JoJo Siwa

**Joelle Joanie** "**JoJo**" **Siwa** (born May 19, 2003) is an American dancer, singer, actress, and YouTube personality. She is known for appearing for two seasons on *Dance Moms* along with her mother, Jessalynn Siwa, and for her singles "Boomerang" and "Kid in a Candy Store". Siwa posts daily videos of her day-to-day life on her YouTube channels, "JoJo Siwa TV" and "It's JoJo Siwa". Her fans are called Siwanatorz.

## Early life and career

Joelle Joanie Siwa was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 2003 to Jessalynn Siwa (*née* Lombardi), a professional dance instructor from Iowa, and Dr. Tom Siwa, a chiropractor from Nebraska. She has one sibling, an older brother named Jayden Siwa who is also a vlogger.

Siwa was a top-5 finalist on the second season of the series *Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition* and the youngest contestant on season 2. She appeared on the show with her mother and was eliminated in week 9.

Siwa began auditioning for Abby Lee Miller's ALDC dance competition team in 2014 and was selected for the team in early 2015. At the same time, she began to appear on the Lifetime reality show *Dance Moms*, which follows the ALDC team.

In May 2016, Siwa released "Boomerang" for digital download and a previous single, "I Can Make U Dance". "Boomerang" addresses the subject of online bullying. Its video has been viewed more than 450 million times and received over 2.5 million likes. In 2018, Siwa was named the Breakout Artist of the Year by Vivid Seats.

In 2018, Siwa announced that she would be going on her first major concert tour in 2019, entitled D.R.E.A.M. The Tour. She was scheduled to visit a mixture of theaters, outdoor amphitheaters and stadiums, as well as indoor arenas in a total of 52 cities across the United States and Canada. Additionally, other performances would take place in the United Kingdom and Australia. The tour was scheduled to begin in Phoenix, Arizona on May 17. The first leg of the tour was scheduled to conclude on June 26 in Austin, Texas, before resuming for leg 2 on July 10 in Orlando, Florida. The final date of the second leg is scheduled to be on August 20 in Vancouver, Canada.

### Other ventures

Known to audiences for wearing large, colorful bows in her hair, Siwa released a line of bows in 2016: JoJo's Bows, to be sold at Claire's, a fashion-accessory company aimed at 6-to-12-year-old girls. Her bows found a strong following among primary-school pupils in the United Kingdom and were ultimately subject to bans as teachers discovered that students unable to afford the bows, which retail for approximately £8 to £12 each, were bullied by their peers. Other reasons these schools gave for the bans was they were a distraction, harmed students' concentration, and violated the schools' dress code policies. Due to the bows' price and popularity, some stores began selling similar, homemade bows. In 2017 Siwa, whose bows are heavily featured in her music videos and general wardrobe, said they are a "symbol of power, confidence, believing-ness."

Siwa subsequently partnered with the American department store J. C. Penney to release a line of accessories, bedroom decor, and a doll made in her likeness, and has released several books aimed at young children.

In June 2019, the FDA issued a warning about dangerous levels of asbestos in a JoJo Siwa-branded cosmetics kit, prompting Claire's to recall the product.

JoJo signed with Nickelodeon in 2017. She was in the film *Blurt!* with Jace Norman, *Lip Sync Battle Shorties* with Nick Cannon, and much more.

## Bibliography

* 2017: *JoJo's Guide to the Sweet Life: #PeaceOutHaterz*
* 2018: *Things I Love: A Fill-In Friendship Book*
* 2018: *JoJo Loves BowBow: A Day in the Life of the World?s Cutest Canine*
* 2018: *JoJo's Guide to Making Your Own Fun: #DoItYourself*
* 2018: *Take the Stage (JoJo and BowBow Book #1)*
* 2019: *Candy Kisses (JoJo and BowBow Book #2)*
* 2019: *The Posh Puppy Pageant (JoJo and BowBow Book #3)*

## Filmography

### Films

 2019 | *The Angry Birds Movie 2* | Jay and Kira

## Discography

### Extended plays

* Label: Viacom International
 *Celebrate* | * Released: April 12, 2019
* Label: Viacom International
* Format: Digital download, streaming

### Singles

 "Hold the Drama"
 "Every Girl's a Super Girl"