Dave Scott (choreographer)

Dave Scott (born 1974) 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.

This article is about the choreographer. For other uses, see Dave Scott (disambiguation).
Dave Scott
Scott in December 2010
Born1974
Compton, California, USA
Alma materWeber State University
OccupationChoreographer, talent developer
AgentMcDonald Selznick Associates[1]
Height6 ft 4 in (193 cm)[2]
AwardsBest Choreography in Film – Fred and Adele Astaire Award
2008 Step Up 2: The Streets
Best Choreography in a Feature Film –
American Choreography Award
2004 You Got Served

Early life

Scott was born and raised in Compton, California. He is 6'4 and has never taken any dance classes or had any formal training.[3][4] He started dancing as a hobby when he was 15.[5] He learned how to dance from watching musicals, b-boy movies, and music videos, namely those of Michael Jackson whom he cites as one of his influences.[2][5] He acknowledges hip-hop dance pioneers Stefan "Mr. Wiggles" Clemente and Timothy "Popin' Pete" Solomon as influences as well.[6]

As a teenager, he further developed his skills by forming his own b-boy crew and battling other crews in his neighborhood.[4] After graduating high school, Scott attended Weber State University on a basketball scholarship where he earned an associate's degree in business.[2][3][7] He got his first professional dance job while in Utah by chance when he was asked to replace a dancer on a concert tour after being spotted dancing in a club.[4] He later returned to California and started his career by dancing on tours and in music videos.

Career

From tours and music videos, he built relationships in the dance community and moved into teaching classes and doing choreography for film and television.[3] He describes his choreography style as aggressive, melodic, and energetic.[5] He has worked with singers such as Ginuwine, B2K, Tyrese, Brian McKnight, Jon B, IMX, rapper Bow Wow, and Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski.[1][4][8] He is the choreographer and co-creator of teen R&B group Mindless Behavior.[9]

In 2012, he co-choreographed the Ubisoft video game The Hip Hop Dance Experience with Laurieann Gibson and b-boy David "Kid David" Shreibman.[10] As of May 2013, he is a mentor/judge on Danceamatic.com, a website that host monthly choreography competitions.[11]

Film

In 2001, Scott formed the teen R&B group B2K and served as their choreographer and stylist.[3][12] With the group he went on to choreograph the movie You Got Served which featured all four singers in primary roles. In 2004, he won an American Choreography Award for Best Choreography in a Feature Film.[5] Following the success of the movie, he released an instructional dance DVD, You Got Served:Take it to the Streets which teaches viewers how to do the dance routines featured in the film. In addition to You Got Served, he co-choreographed Step Up 2: The Streets with Jamal Sims and Nadine "Hi Hat" Ruffin.[13] In 2008, he won a Fred and Adele Astaire Award for Best Choreography in Film.[2][14][15]

Scott also choreographed the movies Fresh, Stomp the Yard, Dance Flick, House Party 4, and Coach Carter.[3] In 2010, Scott appeared in the independent documentary MOVE — a film about how people in the dance industry were able to go from dancing as a hobby to dancing as a career.[16] He choreographed the 2013 film Battle of the Year: The Dream Team[1] which is based on the 2007 documentary Planet B-Boy.

Television

In 2003, he was a guest choreographer on The Wade Robson Project. He was also a guest choreographer on Step It Up and Dance and on season seven of Dancing with the Stars.[17] Since season three he has been a recurring hip-hop choreographer on the show So You Think You Can Dance.[1]

Teaching

In conjunction with Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Scott serves as the director of the Los Angeles Hip Hop Intensive.[2] He is a faculty member with PULSE dance convention,[12] Millennium Dance Complex,[18] and Broadway Dance Center.[19]

References
  1. "MSA Agency: Dave Scott". MSAAgency.com. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
  2. "Dave Scott". LAHipHopIntensive.com. Archived from the original on February 16, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
  3. Arthur, Sylvia (February 1, 2009). "Dancing with a star: Dave Scott". Clutch. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
  4. Sanchez, Tim (January 22, 2008). "Dave Scott: Dance Fever". AllHipHop.com. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  5. Diffenderfer, Terry (August 29, 2008). "After 20 years in hip-hop, Dave Scott is everywhere you look". Dance. Archived from the original on June 3, 2010. Retrieved March 12, 2010. I would like for them to feel everything, all the emotions, all of the characteristics, everything that I bring to the table on stage. I would like the audience to feel the aggression and the energy because my style is tangent. It is aggressive; it's melodic and very energetic. I want the crowd to walk away feeling that they want some more, but they got to prepare for it.
  6. "The Extra Shot: Dave Scott". SixShot. January 7, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  7. "Dave Scott/The American Choreography Awards" (Press release). iPressroom. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
  8. "Dave Scott – Stomp The Yard". Aris-Dance.com. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
  9. Goodall, Frederick (March 18, 2013). "A Parent's Guide to Music Your Kids Like: Mindless Behavior". Babble.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2013. Four years ago, our managers Keisha Gamble and Walter Millsap held an audition and that’s where Roc and I [Princeton] met. Our Choreographer Dave Scott discovered Prodigy on YouTube. A couple of months later, Ray Ray auditioned and was added to the group. We’ve been together almost every day since then.
  10. Vasquez, Andres (July 27, 2012). "Hip Hop Dance Experience: How A Video Game Hopes To Capture Hip Hop's Love Of Dance". HipHopDX.com. Retrieved September 20, 2012. The Hip Hop Dance Experience comes with routines from notable choreographers Laurieann Gibson, Dace [sic] Scott and Kid David.
  11. "Order custom feedback from any Danceamatic mentor!". Danceamatic.com. May 26, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  12. "Dave Scott". ThePulseOnTour.com. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
  13. DeBruge, Peter (February 13, 2008). "New US Release: Step Up 2 the Streets". Variety. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
  14. "2007-08 Fred & Adele Astaire Award Winners Announced". BroadwayWorld.com. May 15, 2008. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
  15. Gans, Andrew; Hetrick, Adam (May 15, 2008). "Liff, Olivo, Ashford and Scott Win Fred & Adele Astaire Awards". Playbill.com. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
  16. "Featured Cast in Alphabetical order". MoveTheFilm.com. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
  17. "Dancing with the Stars Elimination Night Recap: Week Seven". GossipSauce.com. November 6, 2008. Archived from the original on September 11, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
  18. "Dave Scott". MillenniumDanceComplex.com. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
  19. "Dave Scott". BroadwayDanceCenter.com. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
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