Tanisha Scott facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tanisha Anyango Scott
Picture of choreographer Tanisha Scott
Born	Tanisha Scott Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Creative director, choreographer, dancer

Tanisha Scott is a super talented choreographer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She's famous for creating amazing dance moves for huge music stars like Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Drake, Sean Paul, and Beyoncé! Tanisha is known for bringing cool Jamaican dancehall styles into popular music videos and shows. She has even been nominated for MTV Video Music Awards three times for her awesome choreography.

Tanisha Scott's Early Life and Dance Journey

Tanisha Scott was born in Toronto, Ontario. Her family's Jamaican background really helped her love for dance grow. Her dad owned a sound system, which is like a big music setup, and that made her fall in love with music and moving to its beat.

While Tanisha was studying at the University of Windsor, she was also on a track team. But her passion for dance led her to join a local hip-hop dance group called Do Dat. One day, she tried out to be a backup dancer for the singer Mya and got the job! This was a big step for her. Early in her career, a famous director named Hype Williams hired Tanisha to dance in many music videos, including a commercial for FUBU with LL Cool J.

Tanisha got her very first credit for choreography (meaning she created the dance moves) for Sean Paul's music video "Gimme the Light." She still works with Sean Paul today, helping him with his tours and videos as his choreographer and creative director.

Tanisha Scott's Amazing Career

In 2003, a magazine called Vibe said that Tanisha's dances for Sean Paul's "Gimme the Light" video showed off the newest Jamaican dance moves to everyone watching MTV. The next year, she was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for her work on Sean Paul's "Like Glue." She got more nominations in 2006 for Sean Paul's "Temperature" and in 2007 for rapper Eve's "Tambourine."

In 2008, Billboard magazine put Tanisha on their "30 Under 30" list, which highlights young, successful people. The article mentioned that Beyoncé chose Tanisha to choreograph her "Baby Boy" video because of her great work with Sean Paul. Tanisha also worked with Beyoncé on her "Upgrade U" and "Check on It" videos.

Her unique dance style, inspired by her Jamaican roots, caught the attention of Rihanna's team. They hired Tanisha for Rihanna's Loud Tour, which had lots of reggae music. Tanisha was the main choreographer and movement coach for Rihanna's "We Found Love" video. She worked with Rihanna on her Rated R, Loud, and Talk That Talk albums. Tanisha choreographed videos like "What's My Name," "Rude Boy," and "You Da One," plus all of Rihanna's tours. She even appeared in a behind-the-scenes documentary about Rihanna's Talk That Talk album.

Tanisha also choreographed videos for Whitney Houston ("I Look to You," "Million Dollar Bill"), Elephant Man ("Pon De River"), Nas ("Bridging the Gap"), and Amerie ("1 Thing"). In 2015, she was featured in a commercial series for American Express. She danced with and choreographed Drake in his super popular "Hotline Bling" video. Rihanna also chose Tanisha for her ANTI World Tour, and Tanisha appeared in Rihanna's "Work" video.

Tanisha Scott on Television

Tanisha Scott was a coach on So You Think You Can Dance Canada. She was also a special guest choreographer on MTV's America's Best Dance Crew. On that show, she taught the 787 Crew popular Jamaican dances like the "Dutty Wine" and the "Chaplin" for a special "Rihanna Challenge" performance.

Tanisha Scott's Work in Movies

Besides music videos and live shows, Tanisha also creates dance moves for commercials, theater, and movies. She helped with the dances in Bring It On: All or Nothing (2006). She also played a friend of Rutina Wesley in the dance movie How She Move (2007).

For the movie Notorious (2009), which was about the rapper The Notorious B.I.G., Tanisha was a movement coach. She helped the main actor, Jamal Woolard, move just like The Notorious B.I.G. She was also an assistant choreographer for Bride Wars (2009). In 2015, Tanisha choreographed a fun hip-hop dance scene in the comedy movie Sisters, starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. She also created dance moves for Netflix's The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and helped George Clooney with his first-ever dance scene in the movie Money Monster.

Tanisha Scott's Theatre Work

In 2010, Tanisha helped choreograph Venice, a rap musical that was like Shakespeare's Othello. A critic from Time magazine called the dancing "fluid." The next year, she choreographed an Off-Off-Broadway play called This One Girl's Story.

Later in her career, Tanisha also started working as a movement coach and performance director. As a movement coach, she helps not just dancers, but also actors, musicians, models, and athletes. She teaches them how to move and express themselves in specific ways for their roles or performances. As a performance director, Tanisha plans and organizes how an artist moves and expresses themselves on stage during a show.

Tanisha Scott as a Creative Director

As a creative director, Tanisha Scott designs and plans the visual ideas for live shows and TV performances. She choreographs, stages, and organizes dancers. She also works with teams for styling, lighting, and set design to make sure everything looks amazing and brings the performance to life. Tanisha is well-known for her work with Cardi B, who first hired her as a creative director in 2018. She also provides creative direction for the singer H.E.R..

Awards and Nominations

Grammy Awards

MTV Video Music Awards

Billboard Music Awards