New Lizzo Amazon Show Features One Of Fairfield's Own, Shining A Light On Body Positivity
FAIRFIELD (CBS13) -- A new show on Amazon follows 10 girls as they compete for a spot as one of Lizzo's backup dancers. The show shines a light on body confidence and self-love. One of the young women competing is one of our own, a Fairfield resident.
CBS13's Laura Haefeli spoke to Sac State graduate Isabel Jones about the newest and most exciting chapter in her life. Growing up, dancing was a dream for Isabel Jones.
As she got older, breaking into an industry she loved broke her heart.
"I've been to auditions and auditions and been told 'no' before I started," said Isabel.
She was often turned away, she says, because of her size.
"In a world where big girls are often looked down upon, having my identity put into a box was detrimental for how I viewed myself as a dancer," said Isabel.
Jones turned to teaching, earning her Master's at Sacramento State before joining the job market.
"I was working on my job resume," said Isabel. "I saw Lizzo posted she was looking for dancers to be on her new Amazon Prime reality show. I said 'OK, time to ditch the resume,' and I started my application."
Four months later, Isabel and nine other girls were in Beverly Hills dancing for the Grammy-winning artist on her new show.
"We were all big girls and we had been struggling for so long to break into the dance industry because we're not taken as seriously because of the size we are," Isabel said. "Lizzo is all about having a safe space for bigger women in the industry."
The Amazon show focused on dancing and self-love, too, with Lizzo as the example.
"Being made fun of a lot as a child definitely affected the way I saw myself," said Isabel. "[Lizzo] made sure to have a lot of workshops [and] made sure we had an idea of self-love. It helped us grow as individuals mentally and physically as dancers."
"You can only look in yourself and know you got it. Do what you got to do which is dancing and keep moving forward," Isabel said. "I will say I haven't opened my job resume since."
The Amazon Prime show is available to watch now. No spoilers if Isabel is chosen as Lizzo's background dancer, you'll just have to watch.
