Daniel Quinn Karaty (born October 1, 1976) is an American TV personality, choreographer, and dancer who primarily appears on Dutch television. He has been a regular jury member on several dance competition programs, including Holland's Got Talent; Everybody Dance Now; Belgium's Got Talent; ; and the American, Australian, Canadian, and Belgian/Dutch versions of So You Think You Can Dance. In his early career, he choreographed for Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears, and 'NSYNC.
Early life Karaty was born in New York state, just outside of NYC, to Broadway performers Tom and Jane Karaty. He has four older siblings and grew up in Wyckoff, New Jersey. He started dancing at his parents' dance school, In the Spotlight in nearby Waldwick, in 1989. He has a degree in journalism from New York University.
Career While in college, Karaty taught dance classes at Tremaine Dance Conventions, where he met his friend and future collaborator Wade Robson. He made his Broadway debut in the musical Footloose during his junior year in college. By his senior year, he was choreographing for Britney Spears' tour. Between 1999 and 2000, he also choreographed for Justin Timberlake, 'NSYNC, Kylie Minogue, and Jessica Simpson. In the early days of his career, he choreographed commercials for Xbox Kinect, iPod, Mattel, and Best Buy, as well as Britney Spears' first Pepsi commercial. In 2005, he first appeared on as a permanent judge on the American version of So You Think You Can Dance. In 2008, he became a permanent judge on the Belgian/Dutch version and was a guest judge on the Canadian and Australian versions. In 2009, he competed on Launch My Line. In 2010, he joined Holland's Got Talent as a main judge.
In 2012, he choreographed an interactive musical, Lover of Loser, based on the book by Carry Slee. It toured the Netherlands throughout 2012 and 2013. He had his film debut as Jim in Soof in 2013. In 2015, he was a jury member on the first season of . In 2018, he defeated Michael Boogerd on ; they had a rematch in 2022 at the HIT IT gala and Karaty lost to Boogerd. Karaty was replaced on the jury by Ali B for season 11 of Holland's Got Talent due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented him from leaving the United States. He joined Everybody Dance Now in 2022 and in 2023.
Personal life Karaty and his wife Natasha, a former MTV executive, have two children, Quinn and Daniel. In 2020, Karaty contracted an eye infection severe enough to consider having it removed. Vision began returning to his left eye in 2021. Karaty spoke about his 25-year battle with alcoholism for the first time in late 2021. His problem with alcohol started at age 17, when he would routinely get blackout drunk. He decided to go to rehab only after his young daughter expressed concern about his health. He was sober for more than a year and a half by early 2023 and his memoir, If I'm Being Honest, was published later that year. Between 2022 and 2024, he also hosted the podcast If I'm Being Honest about alcoholism.
Filmography Appearances Year Title Role Notes Refs 2005-2011 So You Think You Can Dance Himself Guest judge 2008-2010 So You Think You Can Dance Canada Guest judge 2008-2013 So You Think You Can Dance (Belgium/Netherlands) 2009 So You Think You Can Dance Australia Guest judge Launch My Line 2010 Judge 2011 Idool Guest judge 2011-2012 The Ultimate Dance Battle Head judge 2013 Soof Jim 2013-2015 Everybody Dance Now Himself 2014 2015-2019 2016 Jim Battle On The Dancefloor Himself 2016-2019 Belgium's Got Talent Seasons 4-6 2017 Peking Express 2017-2018 Jim 2018 Himself 2019 2022 Soof 3 Jim 2022-2025 Doutzen Points; Kiki Diamonds 3 episodes 2010-20192022-present Holland's Got Talent Himself Did not appear in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic and illness 2023
As choreographer Year Title Notes Refs 2000 Sisqó's Shakedown Guest choreographer 2003 Malibu's Most Wanted 2007 Music & Lyrics Also appeared as a choreographer 2008 America's Got Talent 7 episodes 2009 Did You Hear About the Morgans? 2014 The Rewrite
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