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Brian Friedman | |
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| Born | Brian L. Friedman (1977-05-28)May 28, 1977 (age 48) |
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| Years active | 1988–absent |
Brian L. Friedman (born May 28, 1977)[citation needed] is an Americandancer andchoreographer.
Friedman has created the choreography for many popular music artists – such asBritney Spears,Cher, Beyoncé Knowles, andMariah Carey – as well as formusic videos, concert tours, and television and film productions.
Friedman was born inHighland Park,Illinois, United States. He isJewish.[1]
Friedman began dancing at the age of 11 in his hometown ofScottsdale, Arizona, and appeared in various movies and TV shows includingNewsies, andKids Incorporated. By the age of 16, he was responsible for his own dance studio.
Friedman trained under Joe Tremaine,Kenny Ortega, Vince Patterson, andTwyla Tharp. As a young dancer, Friedman worked with such artists asMichael Jackson,Paula Abdul,Celine Dion,Melissa Etheridge,Salt-N-Pepa, andPatti LaBelle.
He has been credited for providing choreography for films such asCharlie's Angels andCharlie's Angels: Full Throttle, among others.
Friedman also appeared in a singing group, "Blessed With Soul", along withBrittany Murphy, but left to pursue a career in dance.
Friedman also co-owned a dance studio with his mother, Judi Friedman, calledThe Dance Source. It closed in 2000, so he could focus full-time on choreography.[citation needed]
Friedman has choreographed, directed, and performed many music videos and performances, such asAphex Twin "Windowlicker",Britney Spears "Toxic", "Me Against the Music", "Boys", "I'm a Slave 4 U", and her "The Dream Within a Dream Tour" andOnyx Hotel Tour Tours. His other work includes "My Love Is Like...Wo" byMýa, "The One" byPrince, and*NSYNC's "Pop".
Friedman has also choreographed for various television shows includingWill & Grace,The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,Late Show with David Letterman, and theBillboard Music Awards.
From 2004 to 2016, Friedman served as thecreative director ofThe PULSE on Tour, where he toured around the world mentoring students.[2]
In 2011, Friedman re-joinedBritney Spears to choreograph the music videos, and performances for her #1 Singles "Hold It Against Me"and "Till the World Ends".[3]
In 2019, he was responsible for choreographing all musical numbers inMelanie Martinez' first movie,K–12.
His most recent work is with Itzy, a rising girl group based in South Korea, for their new comeback single, “Icy”.He recently appeared in Lady Gaga's "ABRACADABRA" music video choreographed by Parris Goebel.
Friedman appeared as a judge and choreographer on the showSo You Think You Can Dance?. After two seasons, Friedman was offered a contract bySimon Cowell to appear on his show,Grease Is the Word alongsideSinitta,David Ian, andDavid Gest. The show lasted only one series. In 2007, Friedman became a judge and the replacement forLouis Walsh on the British series ofThe X Factor alongside Cowell,Sharon Osbourne, and fellow new judgeDannii Minogue, as part of a revamp to the show inseries 4. On June 22, after completing auditions inLondon, it was announced that Friedman had stepped down as a judge and would be replaced by Walsh. Subsequently, Cowell created a brand new on-camera position for Friedman ascreative director. As creative director, he was able to work with the contestants of the show as well as the judges, Osbourne, Cowell, Minogue, Walsh, and laterCheryl Cole, who replaced Osbourne.
Friedman left the British show in 2010, and was re-contracted to work on the American version of the show,The X Factor, alongside the contestants and judges; Simon Cowell,Nicole Scherzinger,L.A. Reid,Paula Abdul, and formerly Cheryl Cole.
Friedman finished his judging duties onMTV'sTop Pop Group and directed, choreographed, and danced onDancing with the Stars, before acting as producer and creative director forAmerica's Got Talent, and as creative director forThe X Factor USA.
In 2012, Friedman returned to work onThe X Factor UK for the ninth series alongside the judgesGary Barlow,Tulisa Contostavlos, Nicole Scherzinger, and Louis Walsh for the first three weeks of the live shows. After this, Friedman flew back to Los Angeles to work with the acts permanently on the live shows of the second season of the American version alongside Simon Cowell, L.A. Reid, and new judgesDemi Lovato andBritney Spears. He left the show after the second season, andJamie King took his position in the third season. He appeared in one episode ofWelling Films' dance seriesAvengers of eXtreme Illusions.[citation needed]
Friedman also choreographed the stage performance for Irish pop duoJedward for theEurovision Song Contest 2011 semi-final.[citation needed] In 2014, Friedman returned toThe X Factor UK as creative director.[citation needed]
Friedman took part in the2015 series ofI'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. He finished in 11th place.
He resides inScottsdale, Arizona andLondon, with his husband Daniel Porter Friedman.[citation needed]
In an early 2015 interview withAttitude magazine for itsLove & Marriage commemorative special issue, Friedman and his partner, Daniel Brown, announced plans for their upcoming wedding.[4]
Friedman married his partner in February 2020.
Friedman is a patron of theUrdang Academy.
Friedman has been nominated for 4MTV Video Music Awards, 2 Music Video Production Awards, and 5American Choreography Awards.
The first hip hop choreographer is surprisingly, a gay Jew – Brian Friedman.
'After three years I thought we'd be together and get married at some point,' Daniel confesses. And that's exactly what they're now planning – although you'll have to pick up the magazine to find out what they've got planned…
