GiaNina Paolantonio: the viral force choreographing Gen Z’s soundtrack
She was nine when Broadway became her classroom. Now, with more than four million TikTok followers and billions of views, GiaNina Paolantonio has turned choreography into both an art and an enterprise. Once a child star of Dance Moms, she is now the strategist behind viral dances that can make or remake a song’s success.
From Broadway wigs to billion-view clips
Paolantonio made her Broadway debut in Matilda the Musical. “I was nine years old doing seven shows a week. I had to be at the theatre hours before curtain to warm up and get into costume. It felt normal back then, but looking back, it taught me discipline most kids don’t experience until much later.”
Her early career quickly became a highlight reel: a ballerina turn in The Greatest Showman, a global tour with Mariah Carey on her All I Want for Christmas run, and the accelerated fame of Dance Moms, which she calls the moment that “made me internationally known in six months.”
Turning TikTok into a business model
TikTok is not just where she posts content. It’s a testing ground, a marketing tool, and, increasingly, a business in itself.
“It’s not just about making a dance that looks good. It’s about creating something people want to move to, film themselves doing, and share. That’s when it becomes culture.”
Her choreography for a J.Lo track alone generated more than half a billion views. “Labels know the importance of TikTok now. A viral dance can completely change a song’s life. I’ve seen it happen in real time.”
What looks effortless is, in truth, a blend of performance and strategy. Paolantonio builds choreography with viral mechanics in mind—then launches it through her own following to ignite campaigns. The model has positioned her not only as a performer, but as a cultural strategist shaping what takes off on Gen Z’s biggest platform.
Guardrails and ground rules
Social media, she argues, is both opportunity and hazard. “It’s already become a bit of a disaster for mental health. You have to treat your platform like your house. If someone is shouting in your hallway, you show them out.”
Blocking, filtering, and curating are her everyday tools. But so too is variety. TikTok may be for off-the-cuff fun, Instagram for the curated résumé. Both, she says, keep her audience invested without locking her into a single niche.
Beyond choreography
Despite her digital dominance, Paolantonio is no screen-only star. She continues to sell out tours in the U.S. and internationally, teaches weekly at LA’s top studios Millennium and Playground, and co-hosts the Stupid Idiots podcast.
And then there is music. “Choreography is where I started, but music is where I’m going. I want my songs to tell stories you can dance to. Movement is part of the message.”
The definition of success
For Paolantonio, success is not measured in follower counts but in persistence. “Nothing’s impossible. The worst you’ll hear is no. And if you get that, you go elsewhere.”
It is a working philosophy forged from Broadway’s discipline, sharpened in Hollywood, and mult
