Originally from Charleston, SC, MJ discovered her passion for dance at an early age and has pursued it ever since. A former competitive dancer and captain of Coastal Carolina University’s Coastelttes Dance Team, she went on to perform with Spirit Productions in Illusions of Magic, Cirque Extreme, Christmas Wonderland, and Hot Jersey Nights. With over sixteen years of teaching experience, she was recently recognized at the 2023 Industry Dance Awards for her choreography and performed at World of Dance with ThaMost. She is a recent MFA Dance graduate from California State University, Long Beach, and a recipient of the Distinguished Creative Activity Award. She currently teaches Jazz at CSULB and Cypress College, and is the Creative Director of South Coast Performing Arts in Tustin, CA.