Jaxon Willard

Jaxon Willard (born on September 21, 2001) is an American professional dancer and choreographer from American Fork, Utah, who trained at Center Stage Performing Arts Studio.

Jaxon Willard
Gender	Male
Age	22
Birthdate	September 22, 2001
Nationality	American
Hometown	American Fork, Utah
Height	5' 7
Eye Color	Black
Hair Color	Black
School Grade	{{{school grade}}}
Professional Information
Profession	Dancer Choreographer
Affiliations	Bloc LA Agency MN2S Agency UK
Dance Studios	Center Stage Performing Arts Studio
Titles	{{{titles}}}
Friends and Family
Parents	Cindy Fraughton Willard (adoptive mom)
Siblings	five older adoptive siblings
Friends	Avery Gay Ezra Soza Carter Williams Sam Williams Ella Horan
Pets	{{{pets}}}
Nicknames	Jax

Jaxon got first time public eye by his performence on NBC World of Dance season 2 in 2018 when he finished third in Junior Divisional Final. He already competed on season 1 as member of 801Squad in 2017, but they didn't pass the Qualifiers. As an estimated 4.7 million watched Jaxon Willard’s high energy dance routine with high-flying leaps and balletic turns, many may not have realized that through his dance, Jaxon was revealing his innermost struggle. On the show, he won fans with self-choreographed routines set to songs like “Fragile” by Kygo & Labrinth.

Now he has been making waves in the commercial industry, from performing with Rihanna in the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show to dancing in an FKA twigs music video and at the 2022 Grammy Awards with Lil Nas X. Now, he’s taking on a mentorship role in YSL Beauty’s Push The Boundaries contest, where he will help further the careers of the two winners in its dance category. Currently he is performing on Madonna’s The Celebration world tour. Well, the shy, vulnerable, young man, who got patronized by Derek Hough on WoD is gone. For the Queen of Pop he turned the entire crowd in the arena on in strings.

Willard’s future goals include working with Doja Cat and Beyoncé. “I’m into reggaeton, contemporary, dembow, and Afrobeat, so I’d love to work with any artist of color whose music and life I can feel connected to.” he said.

Biography

Jaxon was born in Utah to a mother from Atlanta, Georgia, he never met. She had come to Utah to place her baby for adoption through “A Act Of Love.” The name of the Utah-based agency is strategically grammatically incorrect to make it the first listed in the phone book. The agency made it possible for Jaxon’s birth mother to deliver her baby in Utah, which his adoptive mom Cindy does not believe was a coincidence. “His birth mother, I believe through inspiration, brought him here so that I could find him here. I think it was the both of us being led to get him where he needed to be.” Jaxon was three months old when the Willards adopted him on Christmas Eve 2001.

At 14 years of age, Cindy Willard had a premonition that one day she would have a black child. Having been told at 18-years-old that she would never be able to bare any children, the premonition made sense. After serving a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Cindy met and married her husband, and their first child was born soon thereafter. Four more children would be born into the family, but after having five children, the problems she had experienced as an 18-year-old resurfaced. She had a hysterectomy, and during recovery, she knew that her family was not complete, and she embarked on a new mission to find the missing member of the family.

When Jaxon, who began ballroom dancing at age 11. He was a mama’s boy up until about the age of 15 when he began to act different and his attitude took a dramatic shift. Later he auditioned with the group 801Squad for the first season of World of Dance, the producers became concerned and contacted Cindy. They wanted to learn more about the racism and bullying that Jaxon had experienced growing up in a predominantly white community in Utah. She denied the request for an interview, believing that it was a matter that she and Jaxon needed to work through privately first. His group 801Squad was soon eliminated.

Then Jaxon decided that he wanted to audition on his own for the show’s next season. Cindy had just one request: “If you try out for the show again, you know where they’re going to want to go with your adoption story. ... So, if that’s where you want to go, let us figure this out first.” Together they worked through the arduous process, and when the producers of World of Dance approached her again about running the story about Jaxon’s experiences, she consented.

During one of the first emotional interviews of the season, in response to Jaxon’s comment about missing his birth mom and siblings, one of the interviewers asked, “Jax, do you understand though that you would not be where you are, being able to do what you do, without this mom? You wouldn’t be here without this mom. You wouldn’t be here without this family and the big picture is you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.” The comments were not exactly what then 16-year-old Jaxon wanted to hear at that time, but the truth was spoken, and it was exactly what he needed to hear from someone outside of the family.

to be continued ...

TV Competition Shows

NBC's World of Dance

Season 1

Qualifiers
801 Squad	79.3

Season 2

Qualifiers ("Fragile")
Ne-Yo	95
Jennifer Lopez	96
Derek Hough	91
AVERAGE	94

Duels Round ("Surprise Yourself")
Lucas Marinetto	88
Jaxon Willard	96

The Cut ("Higher")
Ne-Yo	90
Jennifer Lopez	90
Derek Hough	92
AVERAGE	90.7

Divisional Final ("Blind Faith")
Ne-Yo	87
Misty Copeland	89
Jennifer Lopez	87
Derek Hough	88
AVERAGE	87.8

In the middle of his performance, Jaxon began to have trouble breathing. He walked off the stage, and Ciara told him to take his time returning to the stage. Jaxon said, he can’t catch his breath. She hold his hand as he received oxygen. “I’m having some breathing problems, and it’s like athletic-induced asthma, and so it definitely like worries me because I don’t want to be dancing in this round and just all of a sudden stop because I can’t breathe,” Jaxon admitted. “But I’m just going to have to power through.”

Awards and Nominations

Year	Title	Category	Nominated	Result	Refs
2019	Radix Awards	Senior Male Core Performer	Jaxon Willard	Won
2021	The Dance Awards - Orlando	Senior Male Best Dancer	Jaxon Willard	Won

Contact

Management and Agencies:
MN2S Agency UK Agent Sharron Elkabas +44 207 378 7321

Fun Facts

• Jaxon is a member of the 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' (short LDS or Mormon Church) who are the majority of Utah citizens.

Additional Page

Jaxon Willard/Gallery

External Link

• Instagram
• TikTok
• Facebook