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Jenna Dewan was born in Hartford; the daughter of Nancy Lee Bursch Smith and Darryll Dewan, who was starting running back for the 1972 Notre Dame Football team. Her father is of Lebanese descent, and her mother is of German descent. Her parents divorced when Dewan was young and her mother remarried to Claude Brooks Smith. During high school at Grapevine Highschool in Grapevine, Texas. Jenna was a varsity cheerleader and won many dance competition awards. She graduated in 1999 and was voted prom queen her senior year.
Prior to starring in film, she was a dancer, working for various famous performers such as Justin Timberlake, N Sync, Sean Combs, Toni Braxton, Celine Dion, Pink, Missy Elliot Ricky Martin, Billy Crawford, and Janet Jackson in both live performances and music videos. Dewan and Channing Tatum appeared on an episode of YouTube show,
Miley & Mandy, dancing to the song "4 Minutes" by Madonna (featuring Timberlake and Timbaland). In 2005, Dewan starred as the title character in the horror film,
Tamara, playing an unpopular high school student who is often picked on by classmates. Her character dies, is buried by her classmates, and then returns to seek revenge. Later in 2006, Dewan played a character named Nora Clark in the movie,
Step Up, alongside model/actor Channing Tatum. She won the Teen Choice Award for best dance.
She is engaged to fellow actor, and
Step Up co-star, Channing Tatum.