Jenna Dewan's Daughter Is Following In Her Parents' 'Step Up' Footsteps In The Cutest Way

Back in April, heartbreak shook Step Up fans across the internet when news broke that Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum — the film's now-iconic stars, who for a long time doubled as a real-life couple — had split up. Twitter buzzed with upset, giving rise to a slew of comments from fans who felt the breakup had ruined the movie's magic altogether. But apparently Jenna Dewan's daughter is following in her parents' footsteps, as far as professional dance aspirations are concerned.

And while 5-year-old Everly might not be ready to carry on the Step Up legacy just yet, per some recent comments from her mom, it sounds like the spirited youngster already has her eye on the prize. And in a move that feels especially inspired not only by her parents' talents, but also by the tenets of Step Up itself, Everly is doing it her own way.

During Tuesday night's episode of The Tonight Show, Dewan sat down with Jimmy Fallon to talk dance moves — especially those that manage to surprise, impress, or otherwise leave a lasting mark on audiences who bear witness to them. Not a total curveball as far as topics of conversation are concerned, since Dewan has not only seen an enduring career as a professional dancer herself, but is also currently host of NBC's reality competition series, World of Dance. Still, this particular brand of attention-grabbing dance chops is probably a little different from the ones Dewan is generally used to critiquing on the show.

"Are you teaching your daughter how to dance?" Fallon asked Dewan toward the start of the video. "So Everly... She wants to be a professional ballerina," Dewan told him, ushering in a duly appropriate chorus of awws from the crowd. But Dewan warned the audience playfully, "There's a 'but.'" What's that? "She goes to ballet class, but she doesn't want to follow the teacher at all," Dewan revealed, adding that while the other kids in Everly's class watch the teacher with vigilance, "[Everly is], like, ready for Coachella."

Continuing, Dewan set the scene. "She's off in the corner, and she's like" — she stopped for a moment, waving her arms nonsensically above her head in a series of movements that might pair best with some kind of liberating, psychedelic track — "feelin' herself." At this point, Fallon was cracking up, conceivably echoing the probable responses of most people who've seen the Tonight Show segment. Makes sense, given that comedically rich stories about 5-year-old kids who appreciate a good free-styling sesh don't roll around everyday.

Suffice to say, it seems Dewan is about as charmed by her daughter's sweet antics as Fallon was during Tuesday night's show. "She's free-spirited," Dewan said matter-of-factly, though her smile suggested there's at least a hint of motherly pride behind her silly remarks. Just in case there were any lingering doubts as to Everly's ability to charm the pants off pretty much everyone, dance background or not, Fallon rolled a video clip from ballet class that had his audience in a fit of hysterics. After watching the video, it's easy to understand why. Everly might not have clocked six years on this earth yet, but it seems like she's more in touch with her own vibe than some people decades her senior.

As both a mother and a superstar professional dancer, it seems Dewan is the perfect candidate to not only champion her daughter's ballerina aspirations, but also equip her with constructive advice about the art form she's been so closely acquainted with in her own life. (Well, as constructive as is necessary when encouraging a 5-year-old kid to pursue their dreams.) In chronicling her daughter's delightfully unique approach to ballet class, Dewan shared one of those dance-related wisdom tidbits with Fallon. "I'm like, 'Well, what about free-styling?'" Dewan said, recounting some prior conversation with her daughter, ostensibly addressing Everly's decidedly unorthodox take on ballet.

But, as Dewan went on to say, Everly wasn't interested. "She's like, 'No, no. Professional ballerina,'" she told Fallon, adding, "But she literally doesn't follow the class, like, at all."

As far as artistic expression goes, that's honestly probably a good thing. If Everly is anything like her parents, it's probably safe to say the world could be seeing a lot more personalized spunk where this bout came from.