Early Life of Shane Sparks:
Shane Sparks was born on June 25, 1969 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is the youngest of three children born to Melvin and Wanda Sparks, both officers in the police force. Sparks spent some time in the hospital after his birth due to scoliosis. He became interested in dance at the age of eleven after watching the movie break’n, when he started performing in talent shows. His interest in teaching became apparent when he started offering dance lessons from his own backyard. Dance became extremely important to Sparks after his sister’s boyfriend was murdered, as it became a way for him to escape and feel safe.
Dance Career of Shane Sparks:
In 1993, Shane Sparks left his hometown of Cincinnati, OH to move to Los Angeles, California. Here, Sparks began making a name for himself as a well-respected, famed choreographer. Although it took hard work and dedication, the momentum of his career went into warp speed and over the last three years, several projects such as the feature film You Got Served and Fox’s hit TV show “So You Think You Can Dance” have made Sparks a force to be reckoned with. His solid resume of credits and awards today reflect his deep passion for dance and people of all ages and races admire his style of dance and suave attitude.
From a young age, Sparks knew his talent and gift was dance. No more than three months after his move to Los Angeles, Sparks began substituting at a hip hop class at the Millennium Dance Complex, formerly known as Moro Landis, located in the North Hollywood Arts District. Due to his extraordinary ability as a teacher and dancer, his class expanded from only three people to a record high of one hundred and seventy-five people. Now, Sparks is so in demand, he travels the world teaching master classes and workshops in different parts of the World.
Shane Sparks has worked with and impressive list of stars, including Lindsay Lohan, Aaliyah, Monica, and Benji Schwimmer.
Reality TV and Shane Sparks:
Sparks is well known as a judge and choreographer on the reality television dance competition “So You Think You Can Dance.” He was a choreographer during the 2005 and 2006 seasons, and was promoted to judge/choreographer for the 2007 season. Sparks is also well known as a permanent judge on MTV’s dance competition “America’s Best Dance Crew.” Several talented and determined dance crews compete to earn the coveted title of America’s Best Dance Crew and s $100,000 cash prize. Shane Sparks is also credited for choreography on “Dream Girls” and “Boogie Town”
More about Shane Sparks:
As a result of his impressive body of work, Sparks has been recognized in the industry by receiving many awards for projects such as the “Best Choreography in a Feature Film” award for “You Got Served” at the 2004 American Choreography Awards and the “2005 BET Award” for co-choreographing with Omarion on the same film.
Some of Sparks’ headlining projects include choreographing for hit musical artists such as *NSYNC, Lindsay Lohan, Omarion, B2K and Marques Houston among others. In winter of 2006, he choreographed a music video with Hollywood Records’ new recording artist Corbin Bleu of Disney’s High School Musical. The music video is set to promote Disney’s Jump Start! film release in 2007. He also helped judge the 2004 World Hip-Hop Championship, and choreographed promos for ESPN, Nationwide Urban Jams Dance Convention and The Steve Harvey Big Time Show.
Currently, Sparks is starring in the hit MTV series America’s Best Dance Crew. This hot reality TV show was the first of its kind– showing off the best dance crews in America, and letting viewers decide who stays and who goes from week to week. Again this season, along with Shane Sparks, JC Chasez (*NSYNC) will be judging the crews, and Mario Lopez (Dancing with the Stars) will be back hosting the show.
Shane Sparks’ hard work, innovation with dance, creativity, genuineness, and determination have made him one of the most sought-after reality celebrities in the United States, and he has no plans on stopping any time soon.
Shane Sparks is listed as one of the Famous Dance Choreographers in the United States, actually he is 1 of 3.
Shane Sparks has plans in the near future to launched a clothing line starting with t-shirts and custom dance shoes, this in partnership with broke2.com.
