This Is the Male Dancer from Ariana Grande’s Grammy Performance

Photos of Ariana Grande's Grammys performance

And no, it isn’t the first time he’s been onstage with the star.

Mikelle Street

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.

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Mikelle Street

January 26 2020 5:55 PM EST

January 26 2020 6:06 PM EST

MikelleStreet

When Ben Platt came up to introduce Ariana Grande's medley performance at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, he was pretty clearly pumped. Of the things he wanted to assure those watching: Ariana Grande is a singer! The mic was on! And that's a fact that we can appreciate. But while we were no doubt impressed by Miss Grande's vocals, cycling through her songs "Imagine," "My Favorite Things," "7 Rings," and "Thank U, Next," we couldn't help but also notice her casting.

When the Sweetener crooner kicked off the performance, she did so in a full skirted ball gown, perfect for the ballad-like stylings she had on deck. But almost a minute into that, a few pink lingerie-clad dancers help her get into something a little ... more comfortable.

Of the dancers, one who is continually at her side is Darrion Gallegos. In a pink corset, silk short shorts, and heels, he is dressed no different than any of the other dancers. Neither is his choreography, and he's definitely hitting it with the best of them.

This isn't the first time Gallegos has danced for Miss Grande. In 2019 he went on the Sweetener World Tour with the star.

"Thank you from every bt of my heart," he wrote on Instagram in a message to Grande as well as some dancers and choreographers from the project. "You helped me see so much more within myself and become the man I needed when I was younger. Also thank you for allowing me to gender bend the fak out of this world nd[sic] contribute my part for the LQBTQIA+ community. You allowed me to be a part of something so huge and for that I am forever thankful."