It's not unusual to see 5-year-old Akira Gordon dancing and prancing around, but it was a shock to see the little girl perform on live TV and then become a viral hit on the Internet, family members said Friday.
"I saw it on the Internet and I was quite surprised when I saw it at 7 o'clock on Wednesday morning. It was shared through Facebook by her father's friend," explained the girl's mother, Crystal Seals.
It was during a June afternoon newscast when the little girl in the striped dress danced into a live report by NBC Chicago political reporter Mary Ann Ahern. The quick scene was noticed by a user of the social video service Vine and really took off when Gawker turned the clip into an animated GIF with a Wednesday post titled "The Little Girl Dancing on the News Is the Only Thing Keeping Me Alive."
While others came forward claiming their daughter was the dancing girl, Akira's parents have no doubt she's the adorable scene-stealer, even presenting the dress she wore in the June report during Friday's interview.
"Akira's a wonderful kid," said grandmother Carolyn Allen. "She's ... always dancing. She was with me today and she's been dancing the whole time. She's always dancing and moving and shaking her arms and moving."
The girl with the big smile and smooth moves got the dancing bug at church, family members said.
"It's my favorite thing to do," Akira said in her little voice. "It's the best thing to do."
She'll enter kindergarten this fall at Beasley Elementary School and said she hopes to one day be a dancer.
