Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Noble.
Marcus, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started dancing at the age of 12 when I moved to Maryland. My churches youth/college group was full of young adults trying to learn how to break dance, so I decided to try it out for myself. Some of my friends from the youth group also ended up going to my middle school and high school, so I found myself breakdancing all the time. As I started to learn more about breakdancing, I met other dancers in high school that taught me about Hip Hop culture, and our schools Dance/Musical Theater department recognized my friends and I, so we started performing in our school’s showcases and productions.
I ended up learning different styles of hip hop dance including popping, locking, and krump through my friends and the basics of Jazz, Choreography and even acting through the dance/musical theater department. My high school years consisted of competing in freestyle and choreography competitions, performing consistently for my school’s productions including a Michael Jackson Tribute and West Side Story, running our school’s breakdance club with my friends, teaching myself gymnastics, and teaching dance classes at local community centers.
My senior year after my friends and I placed 1st at our last competition, I decided to pursue dance professionally. After high school I moved to Chicago for college, but before I could even sign up for classes I booked a Bollywood movie called “Dhoom 3,” and I was offered an opportunity to train in the Philippines with a well-known dance crew, so after I finished filming the movie I packed my bags and moved to the Philippines. A couple of weeks after moving to my new place in the Philippines the original plan fell through and the dance crew wasn’t going to train me anymore. Luckily I found a dance studio, auditioned for their scholarship program and booked it.
The studio focused on Hip Hop so for a couple of months I lived in the Philippines I continued to develop my understanding of Hip Hop Culture and overall Hip Hop technique. Months later, I decided to move back to the U.S, so I moved to New Jersey where my family was staying, and I went to college for dance where I learned Ballet, Modern, and Contemporary technique. Shortly after moving back to the U.S, I was also signed with Bloc NYC Talent agency, a touring Bollywood company, and multiple contemporary dance companies.
For a year and a half I balanced college, dancing with my agency and each company before my schools dance program started losing funding. The loss of funding made the dance program lose its overall quality, so i decided to drop from school and move to NY. I lived in NY for about two years where I continued to train and work as a dancer, but my agency encouraged me to explore choreography and acting more which led to choreographing for tv shows, artists, and a music videos, and acting in smaller commercials until eventually working on Saturday Night Live for a little bit. Despite my career in NY going well there was still so much I wanted to explore, so I eventually moved to LA to start fresh.
I’ve lived in LA for a year and a half, and now I’m pursuing dance, choreography, acting, and modeling with a focus on TV and Film (Hollywood!).
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I’ve definitely had my fair share of challenges along the way. To start, my family wanted me to be financially stable, so they had a hard time supporting me with pursuing the arts. To be honest, I was kicked out when I dropped from college which made my relationship with my family very difficult for a long time. I’m blessed to say that my relationship with them was restored over time and is now healthy!
I’ve had to sleep on friends couches until getting settled in NY, dealing with the language barrier my entire time in the Philippines, commuting or having to walk for hours to rehearsals and gigs since I didn’t always have a car or money, and of course the financial struggles that comes with being a new artist.
Despite everything I’ve been through I’m so grateful for all of these experiences. It really defined who I am as a person and artist, and it showed me that through focus and discipline you can really achieve anything you set your mind on.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I’m a dancer, choreographer, actor, and model. My training and experience in a large variety of styles and jobs prepare me for any type of performance-related job under any condition where I will provide the highest quality of service and creative input.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I haven’t necessarily had mentors in my life growing up, but there are people who I’ve worked with closely that inspired my overall work ethic, industry etiquette, creative outlook, and simply pushed me to be a better version of myself.
In the Philippines, there were two crews (Groove2Praise and Kinections) that pushed me as a dancer and treated me like family. Shout out to Ellenore Scott, Vivake Khamsingsavath, and Marc Nunez who were directors and choreographers that took me under their wings and opened my eyes as an artist in New York.
Here in LA, I want to thank Guy Groove, Mikey Dellavella, and my new agency Go2Talent for believing in me since I moved here and continue to help me push past my limits as a dancer, choreographer, and overall artist.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @marcusjnoble
- Facebook: Facebook.com/MarcusJNoble
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