Hi, I'm Max

Growing  up in a family of football and baseball players, dance was never what  my family expected me to get into, but after discovering the dancer  Nonstop on YouTube and an obsession with the Xbox game Dance Central, I  starting teaching myself how to dance. I had always felt a deep  connection to music, and watching someone embody that feeling and let it  out through their body excited me to no end. I had to learn. My parents  noticed the effort and threw me into my first dance class at age 10. I  lucked out with my dance teacher, Malachi Durant, who noticed and fed my  passion, giving me private lessons and writing me a note with names  like Ian Eastwood, Brian Puspos, and Keone and Mari to look up online,  which not only exposed me to the wider dance community but creative  people really pushing choreography.  This gave me my vision of what  dance could be for me at a very early age.

After  moving to Madison I began training with my mentor and friend AJ Juarez.  I also began teaching regularly my local studio Madison Dance Academy  and training outside of Madison, such as Chicago, and occasionally L.A.  The skills I gained here allowed me to audition and make it onto the  Chicago Young Lions where I trained under Ian Eastwood, as well as be  part the staff for the opening of Barrio Dance.

Now  I share my love for dance, music, creativity, and art every week at my  home base, Barrio Dance. My style is a mix of my training in  choreography and hip hop, and my own original movement based on vibes  and musicality.

Fun Fact: Star Wars is my jam.