for their tutor, but the heat is on when they make a big mistake." | Triple Threat | |
| 3 | Top 12 | Music Video | "Laurieann offers a course on the essentials of music videos, after which the dancers take part in a video shoot. Meanwhile, family problems impact one contestant." | Designing Dancers | |
| 4 | Top 10 | The Mo'Nique Show | "The dancers take to the stage to perform before an audience at "The Mo'Nique Show," yet a division surfaces when one contestant withdraws from the others." | The Reckless Necklace | |
| 5 | Top 8 | Commercials | "The dancers shoot a commercial for a vacuum cleaner, but some of them don't hold the assignment in high regard, raising Laurieann's ire." | Suck It Up | |
| 6 | Top 8 | Partnering | "Laurieann's favorite male dancers arrive at the studio, resulting in the lady contestants gaining a partner on the dance floor—and off it as well." | Boys Boys Boys | |
| 7 | Top 6 | Lady gaga auditions and head shots | "The dancers try to kick up their careers by auditioning for a Lady Gaga show. They receive makeovers and take head shots, but one contender spirals downward when she's unhappy with her look." | Born To Glam | |
| 8 (Finale) | Top 3 | Lady Gaga Performance | "In the Season 1 finale, the contestants perform with songstress Lady Gaga, after which the winning dancer is named." | The Monster Ball | |
Laurieann Gibson 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 Beyoncé. Her music video directing credits include "Judas", "You and I" and "Love to My Cobain".
Fernando Garibay, known mononymously as Garibay, is an American record producer, songwriter, DJ and entrepreneur.
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenager, singing at open mic nights, and acting in school plays. She studied at Collaborative Arts Project 21, through New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, before dropping out to pursue a career in music. After Def Jam Recordings canceled her contract, she worked as a songwriter for Sony/ATV Music Publishing, where she signed a joint deal with Interscope Records and Akon's label, KonLive Distribution, in 2007. Gaga rose to prominence the following year with her debut studio album, The Fame, and its chart-topping singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". The album was later reissued to include the EP The Fame Monster (2009), which yielded the successful singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone", and "Alejandro".
Kherington Taylor Payne is an American dancer, actress, choreographer, television personality and singer who came to prominence as a Top 10 Finalist in Season 4 of the hit reality-dance show So You Think You Can Dance and in a role in the 2009 reinvention of the movie Fame. She has been a principal dancer for Katy Perry, and was a lead cast member on E! reality docu-drama The Dance Scene. Payne was also briefly a member of the third line-up of the girl group The Pussycat Dolls. She was a choreographer on the YouTube show Dance Showdown.
Dave Scott is an American hip-hop dance teacher, choreographer, and talent developer. He gained widespread success from his choreography in movies, primarily the 2004 dance film You Got Served and the 2008 dance film Step Up 2: The Streets. He is a resident choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance and The PULSE on Tour dance convention.
The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 12, 2010 at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. Chelsea Handler hosted the event, the first woman in sixteen years – since the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards – to do so.
The 2011 MTV Video Music Awards took place on August 28, at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. On July 20, the nominees were announced. Katy Perry received the most nominations this year at ten, followed by Adele, and Kanye West, who were both tied at seven. A Britney Spears tribute was held, consisting of adult and children dancers alike, they wore costumes based on the music videos of Spears. British television director Hamish Hamilton directed the show for television viewing.
Born This Way is the second studio album by American singer Lady Gaga, released by Interscope Records on May 23, 2011. It was co-written and co-produced by Gaga with several producers, including RedOne and Fernando Garibay, who had previously worked with her. She also worked with artists such as E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons and Queen guitarist Brian May.
"Born This Way" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga, and the lead single from her second studio album of the same name. Written by Gaga and Jeppe Laursen, who produced it along with Fernando Garibay and DJ White Shadow, the track was developed while Gaga was on the road with The Monster Ball Tour. Inspired by 1990s music which empowered women, minorities and the LGBT community, Gaga explained that "Born This Way" was her freedom song. She sang part of the chorus at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards in 2010 and announced the song as the lead single from the album, released on February 11, 2011.
"You and I" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Lady Gaga, taken from her second studio album, Born This Way (2011). She also co-produced it with Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The track samples Queen's "We Will Rock You" (1977) and features electric guitar by Queen's Brian May. Gaga debuted "You and I" in June 2010 during her performance at Elton John's White Tie and Tiara Ball. Footage of the performance appeared on the Internet, and positive response encouraged her to include the song on her setlist for The Monster Ball Tour. She later performed the song on Today to a record crowd in July 2010, and on The Oprah Winfrey Show in May 2011. On August 23, 2011, Interscope Records released the song as the fourth single from the album.
"The Edge of Glory" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga from her second studio album, Born This Way (2011). The song was released on May 9, 2011, as the album's third single. Initially released as one of two promotional singles for Born This Way, it shortly became a single following its success in digital outlets worldwide. The song was written and produced by Gaga and Fernando Garibay, and is a pop, electro-rock, and disco song that speaks of the last moments of life. According to Gaga, lyrical inspiration came from the death of her grandfather, who died in September 2010. Along with a saxophone solo played by Clarence Clemons, the melody of the song resembles much of the musical works of Bruce Springsteen, and contains several qualities similar to that of 1980s adult contemporary musical works.
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Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden is a 2011 concert special which documents the February 21 and 22, 2011 shows of American pop singer Lady Gaga's worldwide concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour. Filmed at Madison Square Garden in Gaga's hometown of New York City, the two-hour special was directed by the singer's choreographer Laurieann Gibson and produced by HBO. It was first broadcast on the channel on May 7, 2011, a day after Gaga's last date of The Monster Ball Tour. The special was released on November 21, 2011, on DVD and Blu-ray by Media Blasters.
The Dance Scene is an American reality television series on E! that follows the lives of Laurieann Gibson and her team of professional dancers and choreographers as they live and work in the highly competitive dance and entertainment industry, preparing for variety of performances around the world. The Dance Scene premiered April 10, 2011 on the E! Network in the United States, and has since been broadcast in countries around the world.
Born to Dance is an American reality TV show hosted by choreographer Laurieann Gibson. The series will premiere on BET on August 2, 2011.
Born to Dance is a reality dance competition show for women on BET starring Laurieann Gibson which debuted on August 2, 2011 at 10:00pm. Contestants will compete for a prize of $50,000 which will go to the winner. Auditions for the show were held in New York City, Los Angeles and Atlanta. The series premier averaged 1.2 million viewers. On the final episode broadcast September 20, 2011, LaTonya Swann was announced as the winner.
Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga was a planned co-headlining concert tour by American record producer and vocalist Kanye West, and singer Lady Gaga. For the tour, which would have supported West's fourth album 808s & Heartbreak (2008) and Gaga's The Fame Monster EP (2009), the pair conceived a production that would unite their different musical audiences. The tour was scheduled to run from November 2009 to January 2010, but was canceled after public controversy regarding West's interruption of Taylor Swift's Best Female Video speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Shortly after the cancellation, Gaga embarked on her own tour, The Monster Ball Tour, while West took a break from his career.
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