MaryJo Nelson has been moving since the age of three, beginning with gymnastics and later, after competing for several years in USAG, transitioning to dance. MaryJo moved to Fargo from Phoenix when she was 13 and spent her high school years studying ballet at Brant’s School of Dance Arts. During her senior year, she also competed on the nationally ranked West Fargo High School dance team and was a choreographer for the team. After graduating, MaryJo spent three years with the California based performing arts group, The Young Americans, during which time she had the opportunity to teach dance and perform all over the world in countries including the UK, Germany, Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Japan, and China.
 

At the age of 22, MaryJo crewed on a sailboat from San Diego to central pacific Mexico. She decided she liked Mexico so much that she stayed and ended up living there for the next six and a half years. For her first three years there, she made her living teaching aerial silks and performing as a dancer and aerialist. For the last several years, MaryJo has been working professionally at theaters in and near Puerto Vallarta, playing starring roles including Roxie in Chicago, Cinderella in Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Kira in Xanadu, and Janet Weiss in The Rocky Horror Show. This past season she also had the privilege to choreograph NuName Production’s Chicago for which she received rave reviews.

After spending most of the last ten years abroad, MaryJo has finally decided to move back to Fargo to be close to her family. She feels so fortunate to have had the opportunity to train in so many different styles of movement from a variety of teachers all over the world, and she can’t wait to be able to share her passion for story telling through dance with the students at Gasper’s School of Dance!