Tony Meredith
{{BLP sources|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| image =
| image_size = 150px |
| name = Tony Meredith
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|5|24}}
| birth_place = San Diego, California
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Choreographer
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}
Tony Meredith is an American professional ballroom dancer, choreographer and United States Professional Latin Champion.
Biography
Tony Meredith, who is of Mexican and Samoan descent, was born in San Diego, California, US, discovered ballroom dancing after replying to a newspaper advertisement seeking dance teachers.{{cite web| url = https://www.pbs.org/americas-ballroom-challenge/about/tony-meredith/| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150413031937/http://www.pbs.org/americas-ballroom-challenge/about/tony-meredith/| archive-date = 2015-04-13| title = Host Tony Meredith {{!}} America's Ballroom Challenge| website = PBS}} His cousin taught him how to Hustle in the garage which ignited his love of dancing.
Meredith currently serves as the Dance Director at Danceville, U.S.A. in Columbus, Ohio. He is the co-organizer of Chicago Crystal Ball, Aloha Ball, and founded ICON DanceSport, a one-day industry awards event in Columbus, Ohio making its debut in October 2015.
Dance career
Meredith met Melanie LaPatin in 1981. They formed a professional partnership, traveling the world representing the United States twelve times in the Professional World Latin-American Dance Championships, and eventually moved to New York City to train and open a studio.[http://www.dancetimessquare.com/index.php?page=29 Dance Times Square | Welcome] They had married in 1989, but divorced amicably following the opening of their studio.[http://www.dance-teacher.com/sections/teaching/217 Fiona Kirk, "Dynamic Duo", Dance Teacher magazine, June 2008] {{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}
With LaPatin, Meredith won over 100 first-place trophies and, in 1995, the professional Latin division of the U.S. Dancesport Championships.{{cite web |url=http://www.tonyandmelanie.com/index.php?page=58&bio=1 |title=Tony and Melanie |accessdate=2007-06-24 |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070812162840/http://www.tonyandmelanie.com/index.php?page=58&bio=1 |archivedate=2007-08-12 }} The couple retired from competitive dance in 1998.
Currently,{{when|date=January 2013}} Meredith is a ballroom dance competition adjudicator, coach and choreographer, with a wide range including cha-cha, swing, tango, hustle, mambo, salsa and rhythm and blues.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}
TV and film
{{BLP unsourced section|date=January 2013}}
Meredith has been behind the scenes as appearing in films, TV shows and Broadway, including feature film performances in Dance with Me, The Thomas Crown Affair, Let It Be Me and The Last Days of Disco. He has co-hosted seasons 1 and 2 of the PBS series America's Ballroom Challenge with Marilu Henner, and more recently, Meredith and LaPatin have appeared fairly regularly as guest choreographers on the Fox dance competition reality show So You Think You Can Dance. Meredith just finished filming Season 5 of the PBS series America's Ballroom Challenge with Mary Murphy.
Achievements
- 1995 - U.S. National Professional Latin Champion with Melanie LaPatin[http://www.dancevision.com/buyers_guide/resources/past_champions/137/ Buyer's Guide :: DanceVision.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060626023903/http://www.dancevision.com/buyers_guide/resources/past_champions/137/ |date=2006-06-26 }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0580642|name=Tony Meredith}}
- [http://www.fox.com/dance So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)]
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Category:American ballroom dancers
Category:American artists of Mexican descent
Category:American people of Samoan descent
Category:People from San Diego
Category:So You Think You Can Dance choreographers