Ryan Heffington (born June 7, 1973) is an American dancer and choreographer based in Los Angeles. He was nominated for twoGrammy Awards for choreographing the music videos forArcade Fire's "We Exist" (2013) andSia's "Chandelier" (2014), winning aVMA Award for the latter.

Heffington was born inYuba City, California. He has danced since he was young, but has never received any formal training. He moved from Yuba City to Los Angeles at the age of 18.^[1]

In the mid-1990s, Heffington co-createdthe sexy Psycho Dance Sho' with Bubba Carr, and in the late 2000s he was the artistic director for the experimental modern dance company Hysterica.^[1] From 2006 to 2009, Heffington lead the dance troupe Fingered, which combined fast-pacedMartha Graham-style choreography withgenderbending costumes designed by Heffington.^[2] He has performed at bars and clubs, as well asMOCA,LACMA, theDorothy Chandler Pavilion,Saturday Night Live,Walt Disney Concert Hall, the UCLAHammer Museum andCoachella.^[3]

Heffington is best known for choreographing the music videos forArcade Fire's "We Exist" (2013) andSia's "Chandelier" (2014),^[4][5] both of which were nominated forGrammy Awards,^[6] and the latter of which won him aVMA Award.^[7] Other Sia videos that Heffington has choreographed include "Elastic Heart", "Big Girls Cry", "Cheap Thrills" and "The Greatest".^[8] Sia and Heffington's collaborations have "done more to raise the standards of dance in pop music than nearly any current artist integrating the forms."^[9] He has also worked withFKA Twigs andBritney Spears, and made several appearances onRuPaul's Drag Race.^[10]

Heffington created the choreography for the science fiction seriesThe OA, which debuted onNetflix in December 2016.^[11]

More of his work can be seen in television, film and onstage around the world, including the first season finale ofHBO'sEuphoria,Prime Video'sTransparent,Spike Jonze's commercials forKenzo (winner of the highest honor, the Titanium Lion @ the 2017Cannes Film Festival),Apple's “Welcome Homepod” featuring FKA Twigs, andEdgar Wright's critically acclaimed 2017 filmBaby Driver.^[12][13]

Heffington was the owner of The Sweat Spot, a dance studio inSilver Lake, Los Angeles.^[14] The space offered classes for both professional dancers and beginners in a casual atmosphere. Heffington decided to open the studio after he had hosted a roving event called Sweaty Sundays.^[1] Although the studio closed in 2020, Heffington still hosts Sweatfest and Wet Wednesdays onInstagram to thousands of dancers live.

More recently, Heffington choreographedLin-Manuel Miranda's 2021film adaptation of theJonathan Larson musicaltick, tick... BOOM!^[15] and made his acting debut inPaul Thomas Anderson'sLicorice Pizza.^[16]

• Ryan Heffington atIMDb

• American choreographers
• Performance art in Los Angeles
• 1973 births
• Living people
• MTV Video Music Award winners
• Primetime Emmy Award winners

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