About Tony
Anyone who knew Tony knew about his smile! Even as a toddler, people would comment on how happy and smiley he was. He had an inner light that would shine whenever he met someone, but especially when he was dancing. Whether he was performing, instructing, or coaching, you could sense how much he loved sharing the art of dance. Our foundation will honor Tony’s legacy by helping other aspiring dancers. His love and light will continue to shine!
Early in his life he was diagnosed with arthritis and had symptoms of other auto-immune issues. He spent a lot of time at Children’s Mercy Hospital. Our foundation will “give back” to the hospital that took such amazing care of him. Other organizations like the Arthritis Foundation are causes we would like to support. While Tony was going through so much adversity with his health, you would never know. He always kept smiling and was always happy.
His dancing journey began at age ten, along with his sister Brooke and he continued to dance with her through high school. He thrived as a competitive studio dancer, then became the first male dancer on the Staley Emeralds High School Dance Team. The Emeralds won their national competition his senior year in 2016. After high school, he was a part of Collaboration Laboratory Dance Company, a pre-professional dance company in Kansas City. He also auditioned for and was hired as an instructor for Universal Dance Association (UDA). He traveled all over the country teaching high school dance camps and working at national competitions in Florida.
Tony attended the University of Missouri Kansas City and was a member of the UMKC Dance Team. They competed in and won their division at their national competition in 2017. He traveled to Los Angeles and auditioned for and was awarded a scholarship with Edge Performing Arts Center. He ultimately chose to move to Florida at the age of 19 where he was a performer with SeaWorld, Disney World and was a part of the Dance Theater of Orlando. In 2020 Covid changed everything and effectively ended his time at Disney. At that point he was ready to move back to Kansas City.
While living in Kansas City, he instructed at several dance studios in the metropolitan area; he continued to work for UDA; he was an instructor at an adult studio-Dance Fit Flow; was a certified “WERQ” dance fitness instructor; and served as the Assistant Coach of the North Kansas City High School Stingers Dance Team. He even started his own side-business, “Tony’s Techniques”. He was thriving and happy and doing what he loved.
In November 2022 he fell ill with a viral respiratory infection which led to a three-week hospitalization. He was so strong and fought so hard but was unable to overcome his illness. Tony was surrounded by his family and friends in his final hours. We lost him on December 26, 2022. He touched so many lives – over 400 people attended his funeral.
This is a very small glimpse of the wonderful life Tony led. Thank you for reading his story. The Anthony Iiams Memorial Foundation represents Tony’s spirit and honors his passion for dance performance and education. His foundation will continue to touch lives and bring happiness and assistance to those like him - those whose souls are moved to dance and those facing health challenges as he did. Tony’s love and light will forever shine on all who knew him. We aim to carry that love and light forward in his memory.