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Click on a headshot to read about your favorite faculty! |
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MARY MURPHY
Mary Murphy is best known as the “Queen of Scream” on Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” The show has become a smash hit around the world, and Mary frequently travels to countries like Australia, Canada and Norway for “Special Guest” judging appearances on international versions of the show.
In addition to her award-winning work on SYTYCD, Murphy is an in-demand film and television star. She has appeared in films like “Dance With Me,” starring Vanessa Williams and recently shot a featured role in the thriller “Killer
Movie,” starring Kaley Cuoco, Jason London and J.C. Chasez. The long list of celebrities Murphy has coached includes Dennis Quaid, Mary Steenburgen and Donnie Wahlberg. She even worked as Julia Roberts’ body double in “Something’s Got to Give.”
Beyond her career in Hollywood, Murphy continues to be one of the hardest-working women in dance; serving as a judge at major ballroom competitions across the U.S. including The Holiday Dance Classic in Las Vegas. Murphy is also a world-class dance instructor based at her Champion Ballroom Academy in San Diego, CA.
Mary Murphy was born in Lancaster, OH; the only daughter in a traditional Irish family. Keeping up with three brothers left her with little affinity for typical feminine pastimes so Murphy spent most of her free time competing with the boys in sports like track & field, basketball, volleyball and football. After graduating from Ohio University with a degree in Physical Education and a minor in Modern Dance, Murphy moved to Washington D.C. where she became an instructor-trainee at a local dance studio. Murphy’s life changed forever when the studio’s owner invited her to attend The United States Ballroom Championships in New York City. There, she realized ballroom dancing was more than just a job – it was her destiny.
Murphy followed her newfound passion to Southern California where, in 1990, she opened the doors to Champion Ballroom Academy in downtown San Diego. Her mission was to provide the very best facility for competitive dance education; a place where students and teachers alike feel a sense of comfort and community while they work to improve their dancing skills.
During this period, Murphy’s own competitive dance career began to peak. She and her longtime partner, Manfred Stiglitz, won the prestigious Austrian National Championships and made it into the top ten in the world. Murphy’s competitive career generated an impressive list of accomplishments, including top finishes at the Southwest Regional Dance Tournament, The Saint Louis Star Ball, The International Grand Ball, and The U.S. Open.
After retiring from competition, Murphy shifted her focus to her dance studio and a future in Hollywood. She was a finalist for a judging position on “Dancing With the Stars” around the same time she caught the eyes of the producers of “So You Think You Can Dance.” The rest is history!
Murphy’s crowd-pleasing antics on SYTYCD and “Maryisms” like “Hot Tamale Train” and “Shut Up Coyote” have made her a household name around the world. She recently beat out a star-studded field including Ryan Seacrest, Carrie Ann Inaba and Donald Trump to claim the “Best Host/Judge” prize at the 2007 Reality TV Awards.
In her “free time”, Murphy dedicates herself to worthy causes such as the American Cancer Society and Mary Murphy’s Chance to Dance program, which she began to encourage schools to offer dancing as a regular part of their curriculum.
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TYCE DIORIO
Tyce Diorio has danced with Janet Jackson on her Velvet Rope World Tour as well as in her “If,” “Together Again,” and “You” videos, on the American Music Awards, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Saturday Night Live and throughout Europe. He has danced exclusively for Paula Abdul (Under My Spell World Tour), Jennifer Lopez (“On the 6,” Let’s Get Loud NBC special from Puerto Rico), Ricky Martin (Livin’ La Vida Loca Tour), Samantha Mumba (w/*NSYNC Pop Odyssey Tour) as well as many others.
He was a featured lead in the Broadway show Fosse dancing the “Percussion 4” and “Mr. Bojangles” solos. He appeared in the workshop of All Shook Up in its pre-Broadway run and also had the privilege of working one-on-one with Twyla Tharp.
He has appeared in such films as Showgirls, Starsky and Hutch, 13 going on 30, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. He is featured in the iPod commercial with U2 for their hit song “Vertigo.” He had the opportunity to appear in a five-page layout for In Style Magazine alongside Jennifer Lopez for her film Shall We Dance. He was chosen by Debbie Allen as the “spoiler contestant” for Fame, the reality TV show, and had the opportunity to appear on NBC for five weeks. Tyce is on the “A-list” of such choreographers as Rob Marshall, Tina Landon, Marguerite Derricks, Sergio Trujillo, Billy Goodson and Debbie Allen. He is a triple threat and is recording his own music as well as working in film and television as an actor.
You’ve seen him on 4 seasons of “So You Think You Can Dance” where he won an EMMY! Since then, he’s worked on commercials, “Big Time Rush”, “Drop Dead Diva” and more. Tyce is everywhere!
Most recently he is off to choreograph a major feature film “What to Expect When Expecting” starring Cameron Diaz, Matthew Morrison, and Jennifer Lopez.
TABITHA AND NAPOLEON
Napoleon Buddy D'umo and Tabitha A. D'umo, also known as Nappytabs, are husband and wife choreographers who are often credited with developing the new style of hip-hop dance known as lyrical hip-hop. They have been working together in the dance industry since 1996 and are best known for their choreography on the TV show So You Think You Can Dance. They were subsequently nominated for a 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography for their work on season four. In addition to So You Think You Can Dance, Tabitha and Napoleon own Nappytabs urban dancewear and are supervising choreographers on MTV's America's Best Dance Crew.
Tabitha and Napoleon grew up on opposite coasts of the United States and did not meet each other until the early 1990s as students at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. They started their dance career together while still in college teaching hip-hop dance classes and choreographing industrial musicals for large corporations. After they moved to Los Angeles in 1999, they began back-up dancing for musical artists, teaching at both dance studios and conventions, and choreographing for professional sports dance teams. From teaching and dance teams, their career progressed to choreographing movies, television shows, and concerts. They have been supervising choreographers for America's Best Dance Crew since season one in 2008. The same year they became choreographers on TLC's wedding dance show Rock the Reception and FOX's So You Think You Can Dance. Since being with the show, their choreography has received both praise and negative criticism.
Later in their career, they progressed from choreography to providing creative direction for tours and live events. This career move enabled them to work with Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, Kayne West, and Ricky Martin. In 2010, they directed the Jabbawockeez's M'S.I.C. show which premiered at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. They also choreographed three different productions of Cirque Du Soleil, two of which included guest performances on Dancing with the Stars and America's Got Talent.
Aside from their work in choreography, Tabitha and Napoleon spend a lot of time teaching hip-hop dance classes domestically and internationally at both dance studios and on the convention circuit. They have been faculty members at the Edge Performing Arts Center since 1999 and Monsters of Hip Hop dance convention since 2003. To this day, they continue to travel between Las Vegas and Los Angeles to teach, direct, and/or choreograph for television and stage shows.
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ALLISON HOLKER
Allison is an ALL-STAR on SYTYCD Season 7! At the age of nine, Allison Holker began her training at The
Dance Club in Orem, UT. She quickly fell in love with the art and began to specialize in Contemporary,
Ballet, Jazz and Tap dancing. Growing up, Allison was always involved in various competitions. In 2004
Allison won her first National competition in Colorado followed shortly by her win as the National
Senior Outstanding Dancer at the New York City Dance Alliance in 2005. She has performed live with
Earth, Wind & Fire and in the opening and closing ceremonies at the Utah Olympics in 2002. Allison was
featured in the tap show Revolution which performed at the Joyce Theatre in New York 2008. She later
had the opportunity to be a cheerleader in the hit Disney movies High School Musical 1 & 2. She has also
performed on TV in various commercials and as the Top 6 on So You Think You Can Dance - where she
also went on tour after Season 2. She can now be found teaching with different dance conventions and
workshops all across the country. Most recently she has been performing and touring with Ballroom
with a Twist, choreographed by Dancing with the Stars' very own Louie Amstel and also dancing for
American Idol's Clay Aiken.
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ROBERT ROLDAN
Robert Roldan began dancing and acting at the age of 11. Growing up in
Thousand Oaks, California, Robert trained in contemporary, jazz, ballet and hip hop.
While he enjoyed Hip Hop, Robert found his true passion in contemporary dance using
his charismatic personality and sense of humor to bring depth to each piece. After high
school, Robert performed with the “Bad Boys of Dance” for a year and a half before
auditioning and performing on So You Think You Can Dance, Season 7. Robert was a
viewer favorite and Top Three finalist on the show. He was asked to return to the show
as a professional All Star to partner with the new contestants on the show during the
performances.
Robert’s talent has brought him to a multitude of places including several
performances on Dancing with the Stars, the ABC Pilot “Grace” (choreographed by Mia
Michaels), Nickelodeon’s Fresh Beat Band and FOX’s Mobbed.
In addition to dance, Robert enjoys singing, acting, and fashion.
tWitch
Stephen “tWitch” Boss had a breakthrough year in 2010, as he starred in the 3rd
installment of the Step Up franchise, “Step Up 3D” (Disney, Summit Entertainment). It didn’t stop
there, because he also landed a lead role in “Stomp The Yard: Homecoming” (Screen Gems,
2010). If that weren’t enough, he returned to the “So You Think You Can Dance” stage in Season
7, as an All-Star, joined The LXD, in their second season on Hulu.com, and was a guest star on
the hit FOX show, ‘Bones’. 2011 has already started with a bang, as he starred alongside Glee’s
Harry Shum Jr. in the critically acclaimed short ‘3 Minutes’ (www.3minutes-film.com), and signed
a 2 picture movie deal with Trimount Pictures. The sky is the limit for tWitch.
Boss currently resides in Los Angeles and is looking forward to working with The Dizzy
Feet Foundation that aims to support, improve, and increase access to dance education for the
underprivileged in the United States. He has started a production company, ‘experiMENTAL
Industries’ with his manager, Nelson Diaz, and two other partners, with their first project hopefully
debuting in the FALL 2011. He will also be launching tWitch Boss Clothing in Spring 2011 that
consists of casual street wear.
Boss is best known for his amazing performances on the popular Fox dance competition
series “So You Think You Can Dance,” where he captivated audiences with his impressive
dancing skills and unmatched charisma. Just short of making the Top 20 in Season 3, he came
back in Season 4 and was redeemed with a spot on the show and the runner-up title. He was
able to work with amazing choreographers like Mia Michaels, Dave Scott, Tyce DiOrio, and
Jean-Marc Genereux—to name a few. In fact, his memorable performance in “Mercy” aka “The
Door Dance” alongside Katee Sheen was recently nominated for a 2009 Emmy award for Best
Choreography (Mia Michaels).
Boss was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama where as a child he was always
seen dancing. At times when he wasn’t allowed to dance, like at school or church, he would
resort to “popping and ticking” (a popular hip-hop style of dance) that resembles a twitch to most.
That was how he earned the nickname “tWitch.”
In 2003, Boss saw an opportunity that he couldn’t resist. MTV was casting for a new
dance show, “The Wade Robson Project,” and he decided to pursue his dream and took his
passion for dance to Los Angeles. His entertaining freestyles nabbed him a semi-finalist spot and
later that year, Boss went on to compete in the popular talent competition television show “Star
Search” where he was runner-up. Throughout this time, he attended Chapman University where
he continued to study dance.
In the following years he worked on choreography for the female singing
group “ “Cheetah Girls” and the Korean pop star “Se7en” in 2007. He was also a featured dancer
in Paramount’s “Blades of Glory” and in New Line’s mega-hit “Hairspray.” In 2009, he teamed up
with Paramount and Funnyordie.com to film several viral videos for the dance spoof film “Dance
Flick.”
