Teneisha Bonner

Teneisha Phehoma Bonner (31 December 1981 – 11 September 2019) was a Jamaican-born English hip-hop and street dancer of stage and screen. She worked with the groups ZooNation and the Bounce Streetdance Company and as a backup dancer for many top performers in the music industry. Bonner played a role in the film StreetDance 3D and danced in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Mary Poppins Returns.

Biography Bonner was born in St. Catherine, Jamaica on 31 December 1981. She was the daughter of Yvette Singh and Emanuel Bonner and had four half-siblings, being the eldest child in the family. Bonner was cast in the lead role of hopeful DJ girl Spinderella in the hip hop show Into the Hoods during its run at the Novello Theatre in the West End in 2008. Luke Jennings, the dance reviewer for The Observer, wrote of her performance "The piece’s star is undoubtedly Bonner, whose dramatic beauty and fluent line compel the attention whenever she’s on stage", She danced in the closing ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Paralympics. In 2013, Bonner was featured in a music video of the rapper Ty's song Let's Start. She also played a role in a promotional for the pianist Fabio D'Andrea and toured worldwide with Heartbeat of Home, a Riverdance spin-off. Bonner twice played Queen of Hearts in The Mad Hatter's Tea Party at the Linbury Studio Theatre of the Royal Opera House in both 2014 and 2017. In 2018, she appeared as a dancer in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Mary Poppins Returns, which were her final professional roles. Bonner also taught at ZooNation and helped Prince with television and other ventures.

Personal life Bonner was a member of Kensington Temple in Notting Hill. In 2016, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, but concealed it as she continued to work through her illness. Bonner died from the disease on 11 September 2019.

Technique She had an expertise in locking and popping, with The Daily Telegraph writing, "the minutely articulated jerky movements that travel the length of the body, conjuring effects that were athletically sharp and yet fluid and dancerly."