Two-Year Old Girl Has “Dance Party” with Michelle Obama after Photo Goes Viral

By Erica Copeland

A two-year old toddler made headlines last month when a photograph of her gazing transfixed at the portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama in Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery went viral.

Days later, Michelle Obama would invite the young tot, Parker Curry, and her mother Jessica Curry to her office in Washington D.C. to meet.

What was originally supposed to be a simple cordial meeting turned into a dance party where both Mrs. Obama and Parker showed off their dance moves.

That video too went viral.

44-year old artist Amy Sherald painted the six-by-five-foot portrait that transfixed Parker Curry. On February 12th, Sherald revealed her now famous portraiture. Michelle Obama commissioned the relatively obscure Baltimore native to create the painting that has introduced a new artistic style among presidential portraits in a grayscale veil that memorializes the former First Lady.

For both women, the portrait offers both a chance for reflection and celebration in triumph over the struggles they have overcome.

For Obama, this unveiling marked a happy end to her era as the first African-American First Lady of the United States. The painting celebrates her strength, grace, intelligence, and beauty and outshines the critical remarks she endured by media detractors during her tenure as First Lady.

For Sherard, the journey to national prominence meant overcoming serious health conditions that required a heart transplant, deaths in the family, and the economic woes of a struggling artist.

Their persistence has paid off. They are now role models for young girls like Parker Curry who may not even fully grasp the significance of this moment, but who still feel proud to see women of color achieving excellence.

Parker’s mother – Jessica – who deserves praise for instilling in her daughter an appreciation for the art and culture found in museums said during an interview on March 6th with CNN’s Don Lemon that “She knows Michelle is married, but she doesn’t really know that it’s to Barack. And she doesn’t know that Barack is our former president.”

But Parker knows that the Mrs. Obama can throw down on the dance floor. According to her mom, she actually discovered Michelle when she saw her dancing on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Now, Parker believes that Michelle Obama is queen. And she wants to grow up to be just like Mrs. Obama.

When Don Lemon asked Parker, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” she answered, “I want to be a queen.”

Parker’s awe-struck reaction to the former First Lady is reminiscent of Jacob Philadelphia, 6, who became famous in the iconic 2009 photo where he touched the hair of a bending former President Barack Obama.

Parker joins a list of young children that have captured the hearts of public through their candid reactions of awe and admiration for some of our country’s most influential people.

 

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