Carrie Ann Inaba
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Carrie Ann Inaba was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. She is
of Japanese, Chinese, and Irish ancestry, and is the youngest of two
children. Carrie Ann grew up dancing the hula (native Hawaiian dance)
and other dance forms. She also played the piano and violin and sang in
the choir. She attended Hanahaouli School and then Punahou School.
Carrie Ann played volleyball for a little while but found her true love
in performing.
At the age of 16, she and her closest friend
Tina Horii won the Hawaii statewide
competition, "Search for Talent", dancing a piece that they had
choreographed together. While still sixteen, Carrie Ann was scouted to
go to Japan to become a "Teen Idol".
However, she waited until she finished high school and then left Hawaii
to pursue her career as a musical artist in Japan. During her time in
Japan, Carrie Ann released three singles with Pony Canyon Records while
attending Sophia University, a Jesuit university in Tokyo. In the
two-year period spent living in Tokyo, Japan, she learned a great deal
about the entertainment industry, performing, as well as the Japanese
language. She also made great friends from all over the world, which
later became a theme in her life as a documentarian.
After realizing that the Tokyo lifestyle wasn't for her at the time,
Carrie Ann returned to the United States, relocating to California. She
began to study choreography at the University of California, Irvine. It
wasn't long till she got the bug to dance in Los Angeles and moved up
to study with Alex Magno at the
Debbie Reynolds Studios in North
Hollywood, California. One day in dance class, Carrie Ann was
approached by a producer who asked her to be in a music video for an
artist named Terry Lin. She met the
choreographer and booked the job. She was ready to start working.
One of her first jobs was as a dancer for the Emmy Award-winning
television show,
In Living Color (1990). Her
next big gig was performing with Madonna, being
featured as the "Pole Girl" on The Girlie Show tour. For this tour,
Carrie Ann had to shave her head and also train with circus trainers
and a stripper. She later went on to dance with
Ricky Martin,
David Copperfield,
Chayanne, and did a lot of appearances on shows
such as The Creative Arts Emmys, The SAG Awards, The NAACP Awards, The
MTV Awards,
The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986),
and so much more. To this day, she still loves to dance. In her heart
of hearts, it is the movement and the music that will always inspire
her as an artist. In fact, even as an actress, she likes to incorporate
dance and movement.
When Carrie Ann began her acting career, her main interest was in
action roles. She studied tae kwon do with
Billy Blanks, the creator Taebo,
and continues her education in martial arts. She also practices hatha
yoga. Carrie Ann always looks for ways to include her background in
movement (choreography and martial arts) into her career.
Besides performing, Carrie Ann has many credits behind the scenes as
well. Besides her choreography, she opened up her own digital video
production company, EnterMediArts, Inc., which produced two of her
documentaries and her short film. She hopes that EnterMediArts, Inc.
will soon produce more reality/education television programming,
behind-the-scenes DVD productions as well as lower-end film projects.
She is the president and CEO for the company and has directed and
edited most of her own projects. She loves the entertainment industry
and loves the accessibility that DV (Digital Video) provides. She
invested in a few edit bays and a few cameras and produces projects for
fellow artists and "creatives." As her company's name implies, Carrie
Ann likes to break down barriers and combine elements, creating hybrids
just like she, herself, is a combination of cultures. Her production
company, EnterMediArts, Inc., gets its name from Entertainment, Media,
and the Arts -- all rolled into one.
Carrie Ann has also modeled here and there and has been on the cover of
European magazines and Japanese magazines. She was the national
spokesmodel for an AT&T Asian Campaign and has been in many commercials
throughout her career.
At the time of this writing, Carrie Ann is in the limelight once more
for her participation in the hit show,
Dancing with the Stars (2005)
and
Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann (2008).
of Japanese, Chinese, and Irish ancestry, and is the youngest of two
children. Carrie Ann grew up dancing the hula (native Hawaiian dance)
and other dance forms. She also played the piano and violin and sang in
the choir. She attended Hanahaouli School and then Punahou School.
Carrie Ann played volleyball for a little while but found her true love
in performing.
At the age of 16, she and her closest friend
Tina Horii won the Hawaii statewide
competition, "Search for Talent", dancing a piece that they had
choreographed together. While still sixteen, Carrie Ann was scouted to
go to Japan to become a "Teen Idol".
However, she waited until she finished high school and then left Hawaii
to pursue her career as a musical artist in Japan. During her time in
Japan, Carrie Ann released three singles with Pony Canyon Records while
attending Sophia University, a Jesuit university in Tokyo. In the
two-year period spent living in Tokyo, Japan, she learned a great deal
about the entertainment industry, performing, as well as the Japanese
language. She also made great friends from all over the world, which
later became a theme in her life as a documentarian.
After realizing that the Tokyo lifestyle wasn't for her at the time,
Carrie Ann returned to the United States, relocating to California. She
began to study choreography at the University of California, Irvine. It
wasn't long till she got the bug to dance in Los Angeles and moved up
to study with Alex Magno at the
Debbie Reynolds Studios in North
Hollywood, California. One day in dance class, Carrie Ann was
approached by a producer who asked her to be in a music video for an
artist named Terry Lin. She met the
choreographer and booked the job. She was ready to start working.
One of her first jobs was as a dancer for the Emmy Award-winning
television show,
In Living Color (1990). Her
next big gig was performing with Madonna, being
featured as the "Pole Girl" on The Girlie Show tour. For this tour,
Carrie Ann had to shave her head and also train with circus trainers
and a stripper. She later went on to dance with
Ricky Martin,
David Copperfield,
Chayanne, and did a lot of appearances on shows
such as The Creative Arts Emmys, The SAG Awards, The NAACP Awards, The
MTV Awards,
The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986),
and so much more. To this day, she still loves to dance. In her heart
of hearts, it is the movement and the music that will always inspire
her as an artist. In fact, even as an actress, she likes to incorporate
dance and movement.
When Carrie Ann began her acting career, her main interest was in
action roles. She studied tae kwon do with
Billy Blanks, the creator Taebo,
and continues her education in martial arts. She also practices hatha
yoga. Carrie Ann always looks for ways to include her background in
movement (choreography and martial arts) into her career.
Besides performing, Carrie Ann has many credits behind the scenes as
well. Besides her choreography, she opened up her own digital video
production company, EnterMediArts, Inc., which produced two of her
documentaries and her short film. She hopes that EnterMediArts, Inc.
will soon produce more reality/education television programming,
behind-the-scenes DVD productions as well as lower-end film projects.
She is the president and CEO for the company and has directed and
edited most of her own projects. She loves the entertainment industry
and loves the accessibility that DV (Digital Video) provides. She
invested in a few edit bays and a few cameras and produces projects for
fellow artists and "creatives." As her company's name implies, Carrie
Ann likes to break down barriers and combine elements, creating hybrids
just like she, herself, is a combination of cultures. Her production
company, EnterMediArts, Inc., gets its name from Entertainment, Media,
and the Arts -- all rolled into one.
Carrie Ann has also modeled here and there and has been on the cover of
European magazines and Japanese magazines. She was the national
spokesmodel for an AT&T Asian Campaign and has been in many commercials
throughout her career.
At the time of this writing, Carrie Ann is in the limelight once more
for her participation in the hit show,
Dancing with the Stars (2005)
and
Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann (2008).