Carrie Ann Inaba Was One of the Original Fly Girls, but What Does That Mean?

If you know who Carrie Ann Inaba is today, it's probably because she's spent two decades as one of the judges on Dancing With the Stars. Carrie Ann has been with the show since the beginning, and she was invited to be a part of the panel because of her history in the world of dance.

One crucial piece of that history was her time spent as a Fly Girl on the sketch comedy show In Living Color. If you're too young to remember that show, though, you might naturally be wondering exactly what the Fly Girls were. Here's what we know.

During the Season 34 finale of Dancing With the Stars, Jordan Chiles mentioned that Carrie Ann was "one of the original Fly Girls," which is a reference to her time spent as a dancer on In Living Color. That sketch comedy show, which ran from 1990 to 1994, was created by Keenen Ivory Wayans and featured performers including Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx. The show's cast consisted mostly, though not entirely, of Black performers.

The Fly Girls were another element of the show that helped it stand out from other sketch shows. They were a group of dancers who would dance as a lead-in to commercial breaks or at the end of episodes. Carrie Ann was part of the original cast of dancers, alongside Cari French, Deidre Lang, Lisa Marie Todd, Barbara Lumpkin, and Michelle Whitney-Morrison. Rosie Perez served as the group's choreographer, and Jennifer Lopez was also a Fly Girl, joining the show in its third season.

When Jordan says that Carrie Ann was one of the original Fly Girls, then, what she's doing is reminding us all that Carrie Ann has been dancing professionally for decades at the highest level. There's a reason her expertise is so invaluable on the show, and it's that she has the training and talent required to judge other dancers.

Although she has been with the show for its entire run, Carrie Ann can sometimes be seen as controversial because she is often the most willing to criticize the contestants on the show. Of course, part of the goal of Dancing With the Stars is to help the stars who are learning how to dance improve.

Remembering Carrie Ann's own credentials is a good way to remind yourself that she has a long history in dance and that she knows what she's talking about. She might not be busting a move on the ballroom floor herself all that often, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have the expertise required to do this kind of judging.

No judge is going to get 100 percent of what they do correct, but those in the audience who think they might know better than Carrie Ann should probably think again. She's been doing this longer than some of us have even been alive.