From pop to purpose: Tony Testa at TEDxPacificPalisades

Tony Testa started dancing at 8 years old, studying tap, ballet, jazz, contemporary, break-dance, & hip-hop in his hometown of Fort Collins, CO. From an early age he assisted the classes that his mom would teach, and soon enough he had unveiled a true passion for choreography.
Since moving to LA in 2005, he has choreographed for Janet Jackson, Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, Nikki Minaj, Versace, Sketchers, Toyota, SYTYCD Holland, Disney, & Nickelodeon. He also worked for MJ on his final project, This is it.
In addition to choreography, Tony's career as Artistic Director has taken off. One Direction for SNL, & The Voice UK were his most recently directed pieces. He was the Associate Director for Kylie Minogue's "APHRODITE: Les Folies" World Tour and he Co-Directed the opening of the 2011 AMA's with Nicki Minaj & David Guetta. Currently, he is in the midst of a 3 year collaboration with a KPOP company in Seoul, S. Korea, all while teaching dance workshops across the country to share his love for this transformational art form.
For more info and to see some of Tony's work, visit: / ajt31
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

[@kylehanagami]

Incredible.

[@AmaniJaeMusic]

"There is no Plan B, Because there is no Planet, B" WOW

[@user-em7uu5nr6h]

I wonnder how he ended up working with singers from sm entertainment, even though he said that he quit choregraphing. well....still, i really liked the video :)

[@gerachannel]

Really? Did he quit choreographing? 😱

[@coolkid-xc1yi]

I dn't know if he quit choreographing. He did choreograph nct fire truck and thst song came out in 2016

[@omegavladosovich6757]

@@gerachannel Considering how close he is to Wade Robson who commented here, I get a feeling he realized Jackson's corruption to society and took a step back. Listen to 3:10 he tries to lowkey expose MJ!

[@RileyKohler]

I love Tony so much.

[@muzainas8664]

'I had changed one person and that was me. The entire time I was creating this piece, it was re-creating me' THIS IS ART!

[@aliciafawcett6350]

What a creative way to create awareness to the public, through the inspirational passion and art of dance. Go Tony!

[@robinott5565]

Hi Tony! Loved your speech. I was engaged & inspired! Love you cousin!

[@russelldague]

Powerful, wonderful and meaningful. Thank you, Tony for sharing your vision, insight and amazing talent. Russell

[@deca2k]

Mr. Toni Testa. You are a brilliant director and choregrapher! Inspired by your work!

[@nika_]

Wow. Amazing piece mr. Testa

[@tamralind]

WOW! Love this!

[@av-eb8ky]

Wowie. Beautiful.

[@Shablambrose]

WOW! This is a level above.

[@KimberlyJordan]

Thank you, Tony! What a beautiful lesson learnt.

[@heidijo5090]

Pretty awesome Tony! I love watching all your videos! Can't believe how much you look like Uncle John. Keep posting!

[@eriksaradpon]

Just amazingly powerful.

[@heatheret46]

Wow the choreographer is amazing tht dance piece opened my eyes...makes me miss choreography

[@user-dv4hk5zw8m]

so deep, so meaningful and so artistic !

[@1Coachtara]

Brilliant!!! CT

[@Deedubau]

If anyone is wondering, the other guy he mentioned I think is world class choreographer Brian Friedman. Both incredibly talented and they make things dancing look so smooth and natural, as if they were born to do this type of thing.

[@omegavladosovich6757]

Really, I thought he was talking about Wade Robson who was going through a revelation about his relationship with you-know-who. You can see Wade commented below and recently Tony endorsed Wade's dance class. Notice how he talks about celebrities he was blindingly idolizing and finding out they weren't what he thought. I think he supports Wade at this point.

[@GroovewithWade]

The speech = Humble, honest, engaging, perfect touch of humor, emotional, educational. AKA, Beautiful. The piece = Architectural Digest gotz nothing on it, the pace of a page turning novel, an exquisite balance of clarity and metaphor, raw, elegant and emotional. AKA, Exquisite.

[@beme3076]

Oh God I wanna donate him clothes 😂