Still Making You Feel Inadequate

The little girl in the Missy Elliott videos—the one who made every kid watching MTV feel quietly ashamed of their own body—is named Alyson Stoner. She was maybe ten years old, doing things in Work It and Lose Control that took adult choreographers years to pull off, doing them like she was warming up for something harder. I remember watching those videos and getting the particular feeling that some people are just built for this, and there’s no amount of practice that changes what you don’t have.

She put out a tribute video with her crew that makes it clear nothing has changed. Same precision, same full commitment, same slightly unsettling sense that she’s operating at a level most people never reach. Worth watching. Then sit with the mild, familiar despair of it—you will never move like that, it was always going to be fine, but still.