Whether she's spoofing mom dancing with Jimmy Fallon or doing choreo to "Uptown Funk" with Ellen DeGeneres, Michelle Obama takes every opportunity to bust a move. In honor of Black History Month, the FLOTUS brought that love of dance to the White House and hosted 51 young black female dancers from the D.C. area to showcase their talents.
Throughout the day, master classes for ballet, hip-hop, and African dance were taught by dance icons Debbie Allen (Emmy Award-winning choreographer/actress and Broadway star), Judith Jamison (Alvin Ailey Artistic Director Emerita), Fatima Robinson (music video director/choreographer who's worked with Michael Jackson, Aaliyah, and Mary J. Blige), and Virginia Johnson (Dance Theatre of Harlem Artistic Director). It all came together when they performed what they learned for Michelle in the Blue Room.
The First Lady welcomed the young dancers with a moving speech about the legacy of dance in the Black community and the women who've paved the path for future Misty Copelands:
"Make no mistake about it that work is far from over because that struggle for equality didn't end with these women [Allen, Jamison, Robinson, and Johnson] here. Anyone who turns on the news today knows that we still have a long way to go. But standing here today in this room with all these amazing legends and all these wonderful women, so many of them are powerful in their own right, looking out at these beautiful talented young women, I know we have the power to keep reaching higher and defying the odds and achieving those firsts and seconds and thirds and hundreds and thousands until a black principal dancer is no longer a pause for headlines, and our children are limited only by the size of their dreams and their willingness to work for them. And this Black History Month, I am so proud to celebrate those who inspire us along this journey. Those who pave the paths in which we still walk and set the standards to which we aspire. That legacy is truly your greatest inheritance, it really is. It's in all the role models we talked about...We are with you all we are proud of you we are excited to see you take your place not just on this stage but in the course of making change in this country. I don't want you to be nervous. You're home. The stage is your home. This house is yours. So have fun. Have fun! We're proud of you."
When all the dances were over, Michelle delivered HUGS FOR EVERYONE!
Watch the entire speech and performances, below.
