MARTEL JACKSON

Martel Jackson, born and raised in Peoria, IL, has been dancing ever since he could remember. As a young child he started always being the center of attention at parties, weddings, and anywhere else he was taken and there was music. At 7 his grandmother enrolled him into tap, jazz, and tumbling lessons at D/D Productions, the local studio in Peoria, mainly so she could positively direct his energy and stop him from getting hurt flipping off her furniture. There he took for 12 years dancing and competing in places like Dallas, TX, Las Vegas, NV, Myrtle Beach, SC, Gatlinburg, TN, and many other places.

After graduating in 2002 in the top 10% of his class at Peoria Central High school he applied and enrolled in at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that fall. There he majored in Business Administration with a concentration in Entrepreneurship.

In the fall of 2003 he auditioned and joined Dance2xs International Dance group, he joined Dance2xs UIUC (hip hop) in 2003 and Dance2xs Caliente (Latin styles) in 2005. For the rest of his college career he performed on many stages on campus and off campus and also got to perform in Portugal at Dance2xs' first international Urbanite event that included multiple bases. He started attending Monsters of Hip Hop dance convention in 2005 and eventually went on to be come a finalist and show cast member in the 2007 Inspirations show at the El Portal Theater in Los Angeles, CA.

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Currently he resides in North Hollywood, CA where he trains as a professional dancer. He joined the company after attending the very first Apprenticeship Program in 2013.