Atlanta Renegade dance creator Jalaiah Harmon appears on ‘Ellen’
Originally posted Thursday, February 20, 2020 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
It’s nice to see the power of the print press even in 2020.
A feature Feb. 13 about Fayetteville teen Jalaiah Harmon and her invention of a viral dance craze the Renegade in the New York Times has led to a rash of additional press and an appearance today on "Ellen," seen locally on 11Alive at 4 p.m.
Stephen "tWitch" Boss, Ellen DeGeneres' sidekick on her NBC show "Ellen's Game of Games" joined 14-year-old Jalaiah on the dance floor to K Camp's "Lottery" but she did most of it herself.
“I was happy when I saw my dance all over,” she told the Times. “But I wanted credit for it.”
And now that’s happening. She started the dance on an app called Fuminate, followed by Instagram. A user brought it last fall to 18-month-old TikTok and it became a viral hit.
“It only took five or ten minutes” to put it together, she told Ellen.
Now Lizzo, Michelle Obama and Kim Kardashian are giving her props. Ellen gave Jalaiah a jacket which read "The Original Renegade Dancer." In the pockets? $5,000!
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
