2010–2011: The Swan and Madonna Lil Buck moved to Los Angeles when he was 19 to pursue a career in dance. and co-choreographed the music video for the song "
Tightrope" by
Janelle Monáe. In 2011, director and former ballet dancer
Damian Woetzel met Lil Buck and paired him with Yo-Yo Ma in "The Swan" performance that went viral on YouTube. Woetzel heard about Lil Buck from his wife Heather Watts who saw an old YouTube video clip of Lil Buck freestyle dancing to
Camille Saint-Saëns’
Le cygne (
The Swan) in a New Ballet Ensemble (NBE) school performance in West Memphis, Arkansas. NBE director Katie Smythe introduced Buck to Saint-Saëns' music and the idea of applying jookin' to classical music. Watts showed the clip to her husband Woetzel who then showed the clip to
Yo-Yo Ma. They all eventually met by using Facebook to contact Katie Smythe (Lil Buck's ballet teacher) who facilitated the introduction. He paired Lil Buck with Yo-Yo Ma again for a performance at the 2011 U.S.-China Forum on the Arts and Culture in
Beijing. Lil Buck was the first person in his family to travel outside of the United States. His trip was documented in a short independent film titled
Lil Buck Goes to China. The film was directed by Ole Schell who is the son of
Orville Schell, an American journalist based in China who organized the forum in Beijing. After his trip, Lil Buck was photographed by
Bruce Weber for an interview in the Spring 2011 issue of
VMan magazine. Aside from working with Woetzel and Yo-Yo Ma, Lil Buck danced for
Madonna during her
Super Bowl XLVI halftime show after winning the "Dance for Madonna Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Competition". He eventually joined
The MDNA Tour as one of 22 dancers. Due to all of his accomplishments during the year,
Dance Spirit magazine named him one of "The Most Influential People of 2011".
2012–2014: Cirque Du Soleil, films, and modeling In 2012, Lil Buck was named one of
Dance Magazine's
"25 to Watch". The other video was directed by Jacob Sutton who submitted a longer version to Cinedans, a Dutch
film festival that showcases films based on dance. Lil Buck spent most of 2013 dancing in the
Cirque du Soleil show
Michael Jackson: One. He modeled men's clothing in an 8-page spread in
GQ magazine titled "How to Kick Your Jeans Habit". Lil Buck performed with Yo-Yo Ma a third time at an event directed by Woetzel and held at
(Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City. Later in the year, Lil Buck made the August 2013 cover of
Dance magazine and briefly appeared in the Spike Jonze film
Her as a
busker/dancer. In March 2014, Lil Buck performed at the
TEDxTeen conference in New York City. In April, he appeared in another Jacob Sutton dance film sponsored by
Diesel and he danced in the
New York City Ballet's Spring premiere that was choreographed by artist
JR and scored by musician
Woodkid. Lil Buck was a guest judge on season 11 of
So You Think You Can Dance.
2015–present: Versailles and collaborations In May, Lil Buck performed in
Versailles with dancers from
Benjamin Millepied's ballet company. Afterward, he went on tour with Madonna again to promote her album
Rebel Heart. In a continuation of his interest in
modern dance, Lil Buck appeared in a three-and-a-half minute
rag & bone commercial with the classical dance artist
Mikhail Baryshnikov. He modeled for French jeans retailer Kaporal and partnered with
Versace to create a line of sneakers exclusively available online and at Versace's New York City store. Due to his accomplishments, he made the November 2015 cover of
The Wall Street Journal's "Innovators Issue". In 2016, Lil Buck collaborated with dancer Jon Boogz and artist
Alexa Meade to create "Color of Reality", a video addressing gun violence.
The New York Times likened the video to "...van Gogh — that is, if one of his paintings were brought to life as a performative protest." ==Personal life==