World Choreography Awards 2025: Paula Abdul Receives Legacy Award Celebrating Her Iconic Choreography Career

Paula Abdul will receive the Legacy Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of choreography.

The 15th World Choreography Awards will honor Abdul. Ahead of the ceremony on November 17, they have made their list of nominees public.

This year’s nominees include the choreographers and teams behind the following: Christopher Scott’s “Wicked,” Ashley Wallen’s “Better Man,” Damien Jalet’s “Emilia Pérez,” Charm La’Donna’s “Illusion” video for Dua Lipa, Shay Latukolan’s “Little Foot Big Foot” video for Childish Gambino, Tessandra Chavez’s “Wonderful World of Disney Holiday Spectacular,” Fatima Robinson’s Grammy performance from “Fantasia,” Mary Moore’s “I’m Just Ken” performance from the Oscars, and Tyrik J. Patterson, Charm La’Donna, Christopher Grant, and Parris Goebel’s “Beyoncé Bowl.”

According to founder and producer Allen Walls, “this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the very best dance content in the world on one stage, for one night only.”

Abdul is an Emmy and Grammy-winning singer, dancer, choreographer, actor, producer, and television personality. Throughout her distinguished career, she has demonstrated her choreography skills both in front of and behind the camera. Her dance-pop discography and her role as one of the first judges on “American Idol” are what made her most famous. She was the principal choreographer for the Laker Girls after starting her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers. She has also been a judge on shows including The X Factor, Live to Dance, So You Think You Can Dance, and The Masked Dancer. She has choreographed scenes for movies like “Coming To America,” “Jerry Maguire,” and “American Beauty.”

Additionally, Asadi & Xye, Monika Felice Smith, and JA Collective will perform live at the event.

The Avalon Hollywood in Los Angeles will host the ceremony.

Below is the complete list of nominees:

COMMERCIALS

• Sergio Reis – Calvin Klein
• Tanisha Scott – Walmart
• Denna Thomsen – SiriusXM
• Shay Latukolan- GAP x Jungle
• Tyrik J. Patterson, Associate Marie Spieldenne – On Running

TELEVISION REALITY/VARIETY SHOW

• Nastya Yurasova- “Allegiant Of Dance”
• Derek Hough – “Dancing with the Stars,” “Beautiful Things”
• Paris Cavanagh – “America’s Got Talent,” “Brent Street,” “The Search”
• Mark Ballas & Derek Hough – “Dancing with the Stars,” “Libratango”
• Paris Cavanagh – “America’s Got Talent,” “Brent Street,” “You Should See Me in a Crown”

DIGITAL CONTENT

• Derrick Schradwer – “Musica”
• Nina McNeely – “De Profvndis”
• Ahsley Wallen – “Dubai Tourism”
• Monika Felice Smith – “We Rise”
• Nina McNeely – “She Dreamt Alone”

TELEVISION EPISODIC

• Nastya Yurasova – “Life On Call”
• Brooke Lipton – “Palm Royale”
• Cris Judd – “Bob Hearts Abishola”
• Kyle Hamagami – “Emily In Paris”
• Shannon Lewis – “Saturday Night Live,” “Gladiator 2 The Musical”

TELEVISION AWARD SHOW/SPECIAL

• Jay Revell – “Worlds 2024”
• Mandy Moore – Academy Awards, “I’m Just Ken”
• Tessandra Chavez – “Wonderful World of Disney Holiday Spectacular”
• Fatima Robinson, Associate, Ria Rivera – Grammy Awards, “Fantasia”
• Tyrik J. Patterson, Charm La’Donna, Christopher Grant, Parris Goebel, Associates, Taya Lee and Candice Savage – “Beyoncé Bowl”

DIGITAL CONTENT INDEPENDENT

• Ja Collective – “Robot Research”
• Robbie Blue – “F**k To The Beat”
• Lombard Twins – “Fuga y Misterio”
• Sergio Reis – “Somebody That I Used To Know”
• Erica Klein – “Last Night I Heard Everything In Slow Motion”

MUSIC VIDEO

• Charm La’Donna – Dua Lipa, “Illusion”
• Zoi Tatopoulos – FKA twigs, “Eusexua”
• Shay Latukolan – Jungle, “Let’s Go Back”
• Keone Madrid – NCT Dream, “When I’m With You”
• Shay Latukolan – Childish Gambino, “Little Foot Big Foot”

MOTION PICTURE

• Damien Jalet – “Emilia Pérez”
• Ashley Wallen – “Descendants: The Rise of Red”
• Keone Madrid & Mariel Madrid – “Space & Time”
• Ashley Wallen, Associate, Jenny Griffin – “Better Man”
• Christopher Scott, Associates, Will Loftis, Emilio Dosal, Comfort Fedoke, Leah Hill – “Wicked”