Last week I attended the Savage x Fenty show in Brooklyn, New York and it was hands down the best thing I have seen in terms of both fashion and entertainment this year. The 30-minute show was a celebration of women and an empowering display of female strength. To top it off, though, this one show featured a more diverse range of bodies than there is at all of Paris Fashion Week combined.

I sat at the edge of my stadium seat, my phone locked away in an impenetrable security case, and felt my jaw drop to the floor as I witnessed a new dawn And whilst every member of Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty dance troupe was impeccable (seriously, I have never seen moves so sharp), there was one dancer that I couldn’t take my eyes off. 

Meet Amanda Lacount, the teenager (and professional hair whipper) who is shattering stereotypes and spreading body-positivity through her dancing and her hashtag #breakingthestereotype, which encourage everybody to move. 

After being told by dance professionals that she didn’t have the right body type, that her shape simply wasn’t acceptable to be a dancer, Lacount wasn’t dissuaded. Instead, determined to prove the small-mindedness of the dance community wrong, Lacount faced the problem head on and started by creating the hashtag: #breakingthestereotype.

The 18-year-old wanted to show that every ‘body’ was able to move, and to challenge outdated views that you have to look a certain way to be a dancer. “All my life I’ve had teachers, friends, peers body shame me and try to make me stop dancing,” she said. “I created Breaking the Stereotype to prove all those people and to show kids that you can do anything that you set your mind to and to not let other people tell you what you should do with your life.” 

If there is one thing to take away from this Savage x Fenty show, it is that every ‘body’ counts. Every ‘body’ is able to achieve whatever they want if they put their mind to it and Lacount is testament to that. You’ll find us practicing our hair whip from here on in. 

Images: Getty / Instagram