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