Barry Lather
Born (1966-08-16) August 16, 1966 (age 57)
Albany, New York
Occupation(s)Choreographer, creative director
Years active1985-present
Known for"The Pleasure Principle" music video

Barry Lather (born August 16, 1966, in Albany, New York) is an American creative director, choreographer, producer, and dancer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Los Angeles, California.[1]

Early life

Lather was born on August 16, 1966, in Albany, New York.[citation needed] He grew up in a family of five children in Atlanta, Georgia.[2][1] His mother Joan was a dance instructor and his father George ran a dancewear business.[3] In 1985, after graduating high school, Lather moved to Los Angeles and trained on scholarship at Joe Tremaine's Dance Center.[1][2]

Career

Lather's first entertainment industry dancing project was the 1985 Michael Jackson 3-D film Captain EO.[4] He continued performing in TV series like Fame and Dancin' to the Hits, commercials, and music videos such as Janet Jackson's "Nasty" and "When I Think of You."[5][3][6] In 1987, Lather choreographed for Janet Jackson for the American Music Awards and Grammy Awards, and later for "The Pleasure Principle" music video, which won a Billboard Music Award and an MTV Award for Best Choreography.[5][7] Other artists he worked choreography for included Prince, Michael Jackson, Paula Abdul, George Michael, Sting, and Sheryl Crow.[2][4] In 1988, he choreographed the Super Bowl XXII Halftime Show and The Academy Awards.[citation needed]

Lather also recorded an album as a solo artist with the label Atlantic Records/WEA in 1990, titled Turn Me Loose.[8]

In the early 2000s, Lather began directing large productions such as world tours and live television performances for artists including P Diddy, Ashlee Simpson, Seal, Gwen Stefani, Ciara, Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Trey Songz and Miguel. He acted as creative director for Usher's The Truth Tour, The OMG Tour and for many other superstar artists.[9] Lather's ice show production choreography includes shows for Paramount Parks[citation needed] and Disney and working with Olympic athletes like Kristi Yamaguchi, Scott Hamilton, and Katarina Witt.[1] In late 2008, Lather directed and choreographed Donny and Marie Osmond's Las Vegas Show at the Flamingo Hotel.[10] In 2010, he directed Usher's performances on So You Think You Can Dance, Britain's Got Talent, X Factor, and the BET Awards 2010.[9]

In 2011 and 2012, he worked on the Freestyle Motocross show "Nuclear Cowboyz" tour.[11] In 2014, he was creative director for performances by Echosmith, Nick Jonas, The Vamps, and Meghan Trainor at the Nickelodeon Halo Awards. For the 2016 Grammys, Lather directed Carrie Underwood and Sam Hunt's live mashup performance of "Heartbeat" and "Take Your Time." In early 2018, Lather directed & choreographed the grand opening event for Qiddiya in Saudi Arabia and in 2019 the ground breaking ceremony of the ancient city of Diriyah outside of Riyadh. In 2019, Barry was the creative producer for American Idol's season finale show. [9] In 2021, he directed a Celebrity Cruise Line classic rock production called Rockumentary that launched in Greece. Barry directed Robbie Williams Las Vegas Residency Show at The Wynn, and Carrie Underwood's Residency Show "Reflection" at ResortsWorld in Vegas. Recently, Barry worked on Hans Zimmer's European Tour in 2022/2023, directed & designed iconic rocker John Fogerty's Tour and directed Carrie Underwood's The Denim & Rhinestones Tour. [12]

Personal life

Awards

Year Film awards / critics Award Work Result Ref
1988 MTV Video Music Awards Best Choreography "The Pleasure Principle" music video Won [4]
1997 Fosse Awards Best Music Video "Ghosts" - Michael Jackson Won [13][14]
2001 Emmys Outstanding Choreography Miss America 2000 Nominated [15]
2016 Pollstar Most Creative Stage Production Storyteller Tour: Stories in the Round Nominated [16]

Selected Directing & Choreography

TV and Film

Music videos

Live Performances & Award Shows

Tours

References

  1. ^ a b c d "It's a jungle out there". Deseret News. 2002-03-08. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  2. ^ a b c Clayton, Chris (2016-12-05). ""You're funky, where you from?"". Mpls St Paul. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  3. ^ a b "The Michael Jackson School of Dance". LA Times. 1990-08-26. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  4. ^ a b c Kispert, Amber (2008-10-21). "Bringing rhythm nation to you". PressPubs. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  5. ^ a b "Barry Lather: Credits". Yahoo. n.d. Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  6. ^ "Get the funk up: A tribute to Prince's Batdance". SBS. 2016-04-22. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  7. ^ Johnson, Robert E. (1987-03-01). "Janet Jackson: 'I'm Not Sexy, I'm Sassy...I Date... And I Will Marry Again'". Jet. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  8. ^ "Barry Lather - Turn Me Loose". AllMusic. n.d. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  9. ^ a b c "Barry Lather". MSA Agency. n.d. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  10. ^ Wild, Stephi (2019-12-22). "Choreographers Cris Judd, Bryan Anthony Join FOR THE LOVE OF A GLOVE Michael Jackson Musical". Broadway World. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  11. ^ "Nuclear Cowboys tour takes off". ESPN. 2009-11-23. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  12. ^ "Rocumentary". Batwin and Robin. 2021. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  13. ^ Segal, Lewis (1997-11-10). "Fosse Awards Announced". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  14. ^ Segal, Lewis (1999-11-10). "Fosse Awards Announced". LA Times. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  15. ^ "Awards & Nominations". Emmys. n.d. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  16. ^ "Pollstar Awards Nominees". Pollstar. 2016-11-11. Retrieved 2022-08-05.

External links

MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography
Authority control databases
Categories