Travis Wall

     I’d like to dedicate this post to someone I have idolized since I saw his first audition on So You Think You Can Dance on Season 2, Travis Wall. At just 18 years old, he auditioned for SYTYCD and then proceeded to take the runner-up position (which was a bit depressing to me). The dance below is my favorite dance of all time, it’s famously known in the dance community as “The Bench Dance” and was choreographed by another one of my idols, Mia Michaels. Mia won an Emmy in 2007 for this dance, which officially is named “Calling You.”

 This is just one of the many amazing performances from Season 2. That season of SYTYCD certainly helped Travis with his career, but this was just the beginning for him.

Ten years ago, a contemporary dancer would not have come close to having the fan base and wide-spread career that Travis has been able to obtain since he was a contestant on SYTYCD. Travis has become more than just a contemporary dancer, he is a well-known and acclaimed choreographer, with his own reality show and dance company in the making. Travis has come back to So You Think You Can Dance as one of their seasonal choreographers and has been nominated for multiple Emmy’s thanks to this show alone. He also helped bring contemporary dance to the VMA stage thanks to Florence and the machines. This article: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1647698/florence-machines-triumphant-vma-performance-making-show.jhtml gives a break down of just how amazing that performance in part to Travis' vision. He has made use of social media outlets in order to stay connected with his fans. I’m one of his 62,610 followers, to follow him: @travISova. Here he announces any news he has about upcoming performances and new projects he is working on. He also will just post funny comments about things going on during his day, which makes him seem more personable. The idea of allowing celebrities to share their lives with fans is what makes twitter unique, and is a key tool to use in order to keep yourself out there and in the spotlight. Travis also uses Facebook as another social media outlet. His current profile picture is of an advertisement for his new reality show, All The Right Moves. This television show centers around Travis and three of his best friends who are also dancers: Kyle Robinson, Teddy Florence, and Nick Lazzerini. The show will appear on the Oxygen Network and follows the boys as they begin to form their first dance company, Shaping Sound. This is a fantastic strategy for Travis to use, because he is not only earning income from the making of the reality show, but is increasing the hype for his dance company. By bringing the dance company to reality tv, which has turned into a dominant programming style, there is no doubt that ticket sales will be improved and the overall success of the company will be greater. Also, Travis makes use of another communication outlet, vlogging (video blogging). On his website http://www.traviswall.tv/, he posts updates about what's going on and what he's working on, whether it's choreography, dvd's or his own performances. 

I could not finish this blog post without discussing a personal experience of mine. In January, I was fortunate enough to take two dance classes from Travis. As if he doesn't have enough going on in his life, he is also one of the instructors for the dance convention and competition Nuvo. I also was able to take a technique class from his mother, Denise Wall at the convention. His mother owns a studio in Virginia and has produced some absolutely fantastic dancers, her two sons included. Being able to take class from him was an amazing experience and one I will never forget. 

This is a picture of my friends and I with Travis after a great class. 

This a video I found on youtube from the convention in Orlando I attended.

This is the combination Travis taught us!

What are your thoughts about Travis and his career? I'd love to hear feedback!

<3 Samantha