To bring his vision into vibrant fruition, Crescendo Ward
maintains a constant presence in the world of street dancing,
embodying an understanding of the street dance culture that
cannot be matched. You might say Crescendo is like a human
encyclopedia on urban dance. Crescendo is a veteran
choreographer, dancer, and producer whose numerous credits span
film, television, stage, and video. As a freelance producer for
Fashion TV, Crescendo has an inside track to the
latest trends in nightlife entertainment.
He’s the producer and host of the popular Los Angeles
Urban Dance Festival, The Hip-Hop Dance Awards and
the American Street Dance Championship, which is in its
fifth successful year as a live event. Within his career,
Crescendo has worked with some of the most respected names in
entertainment such as executive producers, Kevin Bright
(Friends), Chris Bearde (Sherman Oaks), writers Mark Warren &
Dennis Rinsler, director Carl Franklin (Out Of Time) and
television director Paul Miller.
A dancer/choreographer renowned in his field, Crescendo has
worked with and/or choreographed recording artists such as Paula Abdul, Jade, The Pointer Sisters, Lionel Richie, Gladys
Knight, Natalie Cole, Troop, Diana Ross, and Calloway.
He considers among his greatest accomplishments his work with
the late, great Sammy Davis Jr. Crescendo
choreographed and performed a tap dance routine with Mr. Davis
for an episode of “Fantasy Island,” then went on
to open for Mr. Davis at Harrah’s Hotel in Lake Tahoe.
An accomplished actor as well as a choreographer, Crescendo’s
film credits include “Naked Gun 33 1/3,” with Leslie
Neilson, “I’ll Do Anything,” with Nick Nolte and “Cell Block
Four,” with Chris Rock. Crescendo did double duty
as an actor and choreographer for Robert Townsend’s film
“The Five Heartbeats” and “Earth Girls Are Easy” with Jeff
Goldblum, Geena Davis, Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans.
In the latter film, Crescendo received rave reviews for the hot
dance battle scene he co-directed, choreographed and performed
with Wayans.
Crescendo left his signature hoofer-prints on several
television shows as well. He was featured with James
Gandolfini (The Sopranos) in the pilot episode of “Gun”. He
received praise for his comedic choreography of HBO’s “Harry
Shearer: The Magic Of Live” and “Shredding Party,” a music video
spoof of the Oliver North trial. Other TV appearances include
“In Living Color,” “The George Burns Special,” “The New Smothers
Brothers Comedy Hour,” “The Diana Ross Special,” and
many more. He also choreographed and appeared in numerous
television commercials including Chrysler, Shell Oil, Taco
Bell, Diet Coke, McDonald’s, Pepsi and Seagram’s Wine Coolers,
in which he was paired with Bruce Willis, and the
popular Frapachino Starbuck’s commercial.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Crescendo’s love of dance surfaced
at a young age. While in high school and dancing on the popular
dance show Soul Train, Crescendo joined a street dance group
called The Puppets. After being mistaken for The Lockers, the popular ‘70s’ street dance group,
The Puppets sneaked into a local taping of the TV show, “The
Midnight Special” and were put on the show. They were
subsequently hired by the late DJ, Wolfman Jack
for “The Wolfman Jack Show” that ran for 30 episodes in Canada.
With no formal dance training, Crescendo choreographed ten of
the shows firmly establishing his future career. Though still in
his teens, Crescendo went on to work as the opening act for some
of the top recording groups of the time including, The
Spinners, Blue Magic, The Dramatics and The Ohio Players,
just to name a few.
After moving to Los Angeles in the ‘80s Crescendo gained
national exposure as a Grand Finalist on “Star Search ‘85”
as half of the popular dance team, “Crescendo &
Diamond,” which some have said could rival the legendary
dance team “The Nicholas Brothers.” Spotted
by variety show producer Chris Bearde, Crescendo
was hired to star in and choreograph the TV series, “FTV,”
a parody of MTV. Bearde was so impressed with his young star’s
abilities, he allowed Crescendo to write and direct several
sketches for the show, which ran for two and a half years.
In 1999, Crescendo formed Steppers Entertainment, later
renamed Wardance Entertainment; a multi-media
entertainment production company specializing in live, video and
post production. Despite such a career, his passion for
dance and education is what drove him to establish the Dance
For Education Foundation, a non-profit
organization dedicated to promoting education for America’s
youth through music and dance. As a master choreographer and
dancer in all the various styles of street dance, Crescendo’s
mission is to ensure the rich legacy of this culture and pass it
on to future dancers, cementing this art form in its rightful
place as an American treasure. “It’s important that we all do
our share and give back, especially if you’re in the position to
do so” tells Crescendo.
