Charmaine Jordan (born May 14, 1988), known professionally as Charm La'Donna, is an American dancer and choreographer. She is known for her work with recording artists such as

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

Rosalía Rosalia Vila Tobella (born 25 September 1992), known mononymously as Rosalía (, ), is a Spanish Pop music, pop and flamenco singer. She has been described as an "atypical pop star" due to her genre-bending musical styles. After being enthral ...

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( ; born22 August 1995) is an English and Albanian singer, songwriter and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Dua Lipa, Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards. Lipa worked as a model before v ...

and

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...

Early life and education

La'Donna was born Charmaine Jordan on May 14, 1988, in

Compton, California Compton is a city located in the Gateway Cities region of southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county, and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth ci ...

. She has an older brother, Yki, and was raised by her mother, Debbie. She credits her mother, grandmother and "the village of women in Compton, all connected by blood, friendship or simply proximity" for her success. Yki is a rapper and songwriter who inspired La'Donna to pursue a recording career of her own. After he was arrested and sentenced for 75 years to life in prison, she suspended those dreams and turned to dancing. After telling her mother at the age of 3 that she wanted to become a dancer, La'Donna was enrolled in a recreational center in Compton that offered dance activities. Counselors at the center referred her to Regina's School of the Arts, where she trained before moving to Miss Monica's Dance School. When she was 10, La'Donna was introduced to dancer and choreographer Fatima Robinson while auditioning for a music video for rapper

Mase Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Mase (often stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper. Best known for his work with Sean Combs, Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records, he signed with the label in 1996 ...

. She quickly recognized her talents and began mentoring her. La'Donna attended the

Los Angeles County High School for the Arts Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA, ) is a visual and performing arts high school located on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is a public school, ...

(LACSHA), where she graduated from in 2006. She holds a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in world arts and culture from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA).

Career

During her senior year at LACSHA, La'Donna was hired by singer

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

as a backup dancer for her Confessions Tour. Following the tour, she worked as Robinson's assistant choreographer, working on various music videos, television specials and

Super Bowl halftime shows Halftime shows are common during many American football games. Entertainment during the Super Bowl, the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), is one of the more lavish of these performances and is usually very widely wat ...

under her direction while attending UCLA full-time. Her work with Robinson introduced her to fellow Compton native, rapper

, while co-choreographing his performance at the 2015 BET Awards. He recruited her in 2017 as the choreographer and sole female dancer for his DAMN. Tour and choreographed and danced in his opening performance at the

60th Annual Grammy Awards The 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 28, 2018. The CBS network broadcast the show live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show was moved to January to avoid coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongch ...

in 2018. La'Donna continued to gain recognition by choreographing music videos and live performances for singers

and

Meghan Trainor Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...

. Her work in the music video for

J Balvin José Álvaro Osorio Balvín (born 7 May 1985), known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer. He is one of the best-selling Latin artists, with 35 million records sold worldwide. Balvin was born in Medellín. At age 17, he moved to th ...

and

El Guincho Pablo Díaz-Reixa (born November 17, 1983), professionally known as el Guincho, is a Spanish musician, singer, and record producer. Díaz-Reixa rose to prominence with his 2008 album, '' Alegranza''. His musical style relies heavily on the use ...

's " Con altura" won her the

MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography The MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography is a craft award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and choreographer of the music video. From 1984 to 2007, the full name of the award was Best Choreography in a Video. The biggest winner ...

. She also directed Rema and Selena Gomez's Calm Down (Remix) music video, which guaranteed her a second VMAs for Best Afrobeats. She was the sole choreographer for singer

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

's Super Bowl LV halftime show. La'Donna's music aspirations resumed in 2020. She signed a recording contract with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

in February and released her first two singles "So & So" and "Westside". Her debut extended play, ''La'Donna'', was released on April 9, 2021.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

As lead artist

As choreographer

Discography

Extended plays (EP)

* ''La'Donna'' (2021)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:La'Donna, Charm 1988 births Living people 21st-century American dancers 21st-century American rappers African-American choreographers American choreographers African-American female dancers American hip-hop singers American music video directors Creative directors Dancers from California Epic Records artists Los Angeles County High School for the Arts alumni MTV Video Music Award winners Musicians from Compton, California Rappers from California Songwriters from California University of California, Los Angeles alumni