MiMi Scardulla and Tatiana Lofton’s dancing talents are undeniable. On stage at the Broadhurst Theatre, the pair are currently dancing up a storm in A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, where their high-energy execution of Steven Hoggett’s choreography regularly results in spontaneous applause from the audience. The production was the most awarded at this year’s Chita Rivera Awards, which honors theatrical dance and choreography. Plus, both Scardulla and Lofton have received attention across social media for their full-throttle performances.
Historically, Hoggett has been referred to as an “anti-dance choreographer” for his use of physical theatre movement: rather than relying on technique driven intricate footwork or strictly drilled unison from his performers, he devises the movement language of a piece in the rehearsal room, creating a unique style for each production that allows performers to move the way their body wants to move as a natural expression. As such, both Lofton and Scardulla have distinct movement tracks throughout the show, on top of the production's overall high-octane energy level. Scardulla’s impressive flexibility is shown off, while the strength in Lofton’s upper body is utilized in sharply specific port de bra.
In many ways, their success has been hard won. Both Scardulla and Lofton are plus-size dancers who have had to push against fatphobia and body shaming in order to be taken seriously in an industry that often prizes aesthetics over ability.
“I was the only big person in my dance studio, which is one of the most competitive in Louisiana,” Scardulla says, reflecting back on her adolescent start in competition dance. “Look, I was good, but I always knew that if I got put on the X, it was conditional. If I showed any sign of weakness, it was going to be taken away from me. I think that is one of the biggest things we don't talk about with plus-sized dancers—when I walk in the room, without a shadow of a doubt, I'm immediately seen as weak, because I ‘can't control’ my size.”
In order to offset that assumption, Scardulla has started entering audition rooms already warmed up so she can drop into a split immediately. It’s a handy trick to snap out of the prescribed box many automatically put plus-size dancers in. “My whole life has been an inner fight of, ‘Oh, you think I can't do this. Let me show you how good I am, and you're gonna eat your words.’”
Lofton has faced similar judgment since beginning to dance as a toddler. “I’m obviously plus size, as well as Black, so there's the intersectionality of it all. I grew up with mostly white people. There was never more than two Black people at my ballet school, and it usually was just me. The marginalization was a constant growing up.” Lofton’s mother taught her to grow a thick skin, teaching her to keep her pain behind closed doors in order to present an unruffled exterior. “Mom’d say, ‘When you get into that room, you be great, because nobody can take away your talent. People can say you're Black, people can say you're bigger, but they can’t say you can’t dance.’”
Both Scardulla and Lofton had become accustomed to being the “exception to the rule” as the only plus-size dancers in companies that adhered to traditional body aesthetics. A Beautiful Noise changed that. The friendship they’ve formed dancing together has been a lifeline while unpacking the microaggressions they’ve lived with for years, including “little digs, little comments, and little things you can't really fight.”
While this is Lofton’s Broadway debut, Scardulla debuted alongside Kristin Chenoweth in For The Girls in 2019. Scardulla credits Chenoweth with a mantra that has guided her through the process of unlearning shame that had been thrust upon her by the outside world. “You eat the fish, and you don't choke on a bone. Eat only what serves you. People are going to want to tell you a lot about what you should do, and what you shouldn't do. Take what serves you, and don't choke on the bones.”
Together, Scardulla and Lofton are working to help their peers unlearn fatphobia that had been drilled in subconsciously by the industry, and they're doing it with patience. “I have never felt more celebrated or loved or seen or heard than I am by this creative team [of A Beautiful Noise]. People aren't knowingly rude or mean,” Scardulla underlines. “It's just how society has taught everyone to think. How everyone's mother, and how everyone's mother's mother has taught us to judge the female body.” This collective process of unlearning has not been easy, but it has certainly been worthwhile.
The pair wear matching friendship necklaces emblazoned with the word BIG, and have worked closely with the A Beautiful Noise’s costuming team to celebrate their plus-size shape in their clothing, rather than attempting to hide or blend in with their slimmer cast mates.
Still, it has been an evolving process. When Scardulla rejected wearing bell bottoms (“That is NOT the way the Lord made my beautiful curves.”), the creative team defaulted to putting her in a mini dress in every scene. Both Scardulla and Lofton are in similar dresses for the majority of the show, while other femme-presenting ensemble members change from scene to scene, sporting crop top and denim ensembles, vintage-style jumpsuits, and more. However, the designs worn by Lofton and Scardulla have continued to evolve since the show opened in 2022, as they have voiced their concerns.
As Lofton puts it, “it's very old-school thinking versus new-school thinking. Our costume coordinator is seeing us and listening to us, and she sees where we are coming from. It’s been really special to work with someone that wants to get it. People aren't knowingly being rude, it's just how society, and how the fashion industry, has taught everyone to think. We’re all learning.”
When the cast performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, both Lofton and Scardulla were spotlighted by the camera, broadcasting their excellence across the country. “Macy’s was insane,” Lofton laughs. “I was freezing. I couldn't find my feet. But to me, Joe Schmo watches the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I watched for years and years and years, and I never saw anyone that looked like me.”
Scardulla jumps in in agreement. "And if you saw someone that looked at us, they would sing and then they would magically disappear from the camera. I never saw a woman that was big like me dance. To see the cameras zoom on me and on Tati, and to think about little children all over the country being like, ‘she looks like me!’... I'll never forget the response on social media. Those moments make the microaggressions in auditions worthwhile. I have to keep going for those moments.”
