Dance World Cup in Dublin and commercial career in Los Angeles are detours on the road to grad school

By the time Keegan Martin was a junior in high school, she already had nearly 15 years of dance on her resumé. She also needed hip surgery – a not uncommon issue for dancers who, like athletes, demand a lot from their bodies.

That surgical experience, and the recovery from it, became a defining moment for Martin.

“I found that as I healed mentally, my physical healing was progressing more rapidly,” she wrote recently in a personal statement. “After that, I became fascinated with the way that the brain processes physical experiences, translating that to athletic performance. I also became deeply passionate about mental health resources being more accessible for athletes, specifically dancers, once I learned the lasting impact it had.”

Martin decided a dance and psychology double major would provide her with knowledge she craved and the foundation for a meaningful career in sports/performing arts psychology.

Martin will graduate on May 8 with a B.A. in Dance and a B.S. in Psychology, but before she moves on to a graduate program, she will take advantage of her youth to pursue the fleeting career of a professional commercial dancer. Her career launch will get a boost this summer when she represents Team U.S.A. at the Dance World Cup in Dublin, Ireland.

The Dance World Cup is the largest all-genre dance competition in the world.

“I’m very excited,” said Martin, who has never traveled abroad. “It’s a little daunting. Last year there were 73 countries represented.”

Martin auditioned for the team last summer through a local commercial dance studio and learned just a few days before Christmas that she had been accepted, along with two other UNC Charlotte dance students. Rehearsals began in January for the four pieces that will go to competition – a range of contemporary, jazz and hip-hop choreography.

Martin trained in those styles before coming to UNC Charlotte, but she said the opportunity to work with professors like Ashley Tate, a hip-hop specialist, “helped me mature, helped me grow, really shaping me as an artist.” Tate, who previously was signed to Clear Talent Group in Los Angeles, has been an important mentor, she added.

Tate described Martin as an “exceptional presence” in the dance department.

“Keegan has served as my assistant and has performed my work in a professional choreography showcase, my hip-hop symposium and my newest concert piece for the college,” Tate said. “She has also studied vernacular jazz, contemporary, hip-hop and street dance movement and research with me. Keegan is a joy to work with, a quick study and a beautiful dancer whose commitment and artistry consistently elevate every space she enters.”

Martin has served three years on the dance department’s student advisory board, chairing it twice. She is also in her third year of teaching at a local dance studio, where this year she choreographed 12 pieces for the studio’s competition team.

“It feels really fulfilling to work with the kids and see their personalities grow,” she said.

Her studies of the human mind, emotions and behavior have benefited her teaching, allowing her to “form bonds but maintain healthy boundaries, read how students are coming into the space and push them to believe in what they can do,” she said.

Her psychology education also became a resource when she was diagnosed earlier this year with ADHD. Martin said that as a child she “slipped through the cracks” of an ADHD diagnosis.

“Because I’d danced since I was two, that hyperactivity went into dance.”

This spring, Martin choreographed “Divergent Pulse,” a work for the dance department’s “Under Construction” student choreography showcase in which she explored neurodivergence.

“For me, the choreography became easier because of the research I did into the different ways that ADHD presents. It helped me work through things personally but also push through the stereotype that’s placed on people with ADHD.”

And she will draw upon her knowledge of mental health resources when she has yet another hip surgery at the end of the summer. Martin said that her experience at UNC Charlotte has prepared her well for the challenges ahead.

“I have spent time researching and expanding my knowledge of the impact that mental health has on physical health. Every opportunity from the past four years has fueled my passion for mental health considerations with athletes and has encouraged me to continue my education in this discipline.”