James “Combo” Marino is an artist whose passion for life will move you to be your best. Born and raised in East Hartford, CT, and after playing pre professional in Italy after high school, this soccer player turned dancer started his hand in the entertainment industry in New York City. After migrating to Los Angeles and creating an abundant performing career, he quickly started teaching at the major Los Angeles based dance studios; Debbie Reynolds, IDA, and Movement Lifestyle. Now he is faculty at one of the most prominent dance studios in the world, Millennium Dance Complex. Outside of LA, on the convention circuit he teaches on REVEL dance convention. Having traveled to over forty countries in his career, teaching at local studios in the United States and internationally is one of James’ favorite things to do because it gives him a chance to share and inspire young dancers who haven’t had the opportunity to get to the major dance hubs and train with the industry’s best.
Since moving to Los Angeles, James has consistently toured and worked with the industry’s biggest recording artists such as Mariah Carey, Missy Elliott, Camila Cabello, J. Balvin, Gwen Stefani, Fergie, The Black Eyed Peas, Eve, and Victoria Monèt. In between weekly shows during his residency with The Backstreet Boys in their Las Vegas show Larger Than Life, James traveled back and forth to Los Angeles to work with brands including Nike, Target, Tide, Adidas, and Verizon Wireless on his days off. The VMA’s, The Grammy’s, and the NFL Kickoff, were some of his favorite live TV performances and in the feature film world, working with LeBron James in Space Jam 2 is an experience his teenage self is extremely proud of. He also worked on multiple performances for The Voice and The Masked Singer. In 2022, he performed in one of his biggest performances to date at Super Bowl 56 with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and Eminem. In between his time performing and teaching, he has been hired to choreograph performances for Arbonne, Doterra, and other large corporate events.
James’ most special moment came in February of 2017. After years of dreaming, training, and endlessly remaining disciplined; he accomplished the primary reason he packed up his life and moved to Los Angeles. On the biggest night in Hollywood, The Academy Awards, he got his chance to perform with Justin Timberlake.
James realized he had a responsibility to share with people who wanted to improve not just in the craft of dance, but in their overall mental resilience. Mindset training, discipline, and continuous improvement is what he attests to his success and fulfillment in the entertainment industry. This led him to launch his Mindset Management company, Subconscious Trends, in 2019, with a mission to make self-improvement a lifestyle. He coaches and mentors people of all ages(16+) and situations looking for strong guidance to progress in areas of their lives from teaching financial budgeting, time management, personal goal setting, perspective shifts, and his personal favorite, positive habit building, to improve the future of our society. This also paved the way for his public speaking debut at Tedx at KIIT University in India.
James loves to devote large quantities of his seemingly endless energy to give you the push you might need to truly believe in yourself. His attention to detail, athletic movement, and love for music drives his ability to create a great class and work environment. While live performances are his forte, he is inspired by all that the dance community has to offer and will continuously push his boundaries in order to be the best creator, instructor, and dream facilitator that he can possibly be.
Follow James on Instagram @jamescombomarino and his Mindset Management company @subconscioustrends
LOS ANGELES 
