Mia Frye (born 12 February 1965) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

actress, singer, professional dancer and dance choreographer who lives and works in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Frye is best known for choreographing the dance routine in the music video for the hit songs " Alane" by Wes and "

Macarena "Macarena" is a dance song by Spanish pop duo Los del Río, about a woman of the same name. The song uses a type of clave rhythm. Originally appearing on the 1993 album '' A mí me gusta'', a subsequent remix by Miami-based producers The Bays ...

" by

Los del Río Los del Río (, "Those from the River"), also known as The Del Rios, are a Spanish Latin pop and dance duo which was formed in 1962 by Antonio Romero Monge (17 February 1948) and Rafael Ruiz Perdigones (10 November 1947). They are best known fo ...

Early career

Frye was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and she departed for France with her model mother Radiah Frye at the age of 12 after her mother divorced and met photographer

Jean-Paul Goude Jean-Paul Goude (born 8 December 1938 in Montreuil (France)) is a French graphic designer, illustrator, photographer, advertising film director and event designer. He worked as art director at ''Esquire'' magazine in New York City during the 1 ...

. She enrolled in a dance school in the Marais district of Paris, and became an instructor three years later. She started appearing in television entertainment shows produced by Gésip Légitimus in the late 1970s and in ''Les Enfants du rock''. At 17, after being introduced to

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films '' Subway'' (1985), ''The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...

, the latter proposed she appear in choreography for a clip by

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...

called "Mon légionnaire". Frye came to prominence after she choreographed and appeared in the music video for

's hit song "

". Frye said that her primary goal when she created the dance "was to remove anything that was too fast ... I wanted to be sure that even a child with no sense of rhythm could dance The Macarena." She appears in and choreographed the dance routine for the

Wes Madiko Wes Madiko (15 January 1964 – 25 June 2021), better known mononymously as Wes, was a Cameroonian musician. He is probably best known among Western audiences for his cover of "Upendi", from '' The Lion King II: Simba's Pride'', as well as wor ...

music video for his song " Alane". She was the main choreographer for a comeback show by French pop singer

Sheila Sheila (alternatively spelled Shelagh and Sheelagh) is a common feminine given name, derived from the Irish name ''Síle'', which is believed to be a Gaelic form of the Latin name Caelia, the feminine form of the Roman clan name Caelius, meanin ...

in 1998, at the Olympia, Paris.

Reality shows

Frye has taken part in French reality shows, starting with French version of ''

Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Realit ...

'' in 2001, the inaugural season for the show. She coached the girl band L5. In 2004, she took part in ''

La Ferme Célébrités ''La Ferme Célébrités'' is the French version of the international TV show '' The Farm'', produced in France by Endemol and broadcast on TF1. A certain number of B-List celebrities (about 14) appear on it. The show was running in 2004 and 20 ...

'', another reality television show with the task of collecting funds for a charitable association. She returned to French ''Popstars'' in 2007, the program's 4th season, as official choreographer mentor for the show. In 2012, she was a part of the jury in ''

Encore une chance ''Encore une chance'' (meaning Again a chance in French, full title ''Encore une chance: Les plus belles voix de la téléréalités'' (meaning Again a chance: the most beautiful voices of reality television in French) is a French reality televisi ...

'' (subtitle: ''Les plus belles voix de la télé réalité'') broadcast on

NRJ 12 NRJ 12 is a French private public-state general-interest television channel belonging to the NRJ Group, created on 31 March 2005 on DTT. The channel is available on DTT, cable, satellite and ADSL. History of the channel Originally called NRJ TV ...

. Other jury members included Richard Cross, Stéphane Joffre-Roméas and Morgan Serrano.

Discography

*1984: "I'm The One – All The Girls and Boys", single

WEA The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of the ...

/Alpha

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frye, Mia African-American choreographers American choreographers La Ferme Célébrités participants Living people Actresses from New York City Popstars contestants 1965 births 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women