Jackson Haywood began his dance training in high school in Los Angeles, where he was born, and continued his training at Arts Umbrella, Vancouver. During his three years of study, he explored a variety of repertoire and techniques as well as perfoming works by Medhi Walerski, Crystal Pite, Marco Goecke and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Jackson participated in several freelance projects and internships in Canada and the United States before joining the Lyon Opera Ballet in 2022, at the age of 20.