This event is booked to capacity.
Join us as television's top Choreographers present original pieces or recreate memorable works in this celebration of dance. Conceived by four-time Outstanding Choreography Emmy nominee Mandy Moore (So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With The Stars, La La Land), this event will feature an array of dance styles and concepts, as well as the opportunity to hear the artists talk about their creative process.
This will be a one-of-a-kind experience for members of the Academy and we hope that you will join us for a night of exceptional dancing and the opportunity to discover the scope of the choreographer's craft and artistry.
A champagne & dessert reception will follow.
Only Television Academy Members with valid membership cards. Seating is subject to availability; first come, first served. Admittance is not guaranteed.
Event Participants *
 Mandy Moore | Mandy Moore is a four-time Emmy nominee in Outstanding Choreography for her work on So You Think You Can Dance. She is also a producer and choreographer on Dancing with the Stars. Mandy's choreography can currently be seen in the highly acclaimed film La La Land, written and directed by Damien Chazelle. Mandy recently choreographed Jimmy Fallon's opening number for the Golden Globes (a take-off on La La Land's opening), where the film won a record-breaking seven awards. Mandy choreographed Shania Twain's hit show, You're Still the One, as well as Celine Dion's sold-out Taking Chances concert tour; Britain's Strictly Come Dancing; and Cirque du Soleil's My Immortal, among many others. Other recent television credits include Disney's 60th Anniversary Celebration; Modern Family; Glee and American Idol; as well as commercials for Target, Amazon Prime, and Skechers. Her other film credits include, David O. Russell's Oscar-nominated films American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook, and Leslye Headland's film Sleeping With Other People. | |
 Kathryn Burns | Kathryn Burns is the newly minted 2016 Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Choreography for her work on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and prides herself on finding the funny. Originally from Texas, Kathryn moved to LA to hone her craft by performing and choreographing at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Kathryn still performs regularly at UCB where she can be seen every month starring in Quick & Funny Musicals. In addition to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, her choreography has been featured in Netflix's Wet Hot American Summer, Comedy Central's Key & Peele, CBS' 2 Broke Girls, and Adult Swim's Children's Hospital, just to name a few. Kathryn recently won World Choreography Awards for Key & Peele and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. She has worked with numerous recording artists, including the dancers alongside Pharrell Williams on the iconic HAPPY 24-hour music video, which won she and the team a Grammy for Best Music Video of the Year. | |
 Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo | Tabitha D'Umo and Napoleon D'Umo, known together as Nappytabs, are two-time Emmy Award-winning and four-time Emmy-nominated married choreographers who are often credited with developing lyrical hip-hop. They are best known for their choreography on So You Think You Can Dance and for being supervising choreographers and executive producers of America's Best Dance Crew. They own Nappytabs urban dancewear and have been working in the dance industry since 1996. The pair have provided creative direction for tours and live events by Christina Aguilera, Ricky Martin, Celine Dion, and Jennifer Lopez. From television and concerts, they moved into theater by directing the JabbaWockeeZ's MÜS.I.C. stage show and working with Cirque du Soleil; they choreographed Viva Elvis and were contributing choreographers for Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour and choreographed Madonna's Super Bowl halftime performance. Tabitha and Napoleon will serve as supervising choreographers for NBC's upcoming series, World of Dance, where elite dancers compete in epic battles of artistry, precision and athleticism. | |
 District 78 | District 78 is a four-man group known for their cinematic electronic music. Starting with their dubstep-laced debut album in 2010, they developed their signature sound using orchestral elements infused with hip-hop, pop, and electronic sounds. Their work creating unique music for dancers and choreographers allowed them to flourish in the television and film industry; creating groundbreaking music and remixes on Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew (MTV), The LXD (HULU), So You Think You Can Dance (FOX), Dancing With The Stars (ABC), Miss America Pageant (ABC), the title theme for Comedy Central's Roast Battle and music for the upcoming series Bill Nye Saves The World (Netflix) and World Of Dance (NBC). | |
 Derek Hough | Derek Hough is a multi-talented entertainer, author, two-time Emmy Award winner and eight-time nominee for Outstanding Choreography. He is also the only six-time champion of the hit ABC show Dancing with the Stars. Derek's memoir Taking the Lead; Lessons from a Life in Motion was named to the prestigious New York Times Best-Seller list. In 2014 and 2015 Hough and his sister Julianne teamed for a live stage dance concert MOVE Live on Tour performing in cities around the country. In 2016, Hough starred in NBC's Hairspray Live! Later this year, he moves to Broadway in the Harvey Weinstein production of Singin' in the Rain where he will star as Don Lockwood, the role Gene Kelly made famous. Hough's upcoming work will also include joining Jennifer Lopez and Ne-yo at the judges table for World of Dance, a dance competition program that will feature solo artists competing against duos and crews in all genres of dance. | |
 Anthony Morigerato | Anthony Morigerato is a tap dancer, director, and Emmy-nominated choreographer for So You Think You Can Dance. He is the founder and co-director of Operation: Tap, an online forum that is dedicated to immersing tap dancing into the public's consciousness. Anthony is also the Producer of AM Dance Productions which has produced live theatrical performances and film in NYC since 2006. As a performer, Anthony was a soloist and member of Michael Minery's Tapaholics (2002-2012), the lead tap dancer and choreographer for the musical group Matt and Anthony (2009-2012), a soloist and associate choreographer for Stacey Tookey's Still Motion (2012-Present), and a soloist for various dance festivals, music festivals, benefits, industrials, seminars, and performances since 1999. He has appeared as a choreographer and or a performer on television shows including America's Got Talent, The Arsenio Hall Show, So You Think You Can Dance, and the Tony Danza Show. Anthony holds the world record for "most tap sounds in one minute" having made 1,163 sounds. Anthony is an accomplished dancer in all disciplines having trained at Marymount Manhattan College where he performed the works of Robert Battle, Elizabeth Higgins, Jiri Kylian, David Parsons, Katie Langan and William Soleu. He has served as a teacher, choreographer, and adjudicator for dance organizations, competitions, theater schools, and dance studios all over the world since 1999. | |
 Kenny Ortega | Kenny Ortega began choreographing for television in the 1980s and quickly became one of the most sought after Choreographers for the industry's biggest musical artists, including Madonna, Fleetwod Mac, KISS, Gloria Estefan, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Bette Midler, Cher, Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, and The Pointer Sisters, to name a few. Ortega had the honor and privilege of working with the legendary Gene Kelly on the feature films Xanadu and One From The Heart. Kelly became Ortega's mentor and taught him his technique of designing choreography for the camera. Ortega's other film choreography includes Dirty Dancing, St. Elmo's Fire, and following his work with John Hughes on Pretty In Pink, John made him the choreographer and 2nd Unit Director of the classic parade sequence for Ferris Bueller's Day Off. This began his directing career. Ortega has directed many films and television series and directed and co-choreographed Disney Channel's High School Musical and High School Musical 2, the most watched program in cable telecast history. In 2008, Kenny directed and executive produced High School Musical 3: Senior Year for Walt Disney Motion Pictures. Kenny was Michael Jackson's director and creative partner for Dangerous, HIStory, and This Is It World Tours. Following Jackson's untimely passing, Kenny directed the documentary Michael Jackson's This Is It. Ortega executive produced, directed, and co-choreographed Disney's Descendants and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which premiered on FOX in 2016. Kenny is currently in post-production on Descendants 2. Among Ortega's Awards are, three Emmys Awards, two Director's Guild of America Awards, a Fred & Adele Astaire's annual Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement Award, a Bob Fosse Award, an American Choreography Lifetime Achievement Award, an MTV Video Music Award, American Music Award, ALMA Award, Nosotros Golden Eagle Award, Imagen Creative Achievement Award and an NAACP Award. | |
 Fatima Robinson | Fatima Robinson has been named one of Entertainment Weekly's "100 Most Creative People in Entertainment." She was recently invited to teach a master class at the White House to celebrate African-American Women and Dance. Through her work with artists such as Britney Spears, Meghan Trainor, Pharrell Williams, Black Eyed Peas, Fergie, Gwen Stefani, Lana Del Rey, Usher, Sade, Prince, Rihanna, Major Lazer, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J Blige, and more, Fatima has been the choreographer behind many of the most memorable moments in dance entertainment. On television her choreography has been featured on such popular shows as The Voice, Dancing With the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, and American Idol. Fatima choreographed NBC's live television production of The Wiz Live!, which aired last holiday season. She also served as segment producer for the Weekend's performance of "Earned It" at last year's Academy Awards, and choreographed Pharrell's unforgettable performance of the hit song "Happy" at the 2014 Academy Awards. She also notably choreographed the 2011 Super Bowl Halftime show with the Black Eyed Peas, 2012 Coachella Tupac Hologram, as well as the 2007 and 2009 Academy Awards, making her the second African-American woman in history to do so (Debbie Allen was the first). Recent film credits include Anchorman 2, This Is the End, and Lifetime's Whitney, as well as Dreamgirls, Charlie Wilson's War, American Gangster, Public Enemy, Ali, Confessions of a Shopaholic. Fatima has received numerous MTV VMA nominations for Best Choreography, including for will.i.am's #thatPOWER video, and was recently nominated for Video Director of the Year for the 2015 BET Awards. Her work as a choreographer and video director for the Black Eyed Peas has also earned her several MTV VMA nominations, including a win for Best Hip Hop Video for "My Humps" and Best Choreography for "Hey Mama". Fatima is acclaimed by critics and peers alike and has received multiple nominations for American Choreography Awards, Choreography Media Honors and a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Choreographer – Off-Broadway, for her theatrical debut, Radiant Baby, a musical based on the life of artist Keith Haring, produced and directed by George C. Wolfe at the New York Public Theater. | |
 Christopher Scott | Christopher Scott's credits as a choreographer include the 82nd Academy Awards, Lemonade Mouth, Teen Beach Movie and So You Think You Can Dance. He has also appeared as an actor and dancer in several movies including his most notable role as "Hair" in Step Up 2: The Streets, Step Up 3D, Step Up: Revolution, and Step Up: All In. In 2009, Scott teamed up with Harry Shum, Jr. to choreograph the super hero inspired web series The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, aka The LXD. An experiment in storytelling through dance, the series is the brainchild of writer/director/producer Jon Chu. Scott also appears in the series portraying the character "Copeland", a tap dancer haunted by his troubled past. In 2011, Scott made his So You Think You Can Dance debut and thereafter made frequent visits choreographing contestants' duets and group routines. He received Outstanding Choreography Emmy nominations for his work on the show in 2012 and 2014. | |
 Rich + Tone Taleuga | Rich + Tone Talauega are music video directors, creative directors, musicians, producers, and performers at the forefront of today's pop culture movement. They work in a range of artistic mediums and their projects include work for iPod, Coca-Cola, X-Box, Gap, Mitsubishi, Old Navy, and the feature films Step Up 3D, Battle of the Year: The Dream Team, StreetDance 2, and Save The Last Dance. They choreographed multiple numbers for Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour and Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson ONE in Las Vegas. They have collaborated with Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lopez, Usher, Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera, to name a few, and creative directed Madonna's MDNA Tour and her Super Bowl XLVI Half Time performance. In 2008, they served as Artistic Directors and Choreographers for a piece celebrating Macy's 150th Anniversary on Dancing with the Stars, in which they took viewers on a journey dancing through the decades and into the future. Rich + Tone have been nominated for numerous MTV Video Music Awards and received an Emmy Nomination for their work on the 2005 NAACP Image Awards. | |
 Travis Wall | Travis Wall is the Artistic Director of Shaping Sound Dance Company. He is a five-time Emmy nominated choreographer for his work on Fox's So You Think You Can Dance and ABC's Dancing with the Stars and the winner of the 2015 Emmy Award for his work on So You Think You Can Dance. Travis was the runner-up for So You Think You Can Dance Season 2 and is currently a resident choreographer for the national dance competition show. He choreographed the music video for Carrie Underwood's Something In The Water, which won the CMT Video of the Year, as well as stage shows for Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato. Additional TV credits include choreographing the 82nd Academy Awards, Disneyland's 60th Anniversary Special on ABC, the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards and an episode of Pretty Little Liars featuring Maddie Ziegler. Feature film credits include choreography for The Wedding Ringer starring Kevin Hart and the contemporary numbers for the feature film Step Up Revolution. He had the privilege of working with First Lady Michelle Obama, on her Let's Move Campaign where he created the GimmeFive routine that was performed on Ellen and at The White House. Travis teaches with NUVO Dance Convention. |
* subject to availability