Jonte' Moaning (born October 9, 1982, in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

), also known as Jonte, 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, p ...

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

, dancer, singer-songwriter, and model.

Life and career

Jonte' was born on October 9, 1982, in Portland, Oregon. He began his dance career at the age of 13, enrolling in the

Oregon Ballet Theatre Oregon Ballet Theatre (OBT) is a ballet company in Portland, Oregon, United States. The company performs an annual five-program season at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts and conducts regional and national tours. It was featured in th ...

.Noah Michelson
"Need to Know: Jonte' Moaning"
''Out'', 25 January 2010 After graduating from high school , Jonte' moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to train with the

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Founded in 1958, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is the largest modern dance company in the United States.Dance Data Project (October 2024) 2024 Largest Contemporary and Modern Companies Report Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater ...

. In 2004, he performed as a backup dancer for

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

in the controversial

Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show The Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, known through corporate sponsorship as the Super Bowl XXXVIII AOL TopSpeed Halftime Show took place on February 1, 2004, at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, as part of Super Bowl XXXVIII. It featured Ja ...

.Rebecca Imaizumi
"Interview: Jonte' on Choreographing Beyoncé and Solo Single 'Dejavux'"
, ''Blouin Artinfo Japan'', 15 December 2013 He is perhaps best known for his work with

Beyoncé Knowles Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most culturally significant figu ...

as a choreographer on her 2007 world tour,

The Beyoncé Experience The Beyoncé Experience was the second concert tour by American singer-songwriter Beyoncé, in-support of her sophomore studio album, '' B'Day'' (2006). The Beyoncé Experience consisted of 96 shows in 2007, spread-out over five legs. Fan club t ...

. He also choreographed a number of Beyoncé music videos, most notably "

Freakum Dress "Freakum Dress" is a song by American singer Beyoncé from her second solo studio album '' B'Day'' (2006). It was written by Beyoncé, Rich Harrison, Angela Beyincé and Makeba Riddick. "Freakum Dress" received comparisons to Destiny's Child son ...

." Jonte' is also active in the Japanese entertainment industry. He first visited Japan when he was invited to teach dance workshops in Hiroshima in 2004, and since then has worked as a choreographer for major Asian pop artists and groups including

Jolin Tsai Jolin Tsai I-lin ( zh, c=蔡依林, p=Cài Yīlín; born September 15, 1980), also romanized as Jolin Cai, is a Taiwanese people, Taiwanese singer, songwriter, and actress. Recognized as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of C-Pop ...

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ; born September 20, 1977) is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a Japanese idol, teen idol, and transitioned into a leading Pop music, pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentatio ...

Double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

Wonder Girls Wonder Girls () was a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group debuted in February 2007 with the single "Irony (Wonder Girls song), Irony" and 5 members: Park Ye-eun, Yeeun, Sunye, Sunmi, Hyuna, and Ahn So-hee, Sohee. Aft ...

, 2PM,

Miss A Miss A (; stylized in all caps or miss A) was a South Korean girl group formed by AQ Entertainment, a subsidiary of JYP Entertainment. The group debuted in July 2010 with the single " Bad Girl Good Girl" as a quartet consisting of Fei, Jia, ...

, and

T-ara T-ara (; ) is a South Korean girl group formed in 2009, currently consisting of four members: Qri, Hahm Eun-jung, Eunjung, Hyomin, and Park Ji-yeon, Jiyeon. T-ara's career is marked by Hook (music), hook-heavy dance-pop music, a result of their ...

. In addition to choreography and modeling work, Jonte' has also makes frequent appearances in Japanese television programming and advertising campaigns, most notably for Lotte brand Ice Breakers and Tokyo Mode Gakuen, an academy of fashion and design. He was also featured in the promotional video for the J-Pop group

GReeeeN Gre4n Boyz (stylized as GRe4N BOYZ), until March 2024 named Greeeen (stylized as GReeeeN), is a Japanese all-male vocal group from Kōriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, comprising the four members: HIDE, navi, 92 (read as "kuni"), and SOH. They de ...

's 2013 single "A-I-U-E-Ongaku," which was used as the opening theme for the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

''Line Offline: Salaryman'' and ''Linetown'', though he is perhaps most recognized for his appearance in the end credits to the long-running NHK children's program ''Tensai Terebi-kun''. Jonte' released his first solo single, "Bitch You Betta" in 2008. He has stated that he was inspired to become a solo artist while working with performing artists and feeling that he "could do it better." As a performer, Jonte' is known for his androgynous look and trademark high heels. He is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

, and although sometimes referred to as a

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

, does not identify as such. In an interview with ''Out'' magazine, he describes his own gender identity as follows: "I'm just an androgynous male. That's it. I look good in women's clothes so I might as well wear them, you know? That's what it is. I'm really not a drag queen. Although I love drag queens, that's really not me.""Need to Know: Jonte' Moaning"
''Out'', 25 January 2010

Discography

* "Bitch You Betta" - 2008 * "Ya Rude!" - 2011 * "High Kick Pow" (EP) - 2011 * "Tiger" (featuring Dai Burger and Ansoni) - 2013 * "Alcoholic" - 2013 * "Dejavux" - 2013 * "Klassy" (Collaboration with Jack Rayner)- 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moaning, Jonte 1982 births African-American LGBTQ people African-American choreographers American choreographers LGBTQ choreographers African-American male dancers American male dancers American gay artists American gay musicians American LGBTQ dancers American LGBTQ models American LGBTQ singers Gay dancers Gay models Gay singers American expatriates in Japan Living people Artists from Portland, Oregon LGBTQ people from Oregon Male models from Oregon American people of Togolese descent American people of Beninese descent 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers

Life and career

Discography

See also

References

External links