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Martell Ruffin

Freelance dancer

Martell Ruffin (Chicago, Illinois) began his formal dance training at the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago in 2009. He attended Chicago High School for the Arts under, then director, Lisa Johnson-Willingham, former dancer of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Mr. Ruffin has been awarded dance scholarship to intensives at Joffrey Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Complexions, and received first place in the all-city NAACP ACT-SO Competition 2011. Mr. Ruffin trained at The Ailey School as a scholarship student and has performed works by Lisa Johnson-Willingham, Earl Mosley, George Faison, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Matthew Rushing, Jae Man Joo, Robert Battle, and Alvin Ailey. Martell has also been seen in “poison girl” Christian Dior commercial for women’s fragrance and an Urban Outfitters commercial for music artist Samantha Urbani. Martell has completed his two years with Ailey II and is now contributing Choreographer & Performer for Triptych (Eyes of One Another), an Opera based on Robert Mappethorpe and a dancer with Kyle Abraham's A.I.M since 2020.