ONTD Original: Wade Robson Choreography/Dance/Directing Over the Years
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You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com
Wade Robson was a major part of 2000s pop culture by choreographing and directing tours for Britney Spears and NSYNC, being the catalyst for the Britney Spears/Justin Timberlake break up, and choreographing and winning Emmys for some of the most memorable So You Think You Can Dance routines when the show was in its prime. The above videos are Wade Robson's 2007 and 2017 dance reels. In the description of the 2007 dance reel, you can also see Wade's 2008 resume. Under the cut, are dances/tours/films Wade has either choreographed, danced in, and/or directed. Wade has also remixed or written music for several of the routines he choreographed.
Dancing with Paula Abdul
Wade danced with Paula Abdul at a NBA game when he was only 10 years old.
Dancing with the Stars
Wade's "Macy Stars of Dance" for Dancing with the Stars that he choreographed and danced in.
Winner of two Emmys For Outstanding Choreography
"Ramalama (Bang Bang)" is arguably the most iconic group dance in So You Think You Can Dance history. It was first danced by the top 10 in season 2 and won Wade the 2007 Emmy for Outstanding Choreography. In season 5, this dance was reprised for the 100th episode of SYTYCD with Wade himself dancing in it this time.
Wade won another Emmy for Outstanding Choreography in 2008 for choreographing Hok and Jaimie's "Hummingbird and Flower" routine to "The Chairman's Waltz" on SYTYCD season 3.
MTV Icon
Wade choreographed P!nk, Usher, and Mya's Janet Jackson dance tribute to "Miss You Much," "Alright," "Pleasure Principle," and "Rhythm Nation" for the 2001 Janet Jackson MTV Icon Special when he was only 18 years old. Janet said that she heard P!nk say at the time that she had never worked so hard in her life. This tribute is universally acknlowedged as inifinitely better than the 2015 BET dance tribute choreographed by Gil Duldulao and danced by Tinashe, Jason Derulo, and Ciara.
I'm a Slave 4 U[slave 4 u]
Wade was 18 when he choreographed Britney Spears' "I'm a Slave 4 U." This is the 720p HD uncut dance version. The music video dance was all done in one shot.
You can also see Wade in the MTV Making Making the Video for "I'm a Slave 4 U."
Britney's 2001 VMAs performance of "I'm a Slave 4 U" is probably her most iconic performance and one of the most iconic VMAs performances of all time. It was Wade's idea for Britney to dance with the snake, which is still referenced to this day. Wade also did the choreography.
Rehearsal for the 2001 VMAs featuring Wade. Ignore the JT 2002 VMAs rehearsal that plays after the Britney/Wade 2001 VMAs rehearsal in the first video.
Wade Robson and Brian Friedman the choreographers for "I'm a Slave 4 U" (Mayte Garcia also worked on the choreography, specifcally the belly dancing segments) did the dance with Britney at "Total Britney Live." Wade destroyed Brian here tbh, but still thank you Brian for still supporting Wade to this day.
NSYNC's Pop[nsync pop]
Wade wrote (with JT), choreographed, and danced in NSYNC's "Pop." He stood in for Joey after Joey broke his leg when a trap door fell on it.
At 34:26 of MTV Making the Video for "Pop," you can see Wade dancing for Joey + Joey's commentary on it.
Wade also choreographed NSYNC and ... Michael Jackson's performance of "Pop" at the 2001 VMAs. He was only 18 years old. This video was working in every country yesterday, but today it seems to be blocked for copyright in my country today, so if also doesn't currently work for you in your country, watch here.
2001 Super Bowl Halftime Show[2001 super bowl halftime show]
Wade was only 18 when he choreographed the 2001 Super Bowl Halftime Show which featured NSYNC, Aerosmith, Britney Spears, Mary J Blige, and Nelly.
You can see Wade in MTV's Making the XXXV Halftime show.
Britney Spears' Pepsi Commercials[britney spears pepsi commercials]
Britney's Joy of Pepsi "Rooftop" commercial was choreogaphed by Wade. He also appears briefly as a dancer and also at the end both he and Britney are holding Pepsi cans.
Making of Britney's Joy of Pepsi "Rooftop" commercial, which features Wade.
Here is the dance rehearsal for the commercial, which shows Wade teaching his choreography to Britney and the dancers.
Wade also choreographed Britney's Pepsi "Now and Then" commercial. Not only was he the choreographer, but he also co-directed the commericial (with Joe Pytka) and remixed the music.
Behind the Scenes of the Pepsi "Now and Then" commercial, which features Wade.
Wade choreographed Britney's "Right Now" Pepsi FIFA World Cup commercial.
Behind the scenes of the "Right Now" commercial with Wade dancing the choreography with Britney.
More behind the scenes of the "Right Now" commercial with Wade helping Britney with choreography and soccer.
The Wade Robson Project[the wade robson project]
When Wade was 20, he had his own show in 2003 called The Wade Robson Project on MTV. It was one of the first dance reality shows and was a competition for amateur hip hop dancers. This show is where Twitch, Ellen's DJ, SYTYCD runner up, and Step Up dancer was first discovered. The video shows dances Wade choreographed and/or danced in for his own show. Also any ONTDers hit me up if you can find the entire show to watch online since I've been looking and can't find it :(.
More Award Show Choreography [more award show choreography]
When Wade was only 16, he choreographed and danced in Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time" performance at the 1999 VMAs. He is the dancer with red hair.
When Wade was only 17, he choreographed and remixed the music for Britney's "You Drive Me Crazy" and "Baby One More Time" performances at the 1999 EMAs and BBMAs.
Wade also choreographed NSYNC's 2000 VMAs performance when he was 17. The first video is the performance and the 2nd video is the rehearsal with Wade.
Again at 17, Wade choreographed and remixed the music for Britney's "Satisfaction/Oops I Did It Again" performance at the 2000 VMAs. First video is the performance and the 2nd video is rehearsal with the male dancers posted by Brian Friedman.
When Wade was 18, he choreographed NSYNC's "Just Got Paid" performance at the 2000 BBMAs.
Tours/Live Shows[tours/live shows]
At age 16, Wade choreographed, danced in, and produced the music for Britney's 1999 opening tour number. You can see him clearly in this video of Britney's 1999 Wango Tango performance.
At age 17, Wade choreographed and remixed music for Britney's "Crazy 2k Tour." In the opening "You Drive Me Crazy" performance, the music is remixed by Wade and it his voice going "It's Britney Spears, Baby."
Wade again did choreography and music remixes for Britney at age 17 on her "Oops I Did it Again" tour. The 1st video is the tour and the 2nd video is Britney rehearsing "Satisfaction" where you can see Wade.
At 17, Wade choreographed and directed NSYNC's "No Strings Attached Tour." The first video is a performance of "No Strings Attached" from Bigger than Live. The 2nd video is Wade, JC, and JT rehearsing the "No Strings Attached" choreography in footage from Leaving Neverland. The 3rd video is the entire HBO special for the tour. The 4th video is the MTV Making of the Tour video, which includes footage of Wade throughout.
You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com
Wade was 18 when he choreographed (with Brian Friedman), directed, wrote, and remixed music for Britney's "Dream Within a Dream" tour, which many fans consider Britney's best tour. The first video is the encore of the tour, Britney's "Baby One More Time" performance with the water screen. Wade remixed the track. The 2nd and 3rd videos are behind the scenes videos of the tour that feature Wade. See the entire Las Vegas HBO broadcast of the tour here.
Wade was 18 when he wrote, directed, and choreographed NSYNC's "PopOdyssey" tour. Wade also wrote and produced 4 songs on NSYNC's "Celebrity" album. "Celebrity" the title track was actually supposed to be for Wade's album (this never ended up happening since Wade kept getting drawn back to dance and choreography), but he was convinced to give it to NSYNC. The other 3 tracks he wrote and produced on were "Gone," "Pop," and "See Right Through You."
Criss Angel's "Believe" Cirque Du Soleil Show[criss angel believe tour opening]
Wade choreographed the opening performance, "Homage to the Rabbits," for Criss Angel's "Believe" Cirque Du Soleil show. This was the guest performance the show did on the season 4 finale of SYTYCD.
Burning Room[burning room]
You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com
"Burning Room" was a more lyrical and contemporary piece Wade choreographed. The first video is Ben Susak and Pam Chu (two of the dancers for the Criss Angel "Believe" show) dancing it, filmed by Wade. The 2nd video is Katee and Joshua dancing the routine for SYTYCD.
"Power" Commercial[power commercial]
Wade choreographed, danced, wrote, produced, and directed his "Power" commercial for his dance shoe.
Happy Feet Two[happy feet two]
Wade was the choreographer for the animated film Happy Feet Two. He also produced several songs for the Happy Feet Two soundtrack.
FLIGHT[flight]
You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com
Wade directed, wrote, edited, and produced a dance short film called "FLIGHT" starring SYTYCD alum Allison Holker, Teddy Forance and William Wingfield.
So You Think You Can Dance[sytycd]
The first duet Wade choreographed on SYTYCD was Heidi and Travis' Afropop in season 2, which is in the 1st video. The 2nd video is Wade dancing it himself in a class.
He also choreographed the season 2 top 4 group number to "Sexyback." The first video is the SYTYCD performance from Heidi, Travis, Donyelle, and Benji. The 2nd video is Wade performing it at a dance workshop.
Wade choreographed "Ruby Blue" for Janette and Brandon on season 5.
Wade choreographed the SYTYCD season 6, top 20 group routine to "Comanche." The first video is the SYTYCD top 20, while the 2nd video is Wade dancing it himself in a class.
Dance Classes/Conventions/Workshops/Tours[dance classes/conventions/workshops/tours]
Wade Robson and Dave Scott performing Dave's "Wings" by Maxwell choreography at Dallas PULSE Tour 2009. This was unplanned and done after someone asked them to do it in the Q&A. Wade learned this choreography in Dave's class with everyone else.
Wade's 2012 "Polite Dance Song" Masterclass Routine
You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com
Wade took a 5 year break from dancing from 2012 to 2017 and thought he would never dance again since dance had been tainted by the realization he was abused by MJ since dance was so tied in with MJ (ie. Wade started dancing at 2 because of MJ's thriller). He refound his relationship with dance though and came back to JUMP in 2017. The first video is him teaching dance at Brian Friedman's "The Main Event" in 2018. The 2nd video is him teaching dance at Gen 4 in 2018.
Blake McGrath "Tattooed"[tattooed]
Wade directed Blake McGrath's "Tattooed" video and Tricia Miranda did the choreography. At the 1:46 mark, Wade, Blake, and Brian Friedman all dance together. Wade outdances them tbh but thanks Brian and Blake for still supporting Wade to this day
2009 MTV Music Awards Janet Jackson Tribute to Michael Jackson[2009 vmas]
You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com
In Janet Jackson's 2009 MTV Tribute to Michael Jackson after his death, she was joined by all prominent dancers/choreographers: Tyce Diorio, Tina Landon, Jeri Slaughter, Travis Payne, Brian Friedman, Cris Judd, Dave Scott, Laurie Ann Gibson, and Wade Robson. Mia Michaels was also in the rehearsals and supposed to be part of the performance, but got injured the day before everyone left for New York.
In the MTV Making of MJ Tribute video, Janet confirmed that her collaboration with her brother Michael, "Scream," was about the first sexual abuse allegations against him and her supporting him through it all: "That's when the - I hate to say this but - the first allegations [of child molestation] came out and the whole bit. He was very upset and very angry and he had so much pent up in him that he wanted to get out and say. And when you listen to the lyrics, that's what it's about. I played the role that I've always played in his life: his little sister that was there by his side, that had his back no matter what. That's what 'Scream' was for me."
There is also a very sad part of the MTV Making of MJ Tribute, where you see Wade putting on the "Bad" gloves Michael gave him when he was 7 or 8 and saying that even though Michael will be there spirtually with them, he wanted to feel something physical from him and feel that much closer to him. :(((
Sources: 2007 Reel, 2017 Reel, Dancing with Paula Abdul, DWTS, Ramalama Bang Bang (1, 2), Hummingbird and Flower, MTV Icon, Slave 4 U Uncut Dance Version, Making of Slave 4 U, Slave 4 U VMAs, Slave 4 U rehearsal video (1, 2, 3), Wade + Britney + Brian dancing Slave 4 U, Pop, Making of Pop, Pop VMAs (1, 2), 2001 Super Bowl Halftime Show, Making the Super Bowl XXXV Halftime Show, Joy of Pepsi Rooftop Commercial, Making the Joy of Pepsi video, Joy of Pepsi dance rehearsal, Pepsi Now and Then Commercial, Behind the Scenes of the Pepsi Now and Then Commercial, Pepsi Right Now Commercial, Behind the Scenes of Right Now (1, 2), The Wade Robson Project, Baby One More Time VMAs, 1999 EMAs, 1999 BBMAs, NSYNC 2000 VMAs, NSYNC 2000 VMAs rehearsal, Britney 2000 VMAs, Britney's dancers' 2000 VMAs rehearsal, 2000 BBMAs, 1999 Wango Tango, Crazy 2k Tour, Oops I Did It Again Tour, Oops I Did It Again Tour Rehearsal, Bigger Than Live, No Strings Attached rehearsal, NSYNC HBO Special, NSYNC Making the Tour, Dream Within a Dream Tour, Dream Within a Dream BOMT, Making of Dream Within a Dream Tour, Behind the Scenes of Dream Within a Dream Tour, PopOdyssey Tour, Homage to the Rabbits, Burning Room, SYTYCD Burning Room, Power Commercial, The Studio Presents, Happy Feet Two, FLIGHT, SYTYCD Afropop, Afropop, SYTYCD Sexyback, Sexyback, SYTYCD Ruby Blue, SYTYCD Comanche, Comanche, PULSE Tour, The Main Event, Gen 4, Tattooed, 2009 VMAs, MTV Making of MJ Tribute
ONTD, what is your favorite Wade Robson choreography?