KEVIN STEA


Birthdate: October 17, 1970

I was born in Hollywood, but grew up all over. I started taking gymnastics lessons when I was six, and continued until knee injuries forced me off the “Olympic” track when I was 13. I lived away from home for the first time when I was 12, and went to live with my best friend’s hippie family in Oregon, after I begged my parents to let me escape from an awful Milwaukee school and return to my good Oregon school. Amazingly enough, they agreed. I think my mom appreciated my independence, and being a professor, my step-dad appreciated my commitment to school.

I didn’t actually begin performing until I was 15 and living in Singapore at the United World College of S.E. Asia, when my gymnastic coach asked me to participate in an exhibition performance which blended dance and gymnastics. For the next two years, every dance-oriented production at my school asked me to participate, and I performed in at least 10 big productions (though not mandatory, artistic expression was highly regarded and my school strove for excellence in all areas - LUCKILY). I traveled with my school on a performance tour in England where we performed on Drury Lane in London for Prince Charles (the president of our UWC system). It was shortly before this tour that I began to actually like dancing… after seeing Janet Jackson dancing in her video for “Nasty”, and her American Music Awards performance. I remember telling myself, “wow, now that’s the type of dancing I’d like to do!”… so I recorded it on video tape and played it into a mirror and taught myself. I think I can still remember most of the steps! One of my english teachers told me she thought I was “ok” but that I wouldn’t be able to compete with ‘professional’ dancers in the real world. I thought that was a little strange, since I had never had a lesson, but I just thought “I can do anything I want to do”. So don’t listen to pessimistic people!!

When I returned to the US, I went to USC, and began my first dance lessons. My first teacher thought I was very good already and I joined his dance company a few weeks into the course. I studied for a while with him on a scholarship, and took time off from school to travel with a friend. My friend never got his money together, and living in LA ‘working’ as an au pair (I was the worst au pair ever), I quickly ran out as well. I heard about an audition for an agent and decided to go. I went, signed with the agent, and then got my first job the next day… for Debbie Gibson’s video “Electric Youth”. With my first nice check I moved into a slummy little room of an old house near USC, and lived off ramen noodles and by painting on t-shirts and selling bootleg tape copies of Prince’s “Black Album” (sorry Prince!). That summer was tough and I didn’t work, mainly due to my highlighted mullet haircut (!!).

Eventually that little money too dried up, and when I found myself not eating for days at a time and raiding video sets for food, and using my shoes for brakes on my moped, I finally broke down and asked my mom for some money. She paid my bills, but insisted I get a real job. SO, off to Taco Bell I went.

I worked at Taco Bell for two days, and when I went home that night, there were three messages from my agent. I had booked three different jobs, all on the same day! I never went back to Taco Bell, not even to pick up my check. My first jobs were for Pepsi and clothing industrials, a few live shows and some random videos for artists who aren’t around anymore. Then I heard about Madonna’s audition for her tour. I went, along with 3,000 other guys, and ended up booking the tour as assistant choreographer (after my end of audition improvisation in which I tapped, tumbled, popped, locked, whacked, turned, vogued, kicked, leaped, and pulled out my african spirituals). A few weeks into the rehearsals Madonna pulled me aside and asked if I wanted to dance in the “Vogue” video, and come on tour as dancer and dance captain… I said “sure, whatever”. At the time, I really only listened to alterna-bands like The Cure and The Cult, so I really had no grasp on how popular she was or what a great opportunity was being handed to me, but I certainly learned later!

Tour was incredible, she was like a mom, and we met tons of people. After tour I started modelling as well as dancing, working for designers like JeanPaul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, Calvin Klein, Gucci, Romeo Gigli, Tommy Hilfiger and tons of fun photographers like David Lachappelle, Herb Ritts, Peggy Sirota, Santo D’orazio and Mary Ellen Marks.

In between time, he appeared in a few commercials. By 1990, he landed a role for dancing in NBC’s short-lived TV series, Hull High. It was there he became acquainted with the resident choreographer, Kenny Ortega. Sometime after the series ended, Kenny contacted Kevin, wanting to cast him in his feature film debut, Newsies. Kevin accepted and landed the role of Swifty, the flexible, wide-grinned newsie with the bright red shirt. During the filming, he lent out his video camera to fellow castmates Michael Goorjian and Max Casella for a murder mystery they wrote, directed, and filmed behind the scenes.

Kevin later appeared on a Lou Rawls telethon and met Hinton Battle, who brought him together with three other dancers: Newsies castmember Dominic Lucero, Bryant Baldwin and another guy named Raj (last name unknown), to form a dance group called "New World." New World appeared on Star Search, and won over $100,000.

Before their performance on Star Search, Kevin had a little accident, smashing his mouth against Raj’s shoe at the end of the number. Here’s the story in his own words: .... my lower lip was wrecked and needed many stitches, but we were about to go on, so i performed the first number holding my lip together by sucking on it. then after we won the first time, i ran over to the hospital across the street, got my stitches and came back 3 hours later to do the second show... if you watch the tape you can see me biting my lip, kinda looking tough, but it's me holding my mouth together...

They also appeared at numerous shows and contests, winning almost every one. They also recorded a few songs, and even made a music video made before they eventually broke off.

I did all kinds of dance jobs too, I won Star Search with “New World” (mentioned above), started working with Michael Jackson as a dancer and assistant choreographer, Gloria Estefan, Newsies. Over the years I’ve been in over 40 videos… David Bowie, Elton John, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, Celine Dion, George Michael, Smashmouth, Matchbox 20 and many more. I’ve also been in over 55 commercials, many for Pepsi (with Ray charles, Britney Spears, Aretha Franklin), Gap, Levi’s, Nike, Sprint, Phillips, and Old Navy. Lots of movies, like Showgirls, Bird Cage, Truth or Dare, Charlie’s Angels and Sister Act II. Live performances with Whitney Houston, Ricky Martin, En Vogue, Salt N’ Pepa, Cher, Toni Braxton, Destiny’s Child and CeCe Peniston among others. Appearances on Friends, Melrose Place, Arsenio Hall, Fired Up, the Nikki Cox Show and Red Shoe Diaries. I’ve had the wonderful good fortune to work with many top directors as well; McG, David Fincher, Matthew Ralston, Dominic Sena, John Landis, Bill Duke, Mike Nichols, Tarsem Singh, Joe Pytka, Mike Mills, Michel Gandry, Paul Verhoven and Paul Hunter.

In 1995 I went to Milan Italy for two and a half years doing television and fashion. I choregraphed with my friend Luca Tommassini, and made all kinds of public appearances, dancing, singing, interviewing people and walking in runway shows. It was great! Italians are so appreciative of dance. I’ve been back in LA for a few years now, continuing to do TV and movies, and am returning to Italy in January to choreograph a big TV show over there called “Caramba, Che Sorpresa!”. You can see me in the future in the upcoming Pepsi commercials with Britney Spears, a new campaign for American Airlines, a print campaign for Nine West, four movies (The Sweetest Thing, Country Bears, body work for Jungle Book II, A Time For Dancing) and I’m supposed to begin filming on Austin Powers III in late November! I’m currently developing some projects with my friend RJ Durrell, which I will keep you all up to date on! There’s my life!

(All information in italics was taken from Kevin's autobiography at Popzine. Information in bold and italics is personally submitted info. And the text that isn't in bold or italics is just stuff I decided to mention.)

Kevin has been extremely busy lately with expanding his career. He’s appeared in ads for Nine West, Robinson/May, American Airlines and Max Factor, and has also appeared in Britney Spears’ Pepsi ad (*PUKES*) over the 2002 Superbowl. He returned to Italy for a few months to choreograph a show and has been going back and forth between countries. He showed up in Austin Powers in Goldmember (wearing a Lord of the Rings t-shirt), and was seen running through a field in a Mastercard commercial.

He showed up in a Pepsi commercial with Beyonce Knowles during the Superbowl, appeared in LeAnn Rimes’s new music video Someday and made two guest appearances on the FOX flop Firefly, now available to own on DVD. He also showed up on ABC’s 50th Anniversary special, more Pepsi ads with Beyonce and most recently seen dancing in an Oral Brush Ups commericial.

Kevin Stea: Official Site

Kevin Alexander Stea

Kevin Alexander Stea

Swiftyspotting

Italian Interview (translated)

FILMOGRAPHY

13 Going On 30 (2004).... Dancer
Starsky & Hutch (2004) .... Nightclub Dancer
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) .... 'Austinpussy' AD/Dancer
Country Bears, The (2002)
Sweetest Thing, The (2002) (uncredited) .... Go-Go Dancer in Club
These Old Broads (2001) (TV) .... Boy Crazy Dancer
Time for Dancing, A (2000) .... Bryan
Charlie's Angels (2000) (uncredited) .... Featured Dancer
Michael Jackson: HIStory on Film - Volume II (1997) (V) (uncredited) .... Dancer (Blood On The Dancer Floor)
Birdcage, The (1996) .... Goldman Girl
... aka Birds of a Feather (1996)
Showgirls (1995) .... Daryl
In Search of Dr. Seuss (1994) (TV) .... Turtle Choir Member
HIStory (1994) (V) (uncredited) .... Russian Dancer ('Black or White' video)
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) .... Dancer
Newsies (1992) .... Swifty
Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) .... Himself
... aka In Bed with Madonna (1991) (UK)
... aka Truth or Dare (1991)
Madonna: The Immaculate Collection (1990) (V) .... Voguer ("Vogue")
Madonna: Blond Ambition World Tour Live (1990) (V) .... Dancer
Madonna: Blond Ambition - Japan Tour 90 (1990) (V) .... Dancer

CONTACT

Mail
Kevin Stea
c/o MSA
1611 N El Centro Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90028

Email
kevinstea2002@sbcglobal.net


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