Musa Cooper
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Musa A. Cooper (born February 26, 1978) is an American dancer and fitness model who has had several television appearances, and is best known for being featured on both of the initial two seasons of the popular televised dance competition So You Think You Can Dance. He is also the smiling dancer on the recent Popeyes Chicken commercials, featuring the jingle, "I want Popeyes."
[edit] Life
Cooper was raised in Camden, New Jersey. He attended Lenape High School, where he was a track star in the 1990s, and also known for exuberant gymnastic dancing moves, such as doing back-flips at pep rallies. He was a member of the school's first State relay championship team in 1997, and had experience as a hurdler, sprinter, and high jumper.[1] A dancer from a young age, Cooper specialized in hip-hop and b-boying styles, then studying more rhythmic dances when he reached his early teens.
Cooper was a performer for Beyoncé Knowles at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, and has made cameo appearances on other television programs, such as Sex in the City.[2] [3] In 2005, he appeared in the short film, It's Fun to Help Poor People, Franny Canada.[4] (video) Also in 2005, he was one of the first people to audition for the first season of So You Think You Can Dance. He was prominently featured in the first few episodes, and though he impressed the judges with his unique dance style, he did not make the final cut. In 2006, he tried again at the New York auditions, and had improved so much, and had sufficient quantity of unique moves, that he was passed through to the Las Vegas auditions and eventually into the finals. He proceeded to the top 12, but was eliminated on July 13, 2006. His assigned dance partner had been Natalie Fotopoulos, who went on to become one of the top 6 finalists before herself being eliminated. Cooper attended Heather Hoffman's bat mitzvah as a dancer. He was a hit with the kids there.
Cooper is married, and lives in Camden, New Jersey, where he works as a professional dancer.
[edit] References
- Profile at fox.com
- Boys Easterns - 1997 track placements, Eastern States Indoor Championship
- Profile - at Modelmayhem.com
- Synopses of "So You Think You Can Dance" episodes
- Video interview and dance clips on Access Hollywood
- "Fancy Footwork", July 19, 2006, Calgary Sun
- Musa Cooper at the Internet Movie Database
- "It's Fun to Help Poor People, Franny Canada", 12-minute 2005 short film by "Ragtag Productions," in which Cooper appears as a breakdancer
[edit] External links
- Musa Cooper's MySpace
- Musa Cooper hip-hop workout podcast
- People watch, Dallas Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, July 14, 2006
- 'Dance' fever, July 2006, Baltimore Sun reporter blog
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