Brian Friedman, PULSE creative director, is one of today’s hottest directors for today’s most popular concert tours, music videos, television shows, commercials, and films. Friedman has choreographed and directed some of the most popular and groundbreaking music videos and performances such as Britney Spears “Toxic” and “Slave 4 U”, “The One” by PRINCE, *NSYNCs “Dirty Pop”, and many more for such artist as Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Usher, Pink, Ne-Yo, and more. As a dancer, his screen credits include both Charlie’s Angels hit movies, “You Got Served”, “She’s All that”, “Austin Powers Gold Member”, and more. His television shows include: Will & Grace, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, David Letterman, The Ellen Show, Oprah, That 70’s Show, MTV VMA’s, VH1 DIVAS LIVE, and the Billboard Music Awards.

Friedman’s dance training began at 11 in his hometown of Scottsdale, Arizona; he soon starred in “Newsies”, and “Kids Incorporated”, and owned his own dance studio by the age of 16. As a young dancer, Friedman worked with such artists as Michael Jackson, Paula Abdul, Celine Dion, Melissa Etheridge, Salt N Pepa, and Patti LaBelle. Friedman has been nominated for 4 MTV Video Music Awards, 2 Music Video Production Awards and 5 American Choreography Awards. Friedman later became a judge and choreographer of the FOX hit show “So You Think You Can Dance?” After 2 seasons, he was exported overseas to London to star in Simon Cowell’s UK show, “Grease Is the Word” and then on to judge and begin Creative Director duties on London’s “The X Factor”. Brian returned to judge MTV’s “Top Pop Group” and Directed/Choreographed/Danced on “Dancing with the Stars”. Currently Brian is Producer and Creative Director of the #1 US summer hit “America’s Got Talent”!

Most recently, Brian has begun work on the “X Factor” in the US, look for it’s premiere Sept. 21st on Fox! Congratulations to him on his latest VMA Best Choreography nomination for Britney Spears Music Video “Till the World Ends”

Wade Robson, PULSE creative director, received two Emmy Awards for his groundbreaking work on the Fox series “So You Think You Can Dance” and is currently Artistic Director for Demi Lovato. He has directed and choreographed music videos, commercials, award shows and world tours for recording artists such as Britney Spears, *NSYNC, Usher, Mya, and P!nk.

Born in Brisbane, Australia, Robson began dancing professionally at age five, moving to America and performing in Michael Jackson music videos, multiple commercials, films and TV shows before the age of nine. Robson began teaching dance at the famous Millennium Dance Complex in North Hollywood, CA when he was only 12, which led to his first professional choreography job for MCA recording artists Immature at just 14 years old.

At 16, Robson was asked to choreograph for Britney Spears’ 1999 world tour. He went on to write, direct, remix the music, direct the video segments and co-design the sets for her award show performances and world tours, including the acclaimed “A Dream Within a Dream” HBO special. He did the same with *NSYNC, which included their POP ODYSSEY World Tour. He also choreographed Britney’s famous Pepsi
Commercials, her sultry “Slave” music video and NSYNC’s “POP” music video.

He co-wrote and produced songs for Britney Spears multi-platinum Britney album and 4 songs from *NSYNC’s multi-platinum Celebrity album, including the Grammy nominated single “Gone.” This led to Robson’s unprecedented deal with The Universal Music Group, where he has written and produced music for such recording artists as Justin Guarini, Dream, The Backstreet Boys, James Ingram and Carly Simon, and released an album of his own dance music entitled “Wade Robson’s Project-Dance Beats, Vol. 1.”

Robson created, produced and starred in MTV’s hit series “The Wade Robson Project.” He has written, choreographed and directed commercials for Sirius Satellite Radio and Power Shoes, as well as award winning short films, and also choreographed Cirque Du Soleil’s “Criss Angel Believe” at the Las Vegas Luxor.

Cris Judd is a wide-ranging talent. He’s a dancer, choreographer, musician, songwriter, and actor. One of his songs is featured on the “Enough” soundtrack. He hosted the WE Network show “Dirty Dancing,” and he completed the much-anticipated pilot, “Bust A Move,” for MTVNE. Cris also worked on an independent film, “Be My Baby.” Winning the show “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here” proved he’s not only a unique actor, but one with a growing number of fans. TV credits: Nickelodeon’s “Unfabulous” and UPN’s “Half and Half” and “Eve.” His “Dance Like We Do” instructional DVD was released nationwide. Off-Broadway credits include: “Dracula,” Walt Disney World and Disney’s Pleasure Island. His skills were brought to the attention of MTV and Michael Jackson and he appeared at the 1995 MTV Video Awards and on Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” and “History” world tours. Cris has worked with such celebrities as Cher, Celine Dion, *NSYNC, Paulina Rubio and Brian McKnight.

Other credits: Jordan Knight, Jennifer Lopez (“Ain’t It Funny” and “I’m Real,” MTV Video Awards and her network TV concert special), Perry Farrell on Jane’s Addiction’s 2001 Festival dates, and the hit film “Bringing Down the House,” starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. He married Kelly Judd in 2009 (who he met at THE PULSE) and finished a film called “The Outside” where he also was a featured role. See him hosting shows and working all over circuits in NYC and LA!

Most recently, see his choreography on this season’s “America’s Got Talent” and now, in the movie as a featured dancer in “Rock of Ages” starring Tom Cruise, choreographed by Mia Michaels!

LaurieAnn Gibson, a classically-trained dancer, studied at the prestigious Alvin Ailey Dance Company. From her success there, LaurieAnn’s talent allowed her to make the leap from dancer to Director of Choreography for Motown and Bad Boy Records where she worked with celebrated names such as the Notorious B.I.G., Puffy, Faith Evans and Missy. In addition to working with musical stars such as Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Dixie Chicks, Mario, Clay Aiken, Brandy and Beyonce, LaurieAnn choreographed the Universal Pictures feature film Honey, starring Jessica Alba and Lil’ Romeo.

In 2005, LaurieAnn began residency as the on-air choreographer for MTV’s hit television show “Making The Band”, starring girl group Danity Kane. LaurieAnn worked on the MTV series “Starmaker”, another reality offering by Sean “Puffy” Combs. LaurieAnn is heavily featured in Combs’s brainchild “Making His Band” on MTV, in addition to appearing as a choreographer on the hit show “So You Think You Can Dance”.

LaurieAnn Gibson is the creative visionary behind Lady Gaga, as her team is responsible for Gaga’s music videos, television appearances, touring experiences and more. LaurieAnn has directed and choreographed tours for pop acts including The Jonas Brothers, Jordin Sparks, Jesse McCartney and Alicia Keys.

Most recently, Laurieann aired her own reality TV shows, “The Dance Scene” with Ryan Seacrest on E! and “Born to Dance” on BET! Laurieann has been nominated for a VMA for her choreography in Lady Gaga's "Judas". She has also recieved an Emmy nomination for directing Lady Gaga’s “The Monster Ball” Tour.

Dave Scott danced his way “straight outta Compton” and straight into Hollywood and a multi-faceted career in dance, choreography, and artist development spanning music, film, television, and commercials.

Dave has been filming several projects for both film and television this year, including; “So You think You Can Dance” on Fox, and is in pre production for the first ever world release of an all b-boy film “Planet B-Boy”. You can also see Dave’s moves on the big screen in the 3D phenomenon- “Step Up 3D” and the romantic comedy “Maid of Honor” starting Patrick Dempsey. Dave has also been featured on “Dancing with the Stars” and taking on hosting duties on the hit MTV show “Countdown to American’s Best Dance Crew”.

No stranger to film successes; some of Dave’s theatrical releases include; The Wayans Brothers newest comedy “Dance Flick” had audiences cracking up in their seats. Sony Pictures “Stomp the Yard” was #1 two weeks in a row at the box office and grossed over $136 million worldwide. 2004’s, “You Got Served” won him the 10th Annual Choreography Award for Best Choreography in a feature film, and featured the artist B2K. In addition; Scott was the key ingredient behind the success of B2K, giving them their name, style, hot dance moves, and all out sex appeal. In just two years, B2K scored two platinum albums; and headlined the sold-out tours nationwide.

Scott has molded and shaped the images and careers of many other hot artists, including the newest boys group to hit the stage Mindless Behavior, Tyrese, Marques Houston and the musically renowned Brian McKnight, allowing them to reach new and unexpected heights in their careers. Scott has lent his talents to several commercial campaigns including Chevy and Pantene, the Fox TV success Bones, and choreographed dance sequences in 2004’s Coach Carter starring Samuel Jackson.

Scott has graced the covers of virtually every industry publication including Dance Spirit and Arena Magazine, as well as features in LA Times West Magazine, King, Vibe, and Grip, and has performed at nearly every major award show. Scott continues to teach master classes in dance nationwide, and inspires kids and adults of all ages.

Tyce Diorio has danced with Janet Jackson on her Velvet Rope World Tour as well as in her “If,” “Together Again,” and “You” videos, on the American Music Awards, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Saturday Night Live and throughout Europe. He has danced exclusively for Paula Abdul (Under My Spell World Tour), Jennifer Lopez (“On the 6,” Let’s Get Loud NBC special from Puerto Rico), Ricky Martin (Livin’ La Vida Loca Tour), Samantha Mumba (w/*NSYNC Pop Odyssey Tour) as well as many others.

He was a featured lead in the Broadway show Fosse dancing the “Percussion 4” and “Mr. Bojangles” solos. He appeared in the workshop of All Shook Up in its pre-Broadway run and also had the privilege of working one-on-one with Twyla Tharp.

He has appeared in such films as Showgirls, Starsky and Hutch, 13 going on 30, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. He is featured in the iPod commercial with U2 for their hit song “Vertigo.” He had the opportunity to appear in a five-page layout for In Style Magazine alongside Jennifer Lopez for her film Shall We Dance. He was chosen by Debbie Allen as the “spoiler contestant” for Fame, the reality TV show, and had the opportunity to appear on NBC for five weeks. Tyce is on the “A-list” of such choreographers as Rob Marshall, Tina Landon, Marguerite Derricks, Sergio Trujillo, Billy Goodson and Debbie Allen. He is a triple threat and is recording his own music as well as working in film and television as an actor.

You’ve seen him on 4 seasons of “So You Think You Can Dance” where he won an EMMY! Since then, he’s worked on commercials, “Big Time Rush”, “Drop Dead Diva” and more. Tyce is everywhere!

Most recently he is off to choreograph a major feature film “What to Expect When Expecting” starring Cameron Diaz, Matthew Morrison, and Jennifer Lopez.

Gil Duldulao is one of the most sought after artistic directors in the music industry today. Truly an island boy at heart, Gil studied dance at Big City Productions and 24/7 DanceForce on Oahu Hawaii, far away from the glitz and glam of Hollywood. At age 16, Gil landed himself a dance scholarship at the EDGE Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles. Before he knew it he was soon dancing for some of the biggest stars on earth, including: Janet Jackson, Madonna, Britney spears, Jennifer Lopez, Prince, Ricky Martin, Tina Turner to name but a few. His first opportunity to show his choreography on a global level was on none other than the legend Tina Turner’s ‘24/7 World Tour.’

Gil has gained most notoriety in the industry for his wildly creative input in the performances and videos of pop icon Janet Jackson: world and promo tours, television performances, and a handful of state of the art music videos; Gil has definitely left his permanent mark in the world of dance and live performance.

At the MTV Video music Awards in 2009, Gil brought together the most astonishing collection of dancers and choreographers on stage in a truly moving dance tribute to the late Michael Jackson. In 2010, Gil directed the ‘American Idol’ season finale. As of 2011, Gil is once again prepping Janet Jackson for yet another world tour, ‘The Up Close & Personal Tour.’ Not only that, the thunderous voice known as Charice Pempengco has appointed Gil as the artistic director of her entire Asia tour.

Most recently:
Janet Jackson's Up Close and Personal Tour
Nikki Minage and Cherice
Season 2 of Aubrey O'Days show, All About Aubrey

Desmond Richardson
Hailed by the New York Times as one of the great modern dancers of his time, Desmond Richardson is a multi-talented artist who has mastered a wide range of dance forms including classical, modern, and contemporary. Richardson’s immense talent was first recognized as a student at New York High School for the Performing Arts during which time he received a merit scholarship from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and the International Academie des Tanz in Koln, Germany.

In 1987, Richardson joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater where he was a principal dancer for seven years. In 1997, he joined the American Ballet Theater where he performed the lead role in the company’s world premiere production of Othello. In its description of Richardson’s performance in that role, the New York Times described him as “one of the most majestic dancers ever to tread the MET Stage.”

In 1998, Richardson joined the premiere cast of the Broadway Musical Fosse for which he received a 1999 Tony Award Nomination! He has also appeared on Broadway in the musical, The Look of Love and in the critically acclaimed Movin’ Out. He had a principal role in Debbie Allen’s dance/theatrical presentation, Soul Possessed, which premiered at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1999. Richardson has performed with such musical artists as Michael Jackson, Prince, Aretha Franklin, and Madonna. He is featured in Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi’s film, One Last Dance and the Oscar winning feature film Chicago.

His recent honors include the Alvin Ailey School’s 2006 Apex award and the prestigous 2007 Dance Magazine Award.

When Mia Michaels is asked who her favorite dancer is, her reply is “Desmond Richardson...He is an inspiration and a legend!” The PULSE Staff enjoyed an evening at the Joyce Theatre, NYC on May 24, 2011 where we proudly watched Desmond perform with his company, Complexions, and receive the prestigious “Capezio 60th Annual Dance Award” – which is an amazing honor!

Also, if you were watching So You Think You Can Dance Season 7, you saw him perform, and for season 8 he and Dwight choreographed a beautiful duet!

Brooke Lipton, a native of Phoenix, AZ, was a rising star in the LA dance scene at the young age of 12. Brooke spent her summers dancing at the LA studios and conventions and was highly sought after by the industries top choreographers. After high school, Brooke moved to LA to pursue her dream of being a professional dancer. She has worked with artists such as Madonna, Janet Jackson, Beyonce, Queen Latifah, Pink, Lenny Kravitz, Chaka Khan, and Jewel, to name a few.

Brooke has toured the world with Britney Spears in the “Dream Within A Dream” Tour and “The Onyx Hotel” Tour. She has assisted on So You Think You Can Dance and recently worked as a choreographer on the Disney Channel movie StarStruck, starring Sterling Knight. Brooke followed up a successful first season as Assistant Choreographer for the Emmy Nominated TV hit GLEE! with the National GLEE! Tour. Hard at work on the awesome new season of GLEE! she continues to teach across the US, giving back to the community that has taught her so much knowledge about the world of dance.

Have you seen the GLEE! Project? Airing every Sunday 9/8c on Oxygen, Brooke is all over this! Look out for her in the movie “Rock of Ages” as a featured dancer where she was filming just last week! Choreographed by Mia Michaels and starring Tom Cruise!

New faculty member for the 2011-2012 tour!
We are so proud to welcome Brooke to our faculty for the 2011-2012 season!

Robert Hoffman, American Choreography Award Winner – You Got Served

A screen performer who entered show business via his finesse as a professional dancer, Gainesville, FL, native Robert Hoffman reportedly gravitated to footwork at the tender age of five, with enrollment in professional dance classes. Hoffman discovered his lifelong passion by the experience of watching superstar Michael Jackson perform, and then (inspired by this) subsequently moved to Madison, AL, with his family and enrolled in dance classes there; years later he studied formally under the esteemed dance instructor Kim Wolfe.

In time, Hoffman’s tenacity and passion for the art form led him to train with the Alabama Ballet, and when he opted to move to Hollywood and pursue film acting, dancing enabled him to carve out an unusual niche in a related series of movie roles. Hoffman worked on the skeleton animation model for Pirates of the Caribbean, and then danced in the movie, You Got Served (2004) and gradually ascended to higher billing (and expanded his range) with supporting roles in the big-screen romantic comedy She’s the Man (2006), the prime-time missing person-themed series Vanished (2006), and the supernatural horror movie Shrooms (2007). Jon M. Chu’s urban drama Step Up 2: The Streets, however, represented Hoffman’s breakthrough and brought him his first lead; in that film, he played a professional dancer who joins forces with a newcomer (Briana Evigan) to participate in an underground dance contest.

New faculty member for the 2011-2012 tour!
We are so proud to welcome Robert to our faculty!

Your PULSE Emcee!

Carmit Bachar - artist, performer, television personality, and philanthropist - is best known as the only original member of multi-platinum and Grammy-nominated recording group The Pussycat Dolls. As one of the three main vocalists in the burlesque-inspired girl group, this distinctive red-haired beauty with the sultry voice rose to international fame as an overnight pop sensation with The Pussycat Dolls' chart-topping hit singles.

As a founding member of the original Pussycat Dolls cabaret show, which began in Los Angeles' famed club venues The Viper Room and The Roxy, Carmit performed as a singer and dancer alongside many guest stars including Carmen Electra, Charlize Theron, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera & Applegate, and more. Carmit graced covers of Maxim Magazine, Interview Magazine, and Blender Magazine. Carmit was also named one of FHM's Top 100 Sexiest Women in the World for 2008.

An entrepreneur in her own right, Carmit has used her passion for inspiring creativity and self-expression to build herself an empire of the arts. In 2001, she began co-creating and producing The Zodiac Show. This underground rock ‘n’ roll version of Cirque Du Soleil attracted an eclectic group of singers, dancers, choreographers, musicians, and performing artists including celebrity guests. Carmit is also a performer in this spectacular event.

Carmit, born and raised in Los Angeles, is of Israeli, Dutch, Indonesian, and Chinese descent and comes from a family of entertainers. She competed internationally as a rhythmic gymnast for 10 years, and placed 5th in the Olympic trials in 1992. As a professional freelance dancer and choreographer, you can also find Carmit getting down with her bad self in the music videos of Beyonce, Michael Jackson, Macy Gray, Jennifer Lopez, Aaliyah and No Doubt. She has toured and performed live with artists including Janet Jackson,Gwen Stefani, Beyonce, Diddy and Ricky Martin as the “La Vida Loca Girl”.

An avid philanthropist, Carmit is a Smile Ambassador for Operation Smile and is active with her own charity "Smile With Me" for the benefit of Operation Smile.

Her latest projects include joining forces with DJ/Producer Sammy Jay under the name LadyStation, a hot new-wave electro-pop duo with a release set for Fall 2011, writing her own column for Face On, a UK fashion magazine, completing background vocals for Macy Gray's last album, creating a merchandise line and getting ready to release her E-book, “Be The Star”, co-written with Christel Hughes. Yet the biggest accomplishment came September 18, 2011 when her baby girl Keala Rose was born!