The MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography is a craft award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and choreographer of the music video. From 1984 to 2007, the full name of the award was Best Choreography in a Video. The biggest winner is Frank Gatson with six wins. Michael Rooney follows closely behind with five wins.

Frank Gatson is also the most nominated choreographer with eleven nominations. He is followed by Tina Landon with nine nominations (and yet only one win). The performers whose videos have won the most awards are Janet Jackson and Beyoncé, garnering a total of four Moonmen for choreography. Madonna's videos have received the most nominations with twelve.

Seven performers have won a Moonman in this category for their work choreographing or co-choreographing their own videos: Michael Jackson ("Thriller"), Prince ("Raspberry Beret"), Paula Abdul ("Straight Up"), Janet Jackson ("Rhythm Nation"), Madonna ("Ray of Light"), Shakira ("Hips Don't Lie"), Bruno Mars ("Treasure"), and OK Go ("I Won't Let You Down"). An additional ten other performers/groups have been nominated for their work choreographing their own videos: Toni Basil, Morris Day, Bobby Brown, MC Hammer, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, Quad City DJ's, Jason Kay, Janelle Monáe, Beyoncé and Solange. Abdul, a professional choreographer before launching her musical career, was nominated twice for choreographing two Janet Jackson videos, and won for "Nasty" before winning again for her own video for "Straight Up". Basil, who is also a professional choreographer, is the only other artist to have been nominated for work on both their own videos and other artists.

Actor Christopher Walken won this award in 2001 for helping choreograph the video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice," in which he appears dancing. Similarly, Spike Jonze (as Richard Koufey) won this award in 1999 for his own dancing in Fatboy Slim's video "Praise You".

Recipients

1980s

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! scope="col" style="width:5px;"| Year

! scope="col" style="width:220px;"| Winner(s)

! scope="col" style="width:270px;"| Work

! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Nominees

! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Ref.

|-

! scope="row"|

| and Michael Peters

| "Thriller"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Sad Songs (Say So Much)"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Raspberry Beret"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Nasty"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "The Pleasure Principle"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Straight Up"

|

| align="center"|

|}

1990s

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! scope="col" style="width:5px;"| Year

! scope="col" style="width:220px;"| Winner(s)

! scope="col" style="width:270px;"| Work

! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Nominees

! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Ref.

|-

! scope="row"|

| and Anthony Thomas

| "Rhythm Nation"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| , Travis Payne and LaVelle Smith Jr.

| "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| , LaVelle Smith Jr. and Travis Payne

| "Free Your Mind"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| and Randy Connor

| "Whatta Man"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| , Tina Landon, Travis Payne and Sean Cheesman

| "Scream"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "It's Oh So Quiet"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "The New Pollution"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Madonna and Jonas Åkerlund

| "Ray of Light"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| and Michael Rooney

| "Praise You"

|

| align="center"|

|}

2000s

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! scope="col" style="width:5px;"| Year

! scope="col" style="width:220px;"| Winner(s)

! scope="col" style="width:270px;"| Work

! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Nominees

! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Ref.

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Bye Bye Bye"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| , Spike Jonze and Christopher Walken

| "Weapon of Choice"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Can't Get You Out of My Head"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| and LaVelle Smith Jr.

| "Crazy in Love"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Hey Mama"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Hollaback Girl"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Shakira

| "Hips Don't Lie"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Let Me Talk to You/My Love"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Run"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| and JaQuel Knight

| "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"

|

| align="center"|

|}

2010s

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! scope="col" style="width:5px;"| Year

! scope="col" style="width:220px;"| Winner(s)

! scope="col" style="width:270px;"| Work

! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Nominees

! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Ref.

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Bad Romance"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| , Sheryl Murakami and Jeffrey Page

| "Run the World (Girls)"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Turn Up the Music"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Treasure"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

|

| "Chandelier"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| , air:man and Mori Harano

| "I Won't Let You Down"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| , JaQuel Knight and Dana Foglia

| "Formation"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| , Guapo, Matthew Pasterisa, Jae Blaze and Derek Watkins

| "Fade"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Sherrie Silver

| "This is America"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Charm La'Donna

| "Con Altura"

|

| align="center"|

|}

2020s

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! scope="col" style="width:5px;"| Year

! scope="col" style="width:220px;"| Winner(s)

! scope="col" style="width:270px;"| Work

! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Nominees

! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Ref.

|-

! scope="row"|

| The Lab and Son Sung Deuk

| "On"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Paul Roberts

| "Treat People with Kindness"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| "Fullout Cortland" (Cortland Brown)

| "Woman"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Kiel Tutin, Sienna Lalau, Lee Jung (YGX) and Taryn Cheng (YGX)

| "Pink Venom"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Charm La'Donna

| "Houdini"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Robbie Blue

| "Anxiety"

|

| align="center"|

|}

Choreographer Statistics

Multiple wins

;6 wins

  • Frank Gatson

;5 wins

  • Michael Rooney

;4 wins

;3 wins

  • Travis Payne

;2 wins

  • Charm La'Donna
  • JaQuel Knight
  • Paula Abdul

Multiple nominations

;11 nominations

  • Frank Gatson

;9 nominations

  • Tina Landon

;8 nominations

  • Fatima Robinson
  • Sean Bankhead

;7 nominations

  • Jamaica Craft

;6 nominations

  • Michael Rooney

;5 nominations

  • Marty Kudelka
  • Charm La'Donna
  • Paula Abdul
  • Rich and Tone Talauega

;4 nominations

  • Flii Stylz
  • Hi-Hat
  • JaQuel Knight
  • MC Hammer
  • Michael Jackson
  • Ryan Heffington
  • Travis Payne
  • Vincent Paterson

;3 nominations

  • Tanisha Scott
  • Jamie King
  • Beyoncé
  • Zoï Tatopoulos
  • Laurieann Gibson
  • Randy Connor
  • Chris Grant
  • Brad Jeffries
  • Barry Lather
  • Bruno Mars
  • Mikey Minden
  • Arlene Phillips
  • Son Sungdeuk

;2 nominations

  • BHM Performance Directing Team
  • Brian Nicholson and Scott Nicholson
  • Buddha Stretch
  • Calvit Hodge
  • Dana Foglia
  • Danielle Polanco
  • Ho Frat Hooo!
  • Janet Jackson
  • Jeri Slaughter
  • JR Taylor
  • Madonna
  • Prince
  • Robin Antin
  • Russell Clark
  • Toni Basil

Artist Statistics

Multiple wins

;4 wins

  • Beyoncé
  • Janet Jackson

;3 wins

  • En Vogue

;2 wins

  • Fatboy Slim
  • Michael Jackson

Multiple nominations

;13 nominations

  • Beyoncé

;12 nominations

  • Madonna

;10 nominations

  • Janet Jackson

;7 nominations

  • Michael Jackson

;6 nominations

  • Lady Gaga

;5 nominations

  • Chris Brown
  • Jennifer Lopez
  • Justin Timberlake

;4 nominations

  • Britney Spears
  • BTS
  • Christina Aguilera
  • Ciara
  • Dua Lipa
  • FKA Twigs
  • MC Hammer
  • Missy Elliott
  • Usher

;3 nominations

  • Ariana Grande
  • Bruno Mars
  • En Vogue
  • Kendrick Lamar
  • Paula Abdul
  • Prince
  • The Pussycat Dolls
  • Sia
  • Will Smith

;2 nominations

  • Camila Cabello
  • Cardi B
  • Ed Sheeran
  • Elton John
  • Fatboy Slim
  • Halsey
  • Harry Styles
  • Jay-Z
  • Mýa
  • Normani
  • Pitbull
  • Salt-n-Pepa
  • Sean Paul
  • Shakira
  • will.i.am
  • Wyclef Jean

References

Notes