Travis Wall Biography
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Travis Wall
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| Travis Michael Wall | |
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| Born | September 16, 1987 Virginia Beach, Virginia |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation | Dancer Dance instructor |
| Known for | runner-up on Season 2 of So You Think You Can Dance |
| Relatives | Danny Tidwell |
| Website http://www.traviswall.tv |
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Travis Michael Wall (born September 16, 1987, Virginia Beach, Virginia), an American dancer and dance instructor specializing in contemporary dance and hip-hop. 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.
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Personal
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"I was born into the studio and all I really know is dance."
—Travis Wall1
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Wall grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He began dancing at the age of three, training at his mother's studio, Denise Wall's Dance Energy, and competing in a number of conventions.2
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
Career
Early career
His professional career officially started at the age of nine when he appeared in a Dr. Pepper commercial.3. On April 27, 2000, at age 13, he started a two-year run in "The Music Man" on Broadway, playing a resident of River City/Winthrop Paroo understudy.4
"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. People have said that Travis is one of the best contemporary dancers that has ever appeared on "So You Think You Can Dance."citation needed
While on the show, Wall danced in Mia Michaels "The Bench" routine for which she later won an Emmy for Outstanding Choreography.5 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 four auditions to teach choreography. He did a surprise audition on the 4th episode as "Danielle Chorizo".
In Week 6 of season 5 of So You Think You Can Dance, Wall choreographed a contemporary piece for Jeanine Mason and Jason Glover to the song "If It Kills Me" (The Casa Nova Sessions) by Jason Mraz, for which the judges gave both Wall and the dancers a standing ovation. This routine was later chosen by Mary Murphy as her favorite performance of season five. In Week 7 of season 5, Wall choreographed a contemporary group routine for the remaining top 8 dancers. He was, once again, commended for his brilliant choreography. 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.
Post-SYTYCD
Travis 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.6
Wall performs regularly with American Dance Artists, in Delmarva, as well as for Evolution dance company in Los Angeles. 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. It was made for the viewer's entertainment rather than for instructional purposes.
Wall was in the 2008 Disney movie, Bedtime Stories (film) starring Adam Sandler, alongside SYTYCD season 3 contestant, Lacey Schwimmer.
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.7
Wall was featured in the photography book Moving Still: a Life Performance by David Benaym.
Footnotes
- ^ a b Marshall, Lea (January 2007). "Winning Attitude" Dance Magazine. 81 (1):212-214
- ^ No byline (2006). "Travis Wall" Fox.com. Retrieved August 28, 2007
- ^ Travis Wall: Portrait of the young man as an artist movmnt, June 20, 2006.
- ^ No byline. The Music Man Production Credits Ibdb.com. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
- ^ "Idol Gives Back". American Idol. 9 April 2008 No. 7, Episode 29
- ^ Wall, Travis. movmnt magazine [online video]. "Whoopi Goldberg to Travis Wall: 'movement is everything!'"
External links
- Official website
- Travis Wall at 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
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