Utica University to confer honorary degree on Akira Armstrong ’05

Utica Community
Utica Stories
Utica University to confer honorary degree on Akira Armstrong ’05

Akira Armstrong, in a white top and white blazer, stands outside on green grass, with her hand held up to her neck and smiles.

Undergraduate commencement ceremonies will be held on Friday, May 9 at 5 p.m. at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

During its 76th undergraduate Commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 9, Utica University will confer an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts on pioneering professional dancer Akira Armstrong ’05.

A dancer since childhood, Armstrong made her national debut more than a decade ago in Beyonce’s 2007 “Get Me Bodied” music video. The appearance led to more work, but the opportunities for plus-size dancers were limited. Even after years on the scene, she felt she still had to prove to casting agents and choreographers that full-figured women could be dancers—professional dancers—each time she auditioned.

So she created her own opportunity. In 2008, Armstrong founded Pretty BIG Movement with a small group of fellow professional dancers she’d met around New York City. The group hosted workshops and performed steadily, but they didn’t hit it big until 2015, when Pretty BIG competed on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. Though they didn’t take the title, they advanced to the final rounds, putting Pretty BIG Movement, and full-figured women in general, on a national stage.

Fast-forward to August 2019, when of-the-moment singer and rapper Lizzo tapped Armstrong to join her onstage at the MTV Video Music Awards. The joyous, powerful performance presented full-figured dancers to 1.93 million viewers nationwide, with the YouTube clip boasting nearly 7 million more views in the months that followed. It was a national coming-out for not just Lizzo, but for Armstrong and the empowering movement she’d created.

But it didn’t end there. Shortly after the MTV performance, Pretty BIG’s social media content drew the attention of Dove. Armstrong’s message of self-love and body positivity fit perfectly in line with Dove’s latest campaign focused on challenging beauty stereotypes. The brand produced a web mini-documentary about Armstrong’s journey to self-acceptance, helping launch Pretty BIG’s message to a new, larger audience.