Akira Armstrong is a dancer and the founder of Pretty BIG Movement, a dance company for plus-size dancers that she formed in 2008 in response to the bias they faced.

In 2007 she danced as a principal in two of Beyoncé’s music videos, “Green Light” and “Get Me Bodied.” She later worked as personal makeup artist to Salt-N-Pepa, touring with them in Dubai and Australia. In 2017 a video interview with Akira and Pretty BIG Movement by The Scene was seen by more than 21.5 million viewers, and the company has since appeared on Lip Sync Battle, at the 2019 MTV VMAs and on Netflix’s Dance 100.

Akira began dance, drama and vocal training at age 8 at Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center in the Bronx, studied at the Alvin Ailey school and earned a B.A. in public relations and education from Syracuse University. She has performed with the Jubilation Dance Company, the Bernice Johnson Dance Company and the Ladies of Hip Hop, and on the stage of the Apollo Theater.

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