DISCLAIMER: Mild spoilers ahead for Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.
Three-time Grammy Award-winning artist Lizzo is hunting for talented, confident, badass dancers in Prime Video’s Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, which premiered on March 25. The multi-platinum superstar is looking for more Big Grrrls for her 2022 tour and narrowed it down to 10 hopefuls. But first, the dancers must survive the Big Grrrls House and a 90-minute stage show at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival with the star.
The unscripted series follows 10 dancers vying to twerk it out at Bonnaroo with the “Truth Hurts” singer. To help make Lizzo’s big booty squad dreams come true are legendary choreographers Tanisha Scott and Charm La’Donna. Also assisting the sometimes flutist are O.G. Big Grrrls Chawnta’ Marie Van, Shirlene Quigley and Grace Holden, body movement expert Rashida KhanBey Miller and multi-platinum singer/songwriters SZA and Missy Elliott.
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Unlike most dance competition shows such as So You Think You Can Dance, America’s Got Talent or World of Dance, Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls‘ eight-episode series doesn’t eliminate a dancer episodically. The unique setup takes a lot of pressure off Big Grrrl auditionees.
Without the stress of weekly eliminations and possibly blowing their one shot to dance at Bonnaroo, the dancers can genuinely work on their confidence and technique with the support of Lizzo and her crew.
Photo: Amazon Studios
Instead of competition, the series centers around themes of self-acceptance and self-expression, culminating in a nude photoshoot (I mean, it’s Lizzo, of course there is a nude photoshoot). By focusing on something other than the “ballet body” and 32 fouettés, the series offers a beacon of hope that the dance world is getting better, even if it’s moving at an adagio’s pace.
Only one episode includes a planned elimination. In it, Lizzo pulls a classic diva move and changes the rules while filming, demonstrating to ALL the dancers that anything is possible on THIS reality show.
The 33-year-old artist said during a 45-minute conversation with The Breakfast Club‘s Angela Yee at South by Southwest, “We don’t always have to be cruel. We can be kind. And we don’t have to pit people against each other. It’s so hard in the dance world already for girls who look like me, so why would I create that environment in my space if I have the power to change that?”
“Trans rights are human rights” — Lizzo, SXSW 2022
Photo: James Clark/Amazon Studios
In the first episode, Lizzo explains she needs Big Grrrl dancers for her upcoming live shows, but numerous dance agencies couldn’t provide them. Despite progress in the dance community, agencies not being able to find talented dancers for Lizzo demonstrates how far there is to go. As Lizzo says, “I asked dance agencies for big girls, and they gave me nothing! Girls that look like me don’t get representation.”
So Lizzo scoured the country herself to find Big Grrrls. Proving she is 100 percent that b**ch, she selects a diverse cast of dancers. For Lizzo, that isn’t only about body type; it’s also about gender identity. “There are some very regressive laws being passed,” Lizzo said at SXSW, slamming the anti-trans legislation passed by Texas lawmakers, “taking away the right for young children to have a chance to live authentically as themselves.”
The “Good as Hell” singer also took the SXSW opportunity to shout out Jayla, a trans woman who appears on the series, for living “authentically as herself.” Jayla Sullivan, 33, has wicked improvisational and gymnastics skills and is passionate about trans representation in dance. Great news! Trans and GNC dancers need more rep; I can count the number of famous trans dancers on one hand.
In the spirit of encouraging Lizzo’s message of diversity in dance, here are some personal favorites: Jayna Ledford (video here), Dance Mom‘s Lennon Torres (video here), Chase Johnsey (video here) and Maxfield Haynes (in discussion with Lennon).
Unlike many competition series that almost immediately boot the trans castmember, Lizzo encourages Jayla to shine. There is an incredibly touching moment with Jayla during a nude photoshoot. That episode includes some extraordinary moments with another LGBTQ+ cast member, Moesha Perez, an off-Broadway stylist and dancer.
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We also meet young women like Isabel Jones, who has a Master’s Degree in TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language). She has a solid connection to K-pop and expresses her love for the genre by posting dance covers of K-pop choreography on social media. The 25-year-old enjoys sharing her love of dance online despite occasionally receiving negative comments for her videos.
Lizzo is an authentic support system for her dancers throughout the series, allowing the cast to open up about difficult experiences.
For example, when Isabel shares the story of her negative experience with the new form of pro-ana (pro-anorexia) attacks shaming fat bodies on social media to scare themselves into maintaining their eating disorders (called “meanspo“), the other Big Grrrl housemates are there for her. Notably, Syndey Bell, a Division 1 college dance team captain, trained at The Ailey School.
“I do it for the culture, god***n” — Lizzo, Rumors
Photo: James Clark/Amazon Studios
“You can wake up and change many things about your appearance, but the inevitability of waking up in your skin is what unifies us,” Lizzo once told Vice. Even though the “Skin” singer is an exhibitionist, she understands not everyone has her sensibilities. Knowing not all the dancers are ready to wear their skin like a gift, Lizzo’s challenges help the Big Grrrl contestants learn to love themselves and accept their bodies.
Lizzo is a beacon of hope for curvy dancers of all ages, and it’s made clear in the cast interviews. Modern dance great Martha Graham once said: “a dancer dies twice.” The first death is when they stop dancing. In the dance world, at least in ballet, it’s common for your first death to occur in your 30s.
So the inclusion of Charity Holloway, 35, is another way Lizzo encourages diversity in the dance community. The cast also includes Jasmine Morrison, 31. It is beautiful to hear how Lizzo inspired them to keep dancing.
Lizzo inspired many of the women on the show to start dancing or to continue pursuing professional dance training—even in the face of adversity. When I was growing up, a role model like Lizzo was something I never had. I never got to look at the stage and say, “Hey, there is a place for me.” I grew up when the “Balanchine Body” was the body, and it was the only body.
I struggled through an eating disorder for having a non-traditional dancer’s body, and I have journal after journal containing angry scribbles talking about wanting to cut the skin off my body. But I hardly see body dysmorphic disorder addressed on TV, so I loved how the series directly dealt with BDD through Sidney’s story.
Although Lizzo may define herself as a simple exhibitionist, I see it as a surprisingly healthy way for a person to reframe how they see their skin to accept their body.
Otherwise, BDD or an eating disorder can become more than the dance itself, and you stop knowing if you are a good dancer; all you know is your body in the mirror and how every line is wrong. But my body didn’t deter me from wanting to be a professional dancer for a long time, so I worked hard and got ignored harder (not by everyone, but compliments never have the same staying power).
I still remember the things said (and not said) about my body: mine was “bad,” and another dancer’s body was “good.”
Despite knowing School of American Ballet would reject me before my Sasha brand slipper stepped into the studio, I went to audition after audition as the little fat girl. I will never know if it was about my talent because I was almost always rejected for my size first. What Lizzo is doing is for the culture, godd**n, is making little fat girls everywhere learn self-love.
“That b**ch in the mirror, like yeah, I’m in love” — Lizzo, Soulmate
Photo: James Clark/Amazon Studios
All the body positivity doesn’t mean there aren’t stakes in this series: just because the environment is supportive doesn’t mean the pressure isn’t sky-high. Lizzo needs her dancers to learn new choreography and build their endurance for her 90-minute Bonnaroo set.
Lizzo’s expectations for her backup dancers are the same as those for any other backup dancer — the ability to pick up choreography quickly, maintain stamina and endurance throughout a 90-minute show and have nice lines while performing steps and poses.
Cast interviews often explain why these skills are essential to dance; my favorite teaching moment was a dispute over “dancer etiquette” because my ADHD brain always had a problem with this one.
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If you’ve never danced, this series may still speak to you if you love Lizzo or if you’re into shows about self-expression and body positivity. But to thousands of young dancers who are beginning their careers, Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls could be truly monumental—it depends on what the dance world does with it. Will dance institutions stop weighing dancers? Will ballet move beyond its rigid norms of a beautiful line?
Lizzo serves as executive producer alongside Makiah Green, Kevin Beisler, Julie Pizzi, Farnaz Farjam, Myiea Coy, Kimberly Goodman and Glenda Cox. Lesbian documentary maker Nneka Onuorah directs this series, best known for 2015’s The Same Difference about gender roles in the Black lesbian community, and produced by Amazon Studios, Bunim-Murray Productions and Lizzo’s production company Lizzo Bangers.
Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls is available on Prime Video now. Follow the dancers on Instagram: Jayla (@jaylarosepdx), Isabel (@_isabae_), Charity (@_charityholloway_), Ashley Williams (@theashleyicon), Moesha (@moeecatt_), Sydney (@sydneylbell), Asia Banks (@asie_abeille), Kiara Mooring (@kiaradominique) and Arianna Davis (@aridavis5678).
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