Countless dance troupes have set their routines to Beyonce songs over the years but only a select few can boast a co-sign from King Bey herself. The Syncopated Ladies entered rarefied air after Beyonce shared their tap dance routine to “Formation” on Facebook.
The video is half footage of the Syncopated Ladies routine and half footage of women from around the world tapping along to the somewhat controversial track. In an interview with The Huffington Post, the Washington D.C. troupe’s co-founders Chloe and Maud Arnold talked about why they felt the need to pay tribute to Beyoncé. Maud expressed what a positive influence she feels Bey to be.
“Beyonce is so inspiring as a black woman because she’s extremely talented but beyond that she’s a business woman, she’s kind, she’s amazing, she’s everything you want to be. She holds her sisters up, she inspires others, she loves being a black woman and she embraces it. And it’s really important for us to express that, too.”
They also shared their reasoning for starting the Syncopated Ladies in the first place. “We wanted to start a movement to show how powerful black women in tap dance are,” Maud said. The “Formation” vid isn’t their first tribute to Beyonce. Check out their excellent take on “End of Time” below.
