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Dave Scott danced his way “straight outta Compton” into a career in dance, choreography, and artist development encompassing music, film, television, and commercials. He began his career working with top recording artists such as B2K, Tyrese, Ginuwine, Brian McKnight, Bow Wow and Olympic Gold medalist, Tara Lipinski. Dave has gone on to choreograph some of the biggest blockbuster dance films in recent history such as You Got Served, Stomp The Yard, and Step Up 2. Currently he is choreographing Snowflake for the Wayans Bros. In addition, he created his own instructional DVD, Take It To The Floor, featuring his own unique brand of dance.
A self-taught dancer who cites Michael Jackson as his biggest inspiration, Scott began imitating the moves he saw in videos and films such as Breakin’ and Beat Street when he was a teenager. The stubbed toes and bruised shins from break dancing allowed him to empathize with young kids like B2K whom he developed. At six-foot-four, Scott was on a basketball scholarship at Weber State University in Utah when he got his first break as a dancer. A local dance troupe set to perform a 10-minute show before a concert by a known rapper invited Scott to replace one of their dancers. It was his first public performance.
Scott began to find work as a dancer in music videos and toured with recording artist, Ginuwine. It wasn’t long before he discovered that he also liked to create and be behind the scenes. He was soon choreographing and directing shows and tours for Brian McKnight, Tyrese, Jon B and IMX among other artists. He became inspired to create his own group of teen idols that would appeal to young fans…in the tradition of New Edition and Another Bad Creation. He ended up creating two groups, one of which was B2K. It proved to be the right mix of energies. Scott gave B2K their name, style, hot dance moves and all out sex appeal and took them to impresario Chris Stokes to handle the music. In just two years, B2K scored two platinum albums, a Christmas album and a remix CD, and headlined the sold-out Scream Tours. Scott, who choreographed the features House Party 4 and Good Burger, decided the next logical step was a feature film debut for B2K.
You Got Served, starring B2K, brought Scott full circle, as the film contains elements of his own personal experiences when was coming up. The movie follows the competitive world of street dancing where crews battle each other for money and respect. As master choreographer, Scott led them into battle.
“I gave a challenge to them and a challenge to myself,” he says, noting that is something he always does, whether it’s a live performance, video or a master class. “I always want to impress and be top notch. I try to take myself outside of myself, try to become the audience and think about what’s going to make people go ‘oooohhh’, try to give them that wow factor.”
The success of his earlier work has made Dave a sought-after choreographer in all areas of the business. He has lent his talents to recent commercial campaigns for Sunny Delight, Pantene, and Chevy Cobalt. In addition to the Fox television drama Bones, Scott choreographed the hit film Coach Carter and choreographed for the Brian McKnight’s music video Used to be My Girl. Even with his busy schedule, he still teaches Master Classes across the US, inspiring young dancers wherever he goes.
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