Ever since she danced with Ciara earlier this year, inquiring minds have been wanting to know—who is Jené Marie?
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, this eleven-year-old dance sensation has been dancing practically ever since she could walk. Starting out by making up dance routines with friends at home, her mom quickly put her in recreational dance classes at Upstage Dance Centre in her hometown and the rest is history.
“I started training in ballet, tap, jazz, and hip-hop,” comments Jené Marie in an interview with VoyageATL. “[I] was on the competition team when I turned 8 years old. I won Petite Miss Dance of the Bluegrass that year with my first solo jazz routine. With that title, I had to go to Dance Masters of America to compete and I made the top 10 in America. When I turned 10 last year, I made the decision that I wanted to start pursuing my career now as a dancer. My mom had to quit her job for us to make the move from Louisville, Kentucky to Atlanta on December 27, 2015.”
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With that move, Jené Marie has been on quite a journey. She has worked on several different projects from being booked as a backup dancer for the “Let’s Dance the Tour,” performing at the BMI Awards with KeKe Wyatt and the Triumph Awards for the Jermaine Dupri Tribute. In addition to dancing, this budding member of the #younghollywood club had her first principal role in the upcoming feature film, “Step Sisters”, centering around the story of an ambitious black sorority sister who, to get admitted to law school, agrees to teach the art of black Greek stepping to a band of wild, party-obsessed white sorority girls.
When asked what she sees herself doing in the future, Jené Marie responds, “I would want to continue to pursue my acting career and one day be in a Disney movie or acting in a major tv show. With dancing, I want to dance on the Radio Disney Awards, American Music Awards, Video Music Awards Soul Train Awards, BET Hip-Hop Awards, BET Awards, and the Soul Train Awards.” It seems like she wants to do it all, and we have no doubt that she will!
So, what advice does Jené Marie have for others starting out in the business? “Never let anyone take you down, and to always believe in yourself!” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! To follow Jené Marie’s journey, click here.
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