- Travis Wall
-
Travis Michael Wall 
Born September 16, 1987
Virginia Beach, VirginiaNationality United States Occupation Dancer
Dance instructor
ChoreographerKnown for Runner-up on Season 2 of So You Think You Can Dance
Choreographer of So You Think You Can DanceRelatives Danny Tidwell Website http://www.traviswall.tv Travis Michael Wall (born September 16, 1987, Virginia Beach, Virginia), an American dancer and dance instructor specializing in contemporary dance and jazz dance. He is best known for his 2006 appearance as a competitor on the second season of the television show So You Think You Can Dance, which airs on the Fox Network. As of 2009, he is currently a choreographer for the show. In 2011, he was nominated for an Emmy for his work on the show's seventh season.
Contents
Early life
"I was born into the studio and all I really know is dance."
Travis Wall[1]Wall grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia. His mother, owner and operator of the eponymous Denise Wall's Dance Energy, recalls putting him in a walker and watching him imitate the dancers.[1] He began dancing at the age of three, training at his mother's studio, and competing in a number of conventions.[2][3]
Career
Early career and training
Travis Wall in a Dr. Pepper commercial from 1997.
His professional career officially started at the age of nine when he appeared in a Dr. Pepper commercial.[4] In 1999, he won the Junior National Outstanding Dancer Scholarship Award.[5] On April 27, 2000, at age 12, he started a two-year run in The Music Man on Broadway, playing a resident of River City/Winthrop Paroo understudy.[6] This gig led to him being chosen to perform at the 2000 New York City Dance Alliance's closing night gala.[5] In 2006, New York City Dance Alliance awarded Wall its Teen Outstanding Dancer of the Year award and he toured with them for a year.[7]
So You Think You Can Dance
In 2006, at the age of 18, Wall competed on the second season of the show So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD), making it to the final four contestants and coming in second place to overall winner Benji Schwimmer. Wall was praised by the judges as the most technically talented dancer in the competition. Nigel Lythgoe and Adam Shankman have listed Wall, his brother Danny Tidwell, Season 4's Will Wingfield and Season 5's Kayla Radomski as the most talented dancers on the show.
While on the show, Wall danced in Mia Michaels "The Bench" routine for which she later won an Emmy for Outstanding Choreography.[8] During the Fall of 2006, Wall toured the United States with the top 10 dancers from the So You Think You Can Dance competition. He returned to the show in 2008 during the Season 4 auditions to teach choreography. He did a surprise audition on the 4th episode as "Danielle Chorizo".
On July 23, 2009, Wall returned to So You Think You Can Dance along with fellow Season 2 contestant Heidi Groskreutz on the 100th episode of the show, to perform their Emmy award winning piece "The Bench" choreographed by Mia Michaels.
Week Partner Style Song Result 1 Martha Nichols Broadway "Steam Heat"— The Pointer Sisters Safe 2 Krump "Clap Back"—Ja Rule Safe 3 Hip-Hop "Just Fine"—Chris Brown Safe 4 Salsa "Tanga"—Machito and His Afro-Cubans Safe 5 Foxtrot "Witchcraft"—Steve Tyrell Bottom 3 Result Show Solo ""The Blower's Daughter"—Damien Rice Safe 6 Heidi Groskreutz Paso Doble "The Plaza of Execution" from The Mask of Zorro Safe Contemporary "Calling You"—Celine Dion Solo "Belief"—Gavin DeGraw 7 Donyelle Jones Hip Hop "London Bridge"—Fergie Bottom 4 Quickstep "Dancin' Fool"—Barry Manilow Result Show Solo "Gotta Get Thru This (Acoustic)"—Daniel Bedingfield Safe 8 Heidi Groskreutz Smooth Waltz "Flying"—Cait Agus Sean Safe Afro Pop "W'Happy Mama"—Zap Mama Solo "You And Me"—Lifehouse Results show solo "Flying Without Wings (A Capella version)"—Westlife 9 Heidi Groskreutz Disco "Shake Your Groove Thing"—Peaches & Herb Runner-Up Benji Schwimmer Hip Hop "Gyrate"—Da Muzicianz feat. Mr. Collipark Donyelle Jones Contemporary "Georgia On My Mind"—Ray Charles Solo "Konstantine"—Something Corporate Post-SYTYCD
Wall (center) on an April 2010 episode of Dancing with the Stars. His brother, Danny Tidwell, is on the right.Wall danced on the October 16, 2007 Dancing with the Stars results show, in a piece choreographed by and starring Wade Robson. Wall, along with Tidwell and many previous finalists of So You Think You Can Dance, performed during the second annual Idol Gives Back charity event on April 9, 2008. Nigel Lythgoe produced both shows at the time.[9]
Wall performs regularly with American Dance Artists, in Delmarva, as well as for Evolution dance company in Los Angeles, California. He teaches students contemporary dance at NUVO, a dance convention that tours the nation. In 2007, Wall and Ivan Koumaev made a dance video called Its About Time designed to be for the viewer's entertainment rather than for instructional purposes like most dance videos.
Wall was in the 2008 Disney movie Bedtime Stories alongside SYTYCD Season 3 contestant, Lacey Schwimmer, which starred Adam Sandler. In 2010 Wall worked as an assistant choreographer for the Academy Awards, alongside Mia Michaels and Brian Friedman.[10]
So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit: Cardio Funk was one of two home exercise videos released by the producers of SYTYCD. Wall choreographed a contemporary dance and corresponding cool-down routine for the video.[11]
Wall choreographed and performed in an ensemble piece featuring New York City Ballet principal ballerina Tiler Peck to a piece by Nuttin' But Stringz for ABC's Dancing with the Stars April 13, 2010 episode in a feature called "Macy's Stars of Dance".[12][13]
In 2010 Wall choreographed several numbers for the VMA's
Choreography for So You Think You Can Dance
Season Week Dancers Style Song Season 5 6 Jeanine Mason
Jason GloverContemporary "If It Kills Me"(The Casa Nova Sessions)—Jason Mraz[3] 7 Top 8 Jazz "Let It Rock"—Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil Wayne Season 6 1 Bianca Revels
Victor SmalleyContemporary "Wasted Time"[disambiguation needed 
]—Me'shell Ndegeocello4 Ellenore Scott
Ryan Di Lello"Your Ex-Lover Is Dead"—Stars 7 Ellenore Scott
Jonathan "Legacy" Perez"Machine Gun"—Portishead 8 Ashleigh Di Lello
Ryan Di Lello"I'm There Too"—Michelle Featherstone Season 7 Vegas All dancers Contemporary "A Beautiful Mess"—Jason Mraz Meet Your Top 11 Kent Boyd
Lauren Froderman
Mark Kanemura
Kathryn McCormickJazz "Paris is Burning"—St. Vincent 1 Adéchiké Torbert
Kathryn McCormick"Addicted to Love"—Florence and the Machine 2 Ashley Galvan
Mark Kanemura"Wonderful"—Annie Lennox 4 Lauren Froderman
Kent BoydContemporary "Collide" (acoustic version)—Howie Day 5 Robert Roldan
Allison Holker"Fix You"—Coldplay 8 Kent Boyd
Neil Haskell"How It Ends"—DeVotchKa Season 8 Vegas All dancers Contemporary "Yellow"—Vitamin String Quartet Meet the Top 20 Alexander Fost
Mitchell Kelly
Caitlynn Lawson
Ryan Ramirez
Ashley Rich"Moth's Wings"—Passion Pit 1 Sasha Mallory
Alexander Fost"Stupid [Mark Bell mix]"—Sarah Mclachlan Melanie Moore
Marko Germar"Turn to stone"—Ingrid Michaelson 5 Jordan Casanova
Tadd Gadduang"Brotsjór"—Ólafur Arnalds Caitlynn Lawson
Mitchell KellyJazz "Piece of My Heart"—Janis Joplin Publications
In February 2007, Wall was featured in a fashion/dance spread in movmnt magazine (which Tidwell co-founded). The following June, Wall interviewed Whoopi Goldberg for the magazine.[14]
Wall was featured in the photography book Moving Still: a Life Performance by David Benaym.[15]
Personal life
In 2007, his adoptive brother Danny Tidwell was a runner-up of the third season of So You Think You Can Dance. He, too, had trained with their mother Denise Wall, who also trained Jaimie Goodwin, a Season 3 contestant.[1] Wall is openly gay.[16]
Footnotes
- ^ a b c Marshall, Lea (January 2007). "Winning Attitude" Dance Magazine. 81 (1):212-214
- ^ No byline (2006). "Travis Wall" Fox.com. Retrieved August 28, 2007
- ^ a b Feller, Alison (April 2010), "Helping Haiti". Dance Spirit. 14 (4):16
- ^ Travis Wall: Portrait of the young man as an artist movmnt, June 20, 2006.
- ^ a b Perron, Wendy (October 2000), "HOT NUMBERS CAP DANCE ALLIANCE SESSION". Dance Magazine. 74 (10):43
- ^ No byline. The Music Man Production Credits Ibdb.com. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ (September 2006), "DANCING INSIDE THE BOX". Dance Magazine. 80 (9):46-52
- ^ Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
- ^ "Idol Gives Back". American Idol. 9 April 2008 No. 7, Episode 29
- ^ Feller, Alison (May/June 2010), "THE TALK OF THE TOWN". Dance Spirit.,14(5):54-56
- ^ Lawler, Terry Ann (November 2009), "So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit: Cardio Funk/So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit: Tone and Groove". School Library Journal. 55 (11):53
- ^ "Ep. 4 Results Show: Week Four". Dancing with the Stars. April 13, 2010. No. 4, season 10.
- ^ BLOOM, JULIE (April 7, 2010), "'Dancing' To Feature City Ballet Principal". New York Times. :3
- ^ Wall, Travis. movmnt magazine [online video]. "Whoopi Goldberg to Travis Wall: 'movement is everything!'"
- ^ Moving Still website. [1]
- ^ Ayers, Dennis (July 5, 2011). "So You Think You Can Interview Travis Wall". AfterElton.com. http://www.afterelton.com/people/2011/07/interview-with-travis-wall-so-you-think-you-can-dance?page=0,1. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
External links
- Official website
- Travis Wall on Myspace
- Travis Wall at the Internet Movie Database
- TravisWall-Online.Org Travis Wall fansite
- Travis Wall page at the Internet Broadway Database
- "Moving Still" book featuring Wall
So You Think You Can Dance Seasons Hosts Permanent judges Nigel Lythgoe (2005-present) · Mary Murphy (2007–2009, 2011–present) · Adam Shankman (2009–2010) · Mia Michaels (2010)Guest judges Choreographers Louis van Amstel · Dee Caspary · Dmitry Chaplin · Sean Cheesman · Alex Da Silva · Tyce Diorio · Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo · Brian Friedman · Anya Garnis and Pasha Kovalev · Jean-Marc Généreux · Jason Gilkison · Dan Karaty · Spencer Liff · Nakul Dev Mahajan · Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin · Mia Michaels · Ron Montez · Mandy Moore · Mary Murphy · Toni Redpath · Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson · Wade Robson · Doriana Sanchez · Benji Schwimmer · Christopher Scott · Dave Scott · Shane Sparks · Sonya Tayeh · Lil C · Stacey Tookey · Travis WallWinners Nick Lazzarini · Benji Schwimmer · Sabra Johnson · Joshua Allen · Jeanine Mason · Russell Ferguson · Lauren Froderman · Melanie Moore2nd place finalists1 Melody Lacayanga · Travis Wall · Danny Tidwell · Stephen "tWitch" Boss · Brandon Bryant · Jakob Karr · Kent Boyd · Sasha Mallory3rd place finalists1 Jamile McGee · Donyelle Jones · Neil Haskell · Katee Shean · Evan Kasprzak · Kathryn McCormick · Robert Roldan · Marko Germar4th place finalists1 Ashlé Dawson · Heidi Groskreutz · Lacey Schwimmer · Courtney Galiano · Kayla Radomski · Ellenore Scott · AdéChiké Torbert2 · Tadd GadduangOther finalists Other countries Click here for the complete list of contestants.
^2 Season 7 featured only three dancers as finalists at the end of its run. Although Torbert technically finished fourth, he was eliminated the week prior to the finale.
^1 Only the first season of the show provided an official percentage breakdown of the final vote. For the remaining seasons, second through fourth place finalists are based only on the order in which they were announced, which may not reflect the official vote breakdown.Categories:- 1987 births
- Contemporary dancers
- Dance instructors
- LGBT dancers
- LGBT people from the United States
- Living people
- People from Virginia Beach, Virginia
- So You Think You Can Dance contestants
- So You Think You Can Dance choreographers
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