Get Your Close-Up With Alvester Martin
After performing alongside Beyoncé among many highlights of his career, Alvester Martin —dancer, singer, and songwriter has been accustomed to a dim limelight for many years as a back up dancer for several top celebrities. But it’s the bright spotlight he better get ready for!
Most recently Alvester Martin appeared on Vivica’s Black Magic, but in the past he has performed with Queen Bey during an electrifying VMA grand performance. That’s nothing new for Martin; he’s been moving, grooving, thrusting and gyrating behind Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez and Queen Latifah as a dancer for nearly a decade. Before all that however, Martin started his dancing career in Miami, FL at the tender age of five with ballet lessons. He recalls not wanting to take those ballet lessons in the early years, but at the urging of his grandparents, who raised him, he went against the stereotypes and put forth a great effort to being classically trained in the art from. By age nine he added acting, singing and playing the alto sax to his growing repertoire of talents. He speaks highly of his grandparents, “They motivated me. They are my life,” Martin explains. They helped mold and cultivate his skills and took him to audition after audition. It finally started paying off by the time he was sixteen, when his professional career began to take off.
Recently, years of hard work have finally led him to a role he never imagined. Martin explains how he’s always been a diehard Michael Jackson fan, but when the opportunity came to audition for a part in Michael Jackson’s latest music video, “A Place With No Name,” the second single off of the musical icon’s posthumous album Xscape—he was reluctant. “I didn’t want to be a part of something that didn’t represent my musical idol well,” he says. Martin wasn’t sure about the project until he learned about the artistic direction and contemporary approach they wanted to take when creating the video. He decided to audition, was casted as the lead male dancer along side the beautiful and talented Danielle Acoff. Martin shared a little known fact about the video and revealed that there was no rehearsal. The video was shot in one, twenty-hour day and he and Acoff had never met before. They had a natural chemistry as their bodies intertwined and comingled in the hot California desert and artistically mirrored some of the scenes from the “In the Closet” music video with Michael and Naomi Campbell, released in 1992.
When Martin isn’t filming music videos or dancing beside the hottest celebrity megastars, he’s focusing on writing and singing his own music. While being an A-List dancer pays the bills and he’s grateful for all the opportunities that it has afforded him; he admits that music and singing is his true passion. His debut album, being released through Emagine/Universal Music Group, entitled Love Me or Leave Me is slated for release this Fall/Winter and speaks of how he loves hard and wears his heart on his sleeve. He talks about being in love with a woman, but not really being ready for the relationship; it ends and retrospect leads him to write several songs as his apology to that mysterious woman. Martin says, “She knows who she is, and when she hears the songs she’ll know they’re about her.”
Martin is also interested in pursing more acting roles. While many publications have dubbed him as the new eye candy, he wants to explore his range and show people that he’s not just another pretty face. He aims to be taken seriously in his craft and hopes to be cast in more dramatic roles in the future.
Being multi-talented can create quite the busy schedule as Martin has learned over the years and can take a toll on one’s personal life. Martin shares that he’s not currently dating anyone at the moment because of his rigorous lifestyle and schedule in the industry. However, when the time comes and he finds the right woman, he describes an ideal first date would consist of anything that involves great conversation first and foremost. He says, “No movies on the first date. How am I suppose to get to know you, if we’re sitting in the dark for two hours and not talking?”
Martin is also looking for a woman that can cook, bake a Sweet Potato Pie like his grandmother and be okay with him just washing dishing; since he can’t cook at all. He also admits to crushing on Tika Sumpter and Chanel Iman right now. “Yes I know Chanel is with A$AP now, but she’s hot,” laughs Martin.
As Alvester Martin is often photographed shirtless, his ink is definitely noticeable. Another glimpse into his personal life revealed that each of his tattoos tell a story. “I’m not a religious person, but I am a very spiritual person,” says Martin of the reasoning behind having the Serenity Prayer across his pectoral. The word Faith is on his arm because at one point he questioned whether the industry was the right place for him. He asked God for guidance, maintained his faith and the rest is history. His Love tattoo is a constant reminder of how it felt the first time he realized he was in love. It’s also a great prelude to his new upcoming album, Love Me or Leave Me. The singles, “When I’m With You,” and “So High” can be previewed on SoundCloud. “I’m proud of this project and I hope you love it. I want you to experience the music,” says Martin.
Follow Alvester Martin on all the social media outlets @ALV3STER.
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