Brian Friedman Named Choreographer in Residence at Pace University

Brian Friedman, one of the country's most prominent choreographers, will teach master classes to all Pace University commercial dance students on Sept. 19 and 20 as an artist in residence.

"Brian Friedman is one of the hottest directors for some of today's most popular concert tours, music videos, commercials and films," said Rhonda Miller, director of Pace's commercial dance program. "We are pleased to offer our commercial dance students the opportunity to take classes from such an industry pro."

Friedman has choreographed some of the most known music videos and performances such as Britney Spears' Toxic and Slave 4 U, My Love Is Like Wo by Mya, The One by Prince, NSYNC's Dirty Pop, and many more for artists such as Beyonce, Usher, Pink, Brittany Murphy, Hilary Duff, and Christina Milian.

He has also choreographed for TV shows including Will & Grace, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Late Show with David Letterman, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Oprah, That 70's Show, MTV Video Music Awards, VH1 DIVAS LIVE, and Billboard Music Awards as well as MTV's Top Pop Group.
As a young dancer, Friedman worked with such artists as Michael Jackson, Paula Abdul, Celine Dion, Melissa Etheridge, Salt 'N Pepa, and Patti LaBelle. His film credits as a dancer include both Charlie's Angels and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, You Got Served, She's All That, Austin Powers: Gold Member, Uptown Girls, and more. After two seasons of So You Think You Can Dance he was recruited to London to star in Simon Cowell's hit UK show, Grease Is the Word. Following Grease was London's The X Factor.

Friedman has been nominated for four MTV Video Music Awards, two music video production awards and five American choreography awards.
Touring around the world mentoring thousands of students and teaching his own dance technique is a highlight for Friedman and he produced an instructional DVD to enhance his teaching. His moves and style are found by industry professionals to be grand, graceful and captivating. He is known as a true original in his field.

This residency is supported by a gift from Voice of an Angel. This gift supports commercial dance and entertainment industry workshops for the Commercial Dance Program of the Performing Arts Department at Pace University. Over the next three years, this gift will be used to attract prominent directors and choreographers to engage with Pace dance students to study, create, perform, and lay the foundation for a professional network.

About Commercial Dance at Pace: The Commercial Dance Program at Pace University, developed a year ago, by Rhonda Miller in response to student and industry demand, provides specialized training for dance careers in stage, television, and commercials in a wide range of styles and forms including ballet, jazz, tap, and hip-hop, to name a few.

About Performing Arts at Pace University: Pace University's Performing Arts Department offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degrees in Acting, Musical Theater and Commercial Dance. A Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Arts with specialized focuses in Acting, Commercial Dance, Directing or Design/Technical Theater. For more information, visit www.pace.edu/dyson/performingarts.

Dyson College is also home to The Actors Studio Drama School offering the only MFA theater program officially sanctioned by The Actors Studio. The curriculum is designed jointly by the leadership of The Actors Studio, including the Presidents of The Actors Studio, Ellen Burstyn, Harvey Keitel and Al Pacino. All students participate in craft seminars known to the world as the Bravo Network television series, "Inside The Actors Studio," hosted by James Lipton. For further information about the program, go to www.pace.edu/actorsstudiomfa

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