Mel Mah was born and raised in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, and currently lives in Los Angeles. She has trained in all styles of dance including ballet, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, and tap, and she has her Advanced Foundation in Royal Academy Dance ballet and her pre-professional certification in Vaganova ballet. Mel got her jumpstart in the entertainment industry when she competed on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE CANADA (Season 2) in 2009 and made it all the way into the top 6. From there, she moved to LA and experienced much success as a professional dancer, performing on America’s Got Talent, Dancing With The Stars, X Factor, The Voice, and Glee. She also worked for some of the biggest artists in the game including Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, and Becky G. Her number one dance dream came true when she was chosen as one of Janet Jackson’s UNBREAKABLE world tour dancers in 2015, and this experience was the ultimate cherry on top of her professional dance career.
Since then, she’s decided to pursue other passions that were pulling at her heartstrings. Mel is now actively pursuing a career as a film director and is motivated to direct powerful movies that share inspiring stories. She spent the last year and a half working side-by-side with director George Tillman Jr. on the 20th Century Fox film THE HATE U GIVE, released in theatres October 19, 2018. She is also a passionate yoga teacher and has her 500-hour teaching certification from Corepower Yoga. In addition, Mel is the director and co-founder of the women’s empowerment company YOU GOT THIS, GIRL! (ygtgofficial.com), where she fuses together her love for movement, yoga, and meditation to teach women how to achieve their goals while cultivating positive thoughts, self-confidence, and mindfulness.
Passion and persistence are qualities that define Mel, and she’s grateful for every opportunity to create and collaborate with others. Her mission is to use her creative voice for good, educate and inspire others, and to spread love everywhere she goes.