Tonya Kay
| Tonya Kay | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | October 8, 1981 |
| Residence | Los Angeles, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation |
actress; dancer; model; freelance writer; nutritionist; performance artist |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Agent |
Clear Talent Group; CTG – Adult Theatrical Commercial Talent Agency Kazarian Spencer Ruskin Equity Shirley Hamilton Agency Talent Ink. LA-NY |
| Home town | Michigan |
| Movement | raw foods vegan; environmentally green |
| Religion | Pagan; Chaote |
| Website | |
| http://www.tonyakay.com | |
Tonya Kay is an American actress, television personality, and performance artist appearing in independent films and episodic television. Her background includes performing stunts and what she refers to as "danger arts", which consist of knife throwing and whip cracking. She also has a background in modeling, dance choreography, stage performance, and freelance writing.[1]
Kay may be best known for playing the lead comedic role, I Rock, in Bold Native,[2] the first fictional film about the Animal Liberation Front; and starring as the royal nasty, Princess Peach in Comedy Central's "Video Game Reunion".
She is additionally known for participating as a contestant on NBC's America's Got Talent show, having reached the semi-finals featuring her fire poi solo with Trey Knight's Stilt World dance company.[3] She also appeared as a contestant on five episodes of Sci-Fi's Who Wants to Be a Superhero?.[4]
Her guest appearances on American network television programs include Numb3rs, Criminal Minds, House M.D., and Glee. Kay stars as herself, a pagan superhero, in Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose comic book series developed by Jim Balent, who describes Kay as "probably the most dangerous actress in Hollywood today".[5][6]
Personal background
Tonya Kay was born in southern Michigan. While graduating valedictorian of her high school class, she chose not to continue with traditional education.[7] Kay is a practicing raw vegan, pagan and Chaote, and shares her interests on health, nutrition, and spiritual pursuits on her websites through a variety of interviews and published works.[7]
Professional background
Early career
At age four, Kay was enrolled by her mother in tap dance classes. By age six, she was performing in a local community theatre production of the musical Oliver!.[7] At 15, she was cast in her first professional production, The Music Man at Detroit, Michigan's Fisher Theatre.[7]
Overview
Kay is a television character actress, dancer, model, and vocalist. Kay performs her own stunts, which include whip cracking, knife throwing, stilt dancing, flag and fire dance. Her stunt performances have been used in film productions, as well as in live freak show, burlesque, Vaudeville, and cabaret performances. She served as an aerial stunt trainee in Las Vegas' De La Guarda.
She spent four years performing in Chicago theatres, including the Drury Lane Theatre, Peninsula Players, Theatre at the Centre, Theatre Building Chicago and Apollo Theater Chicago. In New York City, she performed in concert dance companies and experimental theatre, booking the aerial show, De La Guarda, and eventually toured with the dance troupe, Stomp.
Choreography and dance
Kay's choreography and stunt consultant credits include appearing on FOX Television's series Bones; tap choreography for the film Pais De Trois; burlesque choreography on Comedy Central's Secret Girlfriend, secondary choreography on Showtime's Live Nude Comedy, and rhythm choreography in Perkin's "Seafood STOMP" commercial and choreography for 3OH!3 Double Vision music video.
While Kay has performed her stilt dancing during the Krassimir Avramov Opera Concert at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. She also combines her danger arts and specialties with burlesque solos, performing live with the following companies.
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Instructional videos
Kay's instructional hosting credits include over 200 episodic videos available through the Answer4Dancers.com website. She may be best known for participating in the 48 Pros Tell You Everything They Know About the Job Game video series.[8]
I personally became addicted to poi as a dance form at a pagan festival in Indiana, 2002. A group of grungy young witches pulled me into their private circle and left my jaw agape as I beheld the dangerous and sensual circles of fire they spun in intricate patterns around their muscular bodies. Immediately I began practicing the technique of spinning poi and as a professional dancer, noticed right away a new power in my body's core and a noteworthy definition of my deltoids and upper back. To my delight, the act of spinning weighted circles around oneself not only creates a space in which, while the body is fully engaged, the mind is lulled into meditative trance, but also is just so much genuine fun, I don't even realize I've "worked out".[9]
—Tonya Kay
Music video appearances
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Trace Adkins' "I Got My Game On" | romantic lead | Director Michael Salomon; Video of the Year at the CMT Music Awards |
| Death Angel "Dethroned" | snake lady | Director Robert Sexton | |
| Namie Amuro "New Look" | featured dancer | Choreographer Yasko Ishikawa | |
| Rob Zombie "Foxy, Foxy" | featured actress | Director Rob Zombie | |
| A Guy Named Brad "Pressure" | lead dancer/choreographer | Director Kekoa Bayang | |
| Geoff Tyson "True Believer" | featured actress | Director Geoff Tyson | |
| 3OH!3 "Double Vision" | |||
| DJ Swamp "Club Thrashin'" |
Modeling
Kay's modeling work has been featured in Rolling Stone, Spin Magazine, TV Guide, and National Geographic. Kay also models with fellow vegetarian, Russell Brand on the cover of the soundtrack developed for the fictional character Aldous Snow (lead singer of the fictional band Infant Sorrow), from the movie Get Him to the Greek. Her modeling work is featured on the cover of Lou Barlow's True Nature Feels Like Centuries album.[10][11]
Kay appears in Nike's "Colors" national ad campaign and in Equinox Gym's national billboard campaign launched in January 2010. She has also worked with photographers Glen Wexler, Peter Randolph and Jasper Johal, who is a prominent professional photographer known for his black and white nudes of yogis and dancers.
Television roles and appearances
- Television roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Numb3rs | Nitrogurl | CBS/director Fred Keller |
| 2009 | Secret Girlfriend | Cassidy (recurring) | Comedy Central/director Ross Novie |
| 2009 | Criminal Minds | Tara Farris | ABC/director John Badham; 11 November 2009 |
| 2009 | Pas de trois | Juliette | director Christophe Nassif |
| 2010 | Uncle Nigel | Hot Biker Chick | TBS/director Randall Zisk |
| 2010 | House M.D. | Chloe | FOX/director Sanford Bookstaver |
| 2010 | Glee | Cheerleader #3 | FOX television |
| 2011 | "Video Game Reunion" | Princess Peach | Comedy Central/director Matthew Lewis |
- Television stunt performance and appearances
Kay's stunt performances have been featured side by side with Ellen DeGeneres, William Shatner, Margaret Cho, and Harry Anderson. In July 2001, Kay wrote and directed Xtreme Rhythm Theatre, an all-rhythm production based on her experiences as a young woman living in New York City.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Who Wants to Be a Superhero? | contestant/Creature | SciFi/Stan Lee |
| 2006 | America's Got Talent | contestant/fire spinner/Stilt World | NBC |
| 2009 | Glee | stilt dancing | FOX |
| 2009 | Live Nude Comedy | solo burlesque dancer | Showtime/choreographer Frankie Ann |
| 2009 | The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien | knife throwing duet with Jack Dagger | NBC |
| 2009 | More Extreme Marksman | performance art | History Channel/director W. Scott Goldie |
| 2009 | Bones | stunt consultant | FOX/director Dwight H. Little |
| 2009 | Pas de trois | tap choreography | director Christophe Nassif |
| 2009 | Secret Girlfriend | choreographer | Comedy Central/director Ross Novie |
| 2010 | American Idol | Rihanna dancer | FOX/top nine results |
| 2011 | Friends with Benefits | snake burlesque dancer | NBC/director Jay Chandrasekhar |
| 2011 | Glee | Fire Whip Bikini Cheerios Dancer | FOX television (uncredited) |
Film roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | The Wish List | Catherine | distributed by Hallmark Channel |
| 2010 | OffWorld | Flower | director Emmett Callinan |
| 2010 | Bold Native | I Rock | director Denis Hennelly |
| 2010 | Rawman and Green-Girl Meet Frankenfood (short) | Green Girl (voice) | raw vegan animated film series |
Companies owned
Tonya Kay is a committed environmentalist and is CEO of two environmentally green companies that supply food for movie sets: Happy Mandible and Solid Hollywood LLC.[12][13][14] Her car, a 1965 Riviera called the "Grape Space Coaster," has a long and meticulously detailed history.[15] Many of Tonya's vehicles run on used vegetable oil, and she tinkers with her cars herself.[16]
Published works
- Kay, Tonya. "Serious About Play: Athletic Training Tips", Organic Athlete (2004)
- Kay, Tonya. "Eden's Apple", Funky Raw Living, Salt Lake City, Issue 5, 2006.
- Kay, Tonya. "Living Cuisine Cafe", Funky Raw Living, Salt Lake City, Issue 9, 2007.
- Kay, Tonya and Joanna Steven. Raw Nutritional Analysis: A Month on Tonya Kay's Autumn Diet (2008)
- Kay, Tonya and Joanna Steven. Raw Nutritional Analysis ll: Spring Athlete's Diet (2009)
References
- ↑ Kay, Tonya. "About Tonya Kay". Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ↑ "Bold Native – A film about animal liberation". Boldnative.com. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
- ↑ "America's Got Talent Semifinals Part 3 (2006)". Retrieved 2010-08-30.
- ↑ "Who Wants to Be a Superhero? The Rise and Fall of the Superhero Empire (2006)". Retrieved 2010-08-30.
- ↑ "'Tarot' Comics". ComicsAlliance. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
- ↑ December 27, 2009 (2009-12-27). "Tonya Kay: Immortalized in Comics". Rending the Veil. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "20 Questions with Tonya Kay". Tinfoilmusic.net. 2008-02-08. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ Neu Futur Magazine (2009-01-14). "True Nature: Feels Like Centuries". CD Baby. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
- ↑ "True Nature Photo Gallery". Truenatureband.com. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
- ↑ Kay, Tonya. "About Tonya Kay". Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ↑ Mandible, Happy. "Happy Mandible". Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ↑ Hollywood LLC, Solid. "Solid Hollywood LLC".
- ↑ "Grape Space Coaster: Herstory".
- ↑ "Grape Space Coaster: Herstory".