Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann - Bios for Bruno’s Team

Last night, we saw the two teams get chosen on Dance War so the real competition can now begin. Just so you can compare backgrounds and skills of each team, I’ve gathered bios for each team. Here are the bios for Bruno’s team:

Zack:

BACKGROUND: Zack moved to Utah from Arizona with his Mom and three brothers at the age of 7 when his parents divorced. His father lives in Arizona with his second wife and Zack’s 10 yr old half brother. Zack’s Mom is a hairdresser and money was tight when they were growing up. They moved around Utah a lot and he went to 10 different schools. His eldest brother, Matt, has Downs Syndrome but went to the same schools as Zack and was always really popular and would protect Zack from the school bullies. Zack struggled with being the new kid all the time at school. Zack’s Mom is now married to a close family friend who is very much a father figure in Zack’s life.
(follow the jump for all the rest!!)

Zack is a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When he was 21 he served a two year mission for the church in Ghana and Sierra Leone. He says that those two years were the most significant in his life, he learned a lot and says he really matured.

Performing is in Zack’s blood, his Mom and Dad always sang together (this is one of his only memories of his parents together) and his uncles are musical theatre performers. He started dance lessons when he was 14 and when he was 17 he and his cousin Jeremy moved to Florida to be part of a boy band. He spent a year in Florida making an album and looking for record deals and they were sponsored by the wealthy father of one of the kids in the band. Zack and his cousin however decided to leave the band after a year; the way they were depicted as sex symbols and the bad language used in the songs went against their religious beliefs. Zack has just taken a year out from studying nutritional science to give it one last shot at performing and if he doesn’t make it aims to eventually become a dentist.

CHARACTER SYNOPSIS: Mature, sensitive, very spiritual, confident, and charismatic. He regrets not giving performing his all when he was younger and feels this show is his last chance to make it so is very determined.

APPLICATION INFORMATION: Zach thought he should be chosen for the show because he’s one of the few people who can sing and dance equally as well. When asked what has been the biggest challenge he’s had to overcome to pursue his dreams, he said, “This is a tough industry. It’s very difficult to ‘make it.’ So for the past couple years I’ve been scared to go for it in fear that I’ll have nothing to fall back on. I’m 25 years old, so it’s difficult for me to pull away from my education to try and pursue my dreams. But I’m ready to try.” He feels he excels in Jazz and Hip-Hop dancing, and can fake tapping, but has never been able to grasp it. When asked what inspires him to dance, he said, “Dancing is more of a release for me than anything else. It helps me clear my mind and relax. That’s why I love it so much.”

He lists pop and alternative as his favourite singing styles and that his uncles were his inspiration to start singing. When asked what he hopes to get out of this experience, he said, “I hope to not only win, but improve myself as a singer/dancer and person in general. I hope to gain the knowledge I need to be able to achieve my dreams of becoming a performer.”

Zack enjoys many other activities besides dancing and singing, including cliff jumping, travelling, soccer, football, basketball, rock climbing, snorkelling, hiking, biking, and swimming. He thinks his love for other people is his greatest quality, but also his worst because it causes him to avoid confrontations. He says he is a very competitive person, but is very good at hiding it. He is most scared of the audition process because he doesn’t feel he ever shows his true colours when he auditions.

Tony:

BACKGROUND: Tony grew up in a military family, with both parents in the Air Force. His mother had been a b-girl street dancer when she was young and she has been his primary influence to dance. His parents divorced when he was young, but he remained close to both of them. When he was a child he suffered from seizures due to a head injury. This caused him to be in and out of hospitals growing up. He has lived in England, Texas, Hawaii, North Carolina, Florida, Washington D. C., and now resides in Los Angeles, CA. He had always dreamt of coming to L.A. to achieve his dream of performing, and moved here on his own with just $600 and a garbage bag of clothes. When he first arrived he had no place to stay and was homeless for a month.

Tony was first influenced to dance when he saw a hip-hop group called “Culture Shock” perform. When he moved to Washington, D.C. he joined their group at age 16. He has also toured with Ginuwine as a backup dancer. Tony was always singing growing up, but received formal training when he was in his high school chorus. When he was 16 he had a song on a local radio station in North Carolina. When he lived in Hawaii he was in a choir group that sang backup for Yolanda Adams (gospel) and P. Diddy. The styles of singing he prefers are R&B, gospel, and jazz. Tony is currently a hip-hop and house instructor at Debbie Reynolds in North Hollywood, CA.

CHARACTER SYNOPSIS: Tony is very outgoing and has a fun personality. He is strong willed, well rounded and adapts well to new situations. Growing up in an Air Force family, he was forced to quickly adjust to new places and people, which has helped him to work well with others. He will get comfortable with the other contestants quicker than most. He is a hard worker and will do what he needs to do to achieve his goals.

APPLICATION INFORMATION: Tony feels he should be chosen for the show because of, “a dream and a mother’s vision.” He also lists his mother as his inspiration to dance, along with Tony Maher, one of his former dance teachers. He feels he excels in hip hop and house. He claims to have 2 years of dance training through high school and enjoys singing R&B, gospel, and jazz. His singing inspirations are Stevie Wonder, Bilal, Musiq, Kim Burrel, and the Clark Sisters. He hopes to gain knowledge from his experience on the show and the most significant moment in his life was moving to LA. He is most proud of the fact that he has been able to make enough money to live on his own after a tough start in Los Angeles. He also only considers himself to be competitive with himself. He enjoys sharing his talent, but fears judgement when he performs.

Lacey:

BACKGROUND: Lacey was born and grew up in Jackson, Mississippi and lived with her Mum and 2 sisters. They moved around quite a lot and Lacey had attended 12 different schools by the time they settled in Indiana during Lacey’s senior year of high school. Despite moving to different schools Lacey still managed to have a healthy extra curricular agenda, performing on dance teams, in colour guard and in musicals.

Lacey has strong religious beliefs and says she feels very close to God. After attending college for one year, Lacey decided to put her education on hold and focus on a professional dance career. Lacey’s mom supported this decision while her biological father was more hesitant. Her Step-dad wanted Lacey to continue her college education and secure a stable vocation.

In recent years, Lacey’s family relocated to Nashville and Lacey’s Mom and Step-dad have been a big support in paying for her dancing lessons and travel to auditions. In the last year Lacey has auditioned for a number of gigs and has been successful in several. Lacey is not currently working but she does teach dance in Nashville from time to time.

CHARACTER SYNOPSIS: Shy, sweet, really comes alive on stage.

APPLICATION INFORMATION: Lacey grew up in the Church and a lot of her passion to perform comes from her faith and spirituality. When asked what inspired her to audition for the show, she said, “GOD, life, dance, passion, Shane Sparks, and Chris Taylor.” She lists, “Being close to God,” as her greatest accomplishment and, “receiving the Holy Spirit,” as the most significant moment in her life.

She feels she excels in hip-hop and jazz dancing and when asked what inspires her to dance, she said, “Dance first off helps me stay sane. I am someone beautiful when I dance. No one can let me down when I dance.”

Lacey has been singing in school choirs since the second grade and has won numerous awards for solo and group choir competitions. She lists R&B, pop, and gospel as her favourite singing styles and country and yodelling as her least.

Lacey hopes to make up for her mediocre performance in high school, whether she takes college classes on-line or in person.

When asked what she hopes to gain from this experience, she responded, “I hope to get experience, joy, pleasure, time doing what I really like to do, and the people, songs, and new dances I’ll meet.”

She listed acting, singing, and dancing as her favourite hobbies.

Lacey claims that her best qualities are: listening, the fact that she is a quick learner, her social nature, and her sense of understanding. She lists her worst qualities as being impatient, that she sometimes day dreams too much, and that she is, “afraid I might disappoint my instructors, God, professors, etc.” She says that she can be competitive, but that she enjoys the experience of competing much more. She also says that she enjoys the excitement of performing, but is afraid of not being good enough.

Kelsey:

BACKGROUND: Kelsey was born, raised, and currently lives in Monroe, LA where she teaches at her mother’s dance studio.. Kelsey eventually aspires to open a dance studio of her own .

Kelsey comes from a close family- she lives with her Mom and Dad and has one older sister in college. She spent her entire childhood focused on dance-. Kelsey’s been dancing under her mother’s tutelage since she was a small child and admits that her mom was very hard on her dancing all her life. Having to share her Mom with all the kids at the studio was challenging even though they’ve always had a close relationship. Throughout high school Kelsey performed in choirs, musicals, and was on the cheerleading squad. Her days would start at the crack of dawn and end at 11pm at night. At this time Kelsey won a number of awards and scholarships for dance. High school ended and Kelsey went to teach for her mom full time.

Kelsey finally had her first break when she signed to be performer on the Celebrity Cruise line. On and off between 2005-2007, In her second season, she was named dance captain of the group. In March she returned to Monroe and is back teaching at mom’s studio.

Kelsey came to the Nashville audition with two dancer friends and only one other, Megan Coleman, made it to the callbacks.

CHARACTER SYNOPSIS: She’s a natural born leader, driven, confident, outgoing, charismatic. Passionate about dancing and finding success.

APPLICATION INFORMATION: Kelsey’s one and only inspiration for dancing is her mother. She states, “she [my mother] was always there for me in every aspect of my dancing, pushing me to be the best. I always danced from the heart because of her.” She goes on to say, “I not only dance for myself, I dance for her. I always want to make her proud.” Kelsey comes from a very small town that is dedicated to sports. She says it was expensive for her to learn dance because she had to travel so far to learn beyond her mother’s studio. She feels she should be chosen for the show because, “I am dedicated to my work. I am a versatile dancer, which is something that is needed to be successful. I work with people well and I dance and perform from the HEART.” She has been training in dance for 18 years and says her best styles are musical theatre and lyrical. When asked what her least favourite styles are, she said, “I love to dance. I don’t really have a least favorite. I think that every type of dance is just as important as the other.” While she hasn’t had any professional vocal training, she was in her high school choir and lists her teacher, Greg Oden, as her inspiration to sing. She says her favourite singing styles are musical theatre and blues, but she can sing pop. When asked what she hopes to get out of this experience, she says, “I want to make this an awesome experience whether I make is all of the way or not, I want the world to feel the love I have for dance and to share the experience with them.” She also says the most significant moment in her life was when Bruno asked her to sing for the first time in front of a live audience. She lists her three favourite hobbies as, “Shopping, shopping, and shopping (I dance so much that’s all I have time for!).” She says her strengths are being compassionate yet strong and her weakness is caring too much what people think. When asked what scares her about performing, she said, “I don’t get scared! I get motivated!” She doesn’t list any special skills or sports because, “I never really tried much else because I loved to dance so much!”

Phillip:

BACKGROUND: Phillip was raised in Sterling, Virginia where he lived with his parents (his Dad owns a landscaping company) and three siblings until he went to college. Phillip’s life is centered around his Christian upbringing. His mother home schooled the four kids until they reached eighth grade in an effort to provide a better education and keep the family close together. Every day they sat around the dining room table where she would deliver all the lessons. In the afternoons the kids would run around their huge back yard climbing trees and playing sports. Phillip made friends through church until he attended the local public school where he was involved in wresting, musical theatre, and show choir.

After high school Phillip went on to James Madison University as a music major. He paid for half his tuition with the money he had saved working summers back home. Phillip’s younger brother also attended the same college and they would often write and perform music together. His older brother was in the Navy for six years on confidential missions that he can’t disclose to the family. After graduating college, Phillip moved to Nashville to pursue his music career. In addition to singing and dancing, Phillip plays the drums and writes his own music. To pay the rent he works as a server on a dinner cruise.

CHARACTER SYNOPSIS: Phillip is articulate, masculine, smart, and soulful. A favourite of Bruno’s, Phillip might become a big threat to some of the other male contestants.

APPLICATION INFORMATION: Phillip is very spiritual and when asked what inspired him to be a performer, he responded, “I feel my gifts are from God, and that’s where my inspiration comes from.” He is proud of the fact that he moved to Nashville with no job and not knowing anyone. When asked why he should be chosen for the show, he said, “Some people specialize in either dance or voice, but I feel I do both very well, which is what this show appears to be all about.” Phillip feels he excels in hip-hop, jazz, Latin, and ballroom dancing, but also has training in tap and swing. He notes that he has been naturally attracted to the dance floor all his life and that dancing is a God given gift that he feels a desire to share and enjoy.

Phillip has been singing for 8 years and feels he excels in pop, soul, and R&B. He says his least favourite style of singing is Hard Rock, but doesn’t even consider that singing. When asked what inspires him to sing, “Music is one thing I can do that I know brings great joy not only to me but to others as well. Music speaks in ways that words alone never could.” Phillip lists getting runner-up in the state wrestling tournament or graduating college as his greatest accomplishments. He hopes to get an opportunity to share and strengthen his gifts, and meet new people from this experience. He lists giving his life to Christ as the most significant moment in his life. When asked about his best qualities, he says he is friendly, attentive to others and their needs, quick witted, a fast learner, and a hard worker. When asked about his worst qualities, he says, “There is nothing quality about the worst in me.” Phillip feels he is a competitive person, which pushes him to be better at what he does. He loves to see smiles when he performs, but fears forgetting the words.

Charity:

BACKGROUND: Charity has not had formal vocal training, she learned from her father who is a Contemporary Christian singing artist. Her whole family sings all the time and Charity’s preferred style to sing is R&B. She teaches 2-15 year-olds ballet, tap, tumbling, jazz, lyrical, and hip hop.

Charity has 2 sisters, one older and one twin. She is the louder, more outgoing one between her and her twin sister. Both her and her twin were involved in dancing as well as athletics, but in their senior year of high school she got more involved in dance and her sister got more involved in sports. She is very competitive with her twin by nature but shares her love of singing and dancing with older sister. When Charity graduated high school she went to Greece for 6 months to volunteer teach at a refugee school. She can speak a little bit of Spanish, Greek, French, and Chinese, but is not fluent in any of them. She values friends and family and tries not to put goals or tasks before people. She appreciates life and lives it to the fullest. Charity takes advantage of opportunities and as she puts it, wants to be a “history maker”. She was originally inspired to dance by her uncle who was the head of a performance group that travelled around the country. He danced like Michael Jackson, and she knew right then that she wanted to dance like he did. Now those around her continuously inspire her. Charity dances all the time, even when there’s no music and finds herself singing constantly.

CHARACTER SYNOPSIS: Outgoing, funny, confident. Charity likes to amuse others. She seems to draw people toward her with her vibrant personality. Charity is a naturally giving person. She enjoys the attention being on her.

APPLICATION INFORMATION: Charity says her biggest challenge she’s had to overcome is, “Defying what the world has said is required of me to be successful, but instead I decided to go the path less travelled by, chasing dreams and living each moment instead of living each day just checking off a list.” When asked why she should be chosen for the show, she said, “I love to perform, I would love to show other dreamers out there that it is possible to do the unordinary and live to the fullest doing it! Plus, I just plain love dancing and singing.” She excels in lyrical and hip hop dance, even though she has been taking jazz lessons longer. She loves all dance, but feels she is most inadequate at tap. Her favourite singing style is R&B and her least is, “Yodeling .” She was first inspired to sing by, “My Pops.” When asked what she hopes to get out of this experience, she said, “A new life experience where no matter what happens I can look back and say, ‘wow, that just happened. I gave my all every second, had a lot of fun doing it, made an impression on the world and the people around me and made great friends doing it.’” She says she loves to make people feel comfortable and loved and she is confidant in who she is. She also feels that sometimes she gives too much of herself and people take her for granted.

dance, dancing, Dance War, Drew Lachey, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, Cheryl Burke