Hinton Battle

Hinton Battle (November 29, 1956 - ) is an actor, dancer, and dance instructor. He was the original "Scarecrow" in the stage production of ''The Wiz. ''

Life and Career
Battle was born in West Germany and  raised in Washington, D.C. and New York City. He was a part of the Baumholder Army Military Community, with his mother was a homemaker and his father a U.S. army officer. 

Battle's talent became apparent at the age of nine. After three years of studying ballet at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet, he received a scholarship to The School of American Ballet  where he studied until the age of fifteen under George Balanchine. That same year, Hinton made his Broadway debut starring as the  Scarecrow in The Wiz.

Over the course of his career, Battle has appeared in fifteen films and television programs.

Broadway
He had other Broadway starring roles, Dancin', Dreamgirls, and Sophisticated Ladies for which he won his first Tony Award. In the musicals Chicago (Billy Flynn) and Ragtime he earned an Ira Aldridge Award. His role in The Tap Dance Kid also earned Hinton a second Tony Award, the NAACP Award and the Fred Astaire Award, and Miss Saigon for which he won his third Tony Award.



Choreographer
As choreographer, Hinton’s work has been seen on the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, These Old Broads, Foreign Student, The Golden Globe Awards, Dance in America; the sitcoms Fired Up, Sister Sister, The Trouble with Normal, and The Boys. Hinton has choreographed promos for Warner Brothers, commercials for Coca-Cola, Chicago The Millie and New York Top Appliances. He served as Associate Choreographer on the 65th and 66th Annual Academy Awards with Debbie Allen.

Having finished choreographing the movie musical Idlewild, Hinton’s most recent creation, a dance form called "Swop" that combines swing and hip-hop, was performed on the highly rated Dancing with the Stars in 2006.

Off-Broadway
Hinton has served as co-director and choreographer for Evil Dead: The Musical.

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