(upbeat piano)
- I've been bullied in dance since I was like six.
(upbeat music)
- Oh my God!
This is madness.
(cheering)
I ran a contest with Capezio and Skylum sponsoring
it in which I looked for two dancers to feature in my
upcoming book, Born to Dance,
and I got thousands of applicants.
One of the dancers I picked was Lizzy Howell.
The reasons why will become completely clear
as soon as you watch this video but I just want
you to think of one thing.
Remember the fact that every day Lizzy would get up
and go to dance class in her leotard
even though she knew when she got there she would be teased,
ridiculed, bullied.
But she did it anyway.
That's the thing that really touched me
when I heard about her story and that's why I wanted her
featured in my book, and feature her for you right now.
So enjoy.
- So I had a video go viral in January of me doing fouettes
and I posted it in November of last year
just because I wanted to and I didn't think anything of it
and then in January it went viral
and I have about 20 million views on Facebook I think.
When the video went viral all the followers
kind of came at once,
so that's when a lot of the hate comments came.
They don't know me, they don't know anything
they just see a picture and they're judging me
based off of one picture or one video.
You don't know, like my story.
So I don't think it's right for people to judge
off of one thing.
- [Jordan] Capezio knows about Lizzy and invites us to their
flagship store in Times Square.
- Good to see you.
Come around, we were waiting for you.
- Let's have some fun.
Lizzy tries on tap shoes, and the sales person
gets the okay from management to give her a brand new pair
of expensive tap shoes.
- I got tap shoes.
- [Jordan] This is Diane, she's the one that just gave you.
- Good, thank you.
I was told to stop dancing, maybe when I was 12.
I'm now 16.
I was told there wasn't gonna be any parts for me
in Nutcracker if I didn't lose weight or go en pointe.
So, that bothered me a lot
'cause it was something that I wanted to do forever.
If I'm a good dancer I don't think my body type
should affect my opportunities.
So I have pseudotumor cerebri which is
an excess build up of spinal fluid around my brain
so I could go blind if it isn't under control.
Dance is what I love and it's everything to me
so I think that just keeps me going.
I've been bullied in dance since I was like, six.
It still happens when I go to dance conventions
'cause there's like 300 people in one room
and they're all looking at me
and so, you know I don't hear it directly
what they're saying
but I can see like the pst, pst, pst
and all that stuff.
I had one girl at a dance convention deliberately
step on my food with a tap shoe, and so I missed
the rest of the day because it really bothered me
that she did that,
but I went the next day and I did the audition
and I got a scholarship so it's those things
that like, keep me going.
It's the reassurance from other people.
It's all this talking.
- You're so amazing
- Thanks.
My aunt is my biggest supporter.
I've been living with her since I was six.
I moved in with her when my mom died in a car accident
and that's when I started dance actually.
So, she's always pushed me forward and made me
go to things even if I was too scared to go to them
which is a good thing 'cause I would have missed out
on a lot of things if I didn't listen to her.
- Hey guys.
So I am here with Lizzy.
And she was actually my first #RoleModelMonday
that I posted on my Instagram.
And I just wanted to say that you are truly,
like, an inspiration and I look up to you.
So, it's so nice to have other people just like,
really showing their story and really just being themselves
and being who they are.
Thank you for that.
- Thank you.
'Cause most dancers are skinny and I'm not
so I think people can relate to me
in that sort of way.
They see me as an inspiration because I've been told
to quit dance multiple times and I haven't
so I think people relate to that.
They wanna do something,
they don't want other people telling them not to do it
and so that's happened to me a lot.
One time I was in the hospital and I had an audition
for a scholarship the next day and I got in trouble
because I stood up and I started trying to do my solo
and I wasn't supposed to, but I still did
and I actually won a scholarship for being inspirational so.
If I'm having a good day or a bad day
I can usually go to dance and it would cheer me up
or make me more happy so
it's like therapy I guess.
So if I didn't have it I don't know how I would be.
Whatever you say on social media is going to be seen
by somebody and it could hurt their feelings.
You know, you can't just say something that you think
is funny, but it might affect somebody else's feelings.
I'm a very sensitive person so I take everything to heart.
There's a bunch of people that are like me that
take it the same way.
- Can I just, we're doing a jump shot here for 30 more
seconds, do you mind if I just keep using the space?
I understand, but isn't that ledge over there okay?
You can't sit on that one?
- [Teen] I mean, I just like this one better.
- Are you kidding me?
Is this a joke or real?
Is he really that guy or no?
'Cause if he's really that guy I wanna have a talk with him.
- [Mom] No, he's not.
- He is, he actually is that guy.
Listen, I need you to understand something.
This girl has died almost several times, she's dancing
when she's heavy and nobody's ever thought she could
be a good dancer and she's done all this.
She has no money, I'm trying to get a shot of her
in Times Square.
- [Teen] That's good man.
So I just won't take the seat.
- Let's try it again.
That mother (beep).
- It was never really my goal to become a role model
but now that I am, I'm kind of glad that I am
'cause I'm helping other people face their issues
that I've had to face as well so.
I had one lady, she's an older woman and she messaged me
on Instagram and said she was a dancer when she was younger
but she quit because of what other people had told her
and she just started taking adult ballet classes again
because of me, so that was really good.
And made me happy, so.
Dancing more and dancing with people that are accepting
of me and nice to me has made me grow more.
If you love what you do you shouldn't let people
get in the way of that.
- I'm challenging Lizzy to a tap off.
- That was easy.
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- Let's do it together.
If you liked that video please give us a thumbs up
and make sure to subscribe.
Now you know what I did when I hit a million subscribers.
I did a photo shoot in a leotard and tutu.
Do you have a crazy idea for two million?
If so leave a comment below
and make sure you turn on notifications
'cause you're not gonna wanna miss this.
Go, don't hit me.
Okay, let's get coffee.