I. Introduction
Tony Testa is a highly acclaimed, award-winning American dancer, cinematographer, educated and creative director who has worked with artists in Western and k-pop including Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Ariana Grande, SHINee, EXO, Super Junior, TVXQ!, Girls' Generation and NCT. Testa created some of k-pop's most iconic choreography, such as EXO's "tree" in "Wolf."
II. Career
He moved to LA in 2005 to work as a dancer and was hired in the same year to choreograph for Janet Jackson. He continued to choreograph and direct artists on their tours, including Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue, as well as TV shows, including Dancing with the Stars and the American Music Awards in the United States and The Voice UK in England. He was also selected as an assistant choreographer for Michael Jackson's last tour.
Known for his complex, theatrical choreography, elaborate lifts and intricate floor work, he began working with SM Entertainment in 2012 as a performance director focused on dance, training dancers and creating iconic choreos, including EXO "Wolf" and SHINee "Sherlock," which was the most expensive choreography in k-pop at the time. He trained the members that would become NCT, as well as choreographing several of their early and memorable choreos, including "Cherry Bomb" and "Fire Truck" for NCT 127 and "My First and Last" for NCT Dream.
In this video, he is working with the SM Rookies pre-debut group, who would all later debut in NCT (except for one male member.)
Here he demonstrates his choreo for TVXQ!
He continues to work as a choreographer, director and educator.
III. Choreography
Work in k-pop and J-pop
- Super Junior - "Devil"
- EXO - "Wolf"
- EXO - "Overdose"
- TVXQ! - "Something
- SHINee - "Married to the Music" (with Hwang Sanghoon)
- SHINee - "Everybody"
- SHINee - "Sherlock"
- SHINee - "Dream Girl"
- TVXQ! - "Catch Me"
- NCT 127 - "Fire Truck"
- NCT 127 - "Cherry Bomb"
- NCT Dream - "My First and Last"
IIII. Creative Director
- EXO - Lost Planet World Tour (Creative Director/Writer/Set Designer)
Dance practices are included whenever possible to show the full choreography.
EXO - Wolf
TVXQ! - Catch Me
NCT Dream - My First and Last
SHINee - Sherlock
NCT 127 - Fire Truck
