MJ Hawks
Manager
MJ, born and raised in Tennessee, has been dancing her whole life. Always referring to the stage as her “home”, she grew up dancing competitively in studio and school teams where she trained extensively in Jazz, Ballet, Tap, Hip Hop, and Contemporary styles. She moved to Chicago in 2018 to pursue a higher education at Columbia College. With a focus in Choreography and Teaching she graduated with a BFA in Dance in 2022. At Columbia, she expanded her dance training further with styles like West African, Improvisation, and Modern. She particularly enjoyed the choreographic and teaching courses, where she developed a stronger sense of her artistic voice and leadership style. One of MJ’s greatest strengths is her endless dedication to training and performing, which further vitalizes her teaching and choreographic skills.
MJ picked up partner dancing in college and has since then become exceptionally passionate about working and connecting with people. What she loves most about partner dancing is building and healing relationships. MJ guides her students, through collaborative work, to cultivate their nonverbal communication skills and trust. Besides teaching, MJ also contributes to Duet’s Online Program through choreographing and performing in the wedding dances that premier on Youtube.
When MJ isn’t at Duet, you can find her binging reality TV, exploring the city for thrifted and vintage gems, and spending time with her friends and family.
“We cannot say enough good things about Duet Dance Studio and MJ. My husband and I have no dancing skills, but MJ helped us create a perfect choreographed dance that we were able to learn in about 10 weeks time. I was so nervous about embarrassing myself or being cheesy, but the dance ended up being one of the highlights of the wedding reception. The classes were so much fun. We even plan on going back for fun, even though I originally had to drag my husband to the first class.”