Marjory Smarth

Marjory Smarth was born in November of 1969 on the island of Haiti. She moved to the upper west side of New York City by 1974. Though she was already familiar with the native dances of her culture, in the States she was exposed to the many styles of dance. By the time she reached her pre-teen years, she was steadily victorious in many competitions. Hip-hop being one of her favorite rhythms to express herself, she attended many street jams and engaged in battles. Marjory, like most of the early hip-hop dancers, took her skills from the streets and continued to develop in the club scene. In the late 1980s, she started dancing professionally with various music artists, including Diana Ross, Heavy D and CeCe Peniston, among others. As her career developed, she started to choreograph more frequently, which led to her teaching. After many dance tours, four documentaries and teaching internationally, she is considered a major figure in the dance community as well as an historian. Today her focus is helping people find their own freedom of expression.