Around June of 2005, 4 year old Amariay (AJ) Jackson woke up one day consumed with excitement. He was going to his first Bboy Battle that day. Bboying is slang for breakdancing, a form of athletic style street dance that includes flips and twists.

He threw on his clothes and raced down the stairs to tell his mom he was ready to leave. When Jackson was young, he saw a commercial on TV with a little boy headspinning in it and he became so inspired he decided to pursue bboying. He started off by going to battles and just watching, and he loved seeing kids his age doing crazy tricks and flips.

Now, Jackson is 16 years old and Bboying professionally. “It’s my passion,” Jackson says. He’s represented by Bloc LA, an agency in Los Angeles, and currently books gigs all over the world. 

“My first gig was for a cheerio commercial, they had me headspin in the middle of the cheerio circle,” he said, “it was a blast.”  He started his Bboy training in Las Vegas and officially booked with his agency right before he turned 7.He dances for ‘Prodigy Dance Crew’  and is a part of a Bboy crew called ‘Knuckle Head Zoo’ in Las Vegas. “Dancing choreography is so much different from Bboy…when I Bboy I can just throw flips and tricks. When I dance it’s much harder learning choreography and performing it to the best of my ability. I still love dancing though, it’s a challenge for me,” said Jackson. 

The year of 2018 AJ, taking a break from dancing choreography, he performed at over 50 Bboy battles and won a majority of them. In the month of March, he and his crew competed in a Las Vegas battle where the reward was to travel to France and participate in the Battle of the Year. They won, and were told to start preparing their sets for Nationals in the upcoming months. 

Battle of the Year in France where national teams gather every year and battle each other for the national trophy. The winner is named the best crew in the world. “I couldn’t even speak when we won the Vegas battle. The thought of going to France was so exciting for me…I’ve dreamed of going to Nationals ever since I was a kid and now my dream was finally coming true,” said Jackson. 

The time came for the crew to leave for France. Leaving a week early, they arrived in France and trained everyday leading up to the competition.“Training was tough. We were practicing everyday and we had to put together the best set we could. We had to incorporate our biggest and best tricks,” said Jackson.

Finally, the big day came and it was time for the boys to battle. All of the teams gathered in the stadium and set up for their battle rounds. There were 5 individual battles, where the teams would switch around battling different crews and the winners of each battle would compete in the final round. Knuckle Head Zoo and the France team won all 5 battles and were headed to the finals. 

“I was scared. This was the biggest battle I have ever been in and the nerves were killing me,” said Jackson. The crews went head to head in this next battle which consisted of 3 rounds Knuckle Head Zoo won the first round. France won the last two. The French team was the national champion.

“Even though we lost, it was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. I’m proud of my team and myself for making it as far as we did and really pushing ourselves this year. Not to mention we got to tour France and that was incredible. Going to France was the experience of a lifetime, and I will cherish the memories I made there forever,”  said Jackson.

 “AJ has pushed and inspired me ever since I started at Prodigy. He’s always teaching me new tricks and teaching me ways I can better my dancing and tricks. Not only do I look up to him as my idol, but I always look up to him as an older brother. AJ is amazing,” says Trey Owens, a fellow Prodigy teammate of Jackson’s, “seeing how much passion he has about Bboy is so amazing. He works so hard everyday and pushes himself to his limits to get where he is.”

Jackson is now back in Vegas continues to train with Prodigy. Still booking jobs in LA, AJ is getting back into the groove of his “normal” life.