page_title: Jennifer Lopez
section_title: Dance and stage
hierarchical_section_title: Jennifer Lopez / Artistry / Dance and stage
caption_attribution_description: English: Jennifer Lopez performing during the 2014 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony.
context_page_description: Jennifer Lynn Lopez, also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American actress, singer, dancer, fashion designer, producer, and businesswoman. In 1991, Lopez began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on In Living Color, where she remained a regular until she decided to pursue an acting career in 1993. For her first leading role in the 1997 Selena biopic of the same name, Lopez became the first Latin actress to earn over US$1 million for a film. She went on to star in Anaconda and Out of Sight, later establishing herself as the highest-paid Latin actress in Hollywood.
  Lopez ventured into the music industry with her debut studio album On the 6, which helped propel the Latin pop movement in American music. With the simultaneous release of her second studio album J.Lo and her romantic comedy The Wedding Planner in 2001, Lopez became the first woman to have a number-one album and film in the same week. Her 2002 remix album, J to tha L–O! The Remixes, became the first in history to debut atop the US Billboard 200. Later that year, she released her third studio album This Is Me... Then, and starred in the US box office number-one Maid in Manhattan.
context_section_description: Considered one of dance's "greatest success stories", Refinery29 ranked Lopez at number two on "11 Of Pop's Most Iconic Dancers" in 2015. Lopez felt an emotional connection to dance since her youth, when she specialized in ballet, jazz and flamenco. Her career commenced on the variety television sketch comedy series In Living Color, where she was a part of an ethnically diverse dance group known as the Fly Girls. Since beginning her music career, Lopez has become known for her body-emphasizing music videos, which often include dance routines. CNN's Holly Thomas noted that "Lopez's years of professional dance experience gave her a captivating, commanding presence in her videos." Some of these videos have been the subject of controversy, including "Jenny from the Block", "Dance Again" and "Booty". Her provocatively choreographed music video for "If You Had My Love" allowed Lopez to become a dominant figure on MTV networks worldwide. Madeline Roth of MTV wrote: "Her diverse videography encompasses some of the most memorable visuals of the 21st century", with Rolling Stone writer Brittany Spanos observing that her "dancing skills and ability to toy with her own celebrity have made her videos an important part of the new millennium's pop canon."
  On stage, Lopez is recognized for her showmanship and sex appeal, and often includes costumes such as bodysuits as part of her performance. Author Priscilla Peña Ovalle stated in Dance and the Hollywood Latina: Race, Sex and Stardom (2011) that Lopez was one of the Latin stars who "used dance to gain agency as working performers with mainstream careers, yet many of their roles paradoxically racialized and sexualized their bodies". Troy Patterson of Entertainment Weekly also observed that she used her body for emphasis on stage, "She turned herself out as the fly girl hyperversion of postfeminist power, flaunting her control by toying with the threat of excess. In consequence, her star went supernova." Her signature movements include "clock-wise pivoting with salsa hip circles and sequential torso undulations". While being noted to lip sync in the early stages of career, Lopez's Dance Again World Tour was praised for showcasing live vocals and choreography synchronously. In a review of her Las Vegas residency All I Have, Los Angeles Times writer Nolan Feeney remarked that her dancing is "undoubtedly the centerpiece of the show".
  Lopez's provocative stage performances have also drawn scrutiny at times. In May 2013, her performance on the finale of the television series Britain's Got Talent was deemed inappropriate for family-friendly television, and drew viewer complaints to Ofcom. Following her controversial performance at the musical festival Mawazine in 2015, Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane called it "indecent" and "disgraceful", while an education group claimed that she "disturbed public order and tarnished women's honor and respect".
caption: Lopez performing during the 2014 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony in Brazil
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