All-female tap dance company Syncopated Ladies taps its way to fame and the Rialto

It was the flap-ball-change heard around the world of tap. When Chloé Arnold’s Syncopated Ladies got into formation — à la Beyoncé’s 2016 hit single of the same name — they were not only featured on Queen Bey’s home page but they stamped out the notion that tap dance was anywhere close to a dying art form.

Arnold is the founder, co-executive producer and Emmy-nominated choreographer of the Syncopated Ladies. On Thursday, March 3, for one night only, Syncopated Ladies: Live! will take the stage at the Rialto Center for the Arts. (Vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals are encouraged to wear masks.)

The company is based in Los Angeles, but some of its dancers are no stranger to Atlanta. In 2018, company dancers Anissa Lee and Pamela Yasutake spent a week with local art-maker Otis Sallid filming One Life. In 2019, Syncopated Ladies also toured through Atlanta with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation — a sponsor for this performance.

Nearly a decade earlier, in 1999, Arnold’s first major performance as a professional dancer was in Atlanta — in the Debbie Allen-directed musical, Soul Possessed. A student at Columbia University at the time, Arnold danced alongside songstress Patti LaBelle to steps choreographed by Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk alum Jason Samuels Smith. Allen discovered Arnold at a young age in Washington, D.C., and under Allen’s continued mentorship she formed the Syncopated Ladies in 2003.

“It’s always rewarding to come full circle,” says Arnold. “The culture in Atlanta is so rich, and the stories we’re going to tell will resonate with audiences. There’s never been a show that’s told the stories of tap-dancing women, not just as entertainers, but as humans.”

Visually, Arnold’s “docu-dance” approach to the show’s choreography blends film, documentary, theater and movement. The performance weaves together each dancer’s individual stories of triumph and adversity via monologues spoken aloud and accompanied by movement.

Arnold works alongside her sister, Maud, who serves as co-executive producer, writer and dancer for the viral female tap dance band that appeared on Season 11 of So You Think You Can Dance. The group has earned over 100 million online views and received recognition and support from superstars like Beyoncé, Whoopi Goldberg, Janet Jackson, Ciara and Lupita Nyong’o.

Their meteoric rise transformed the tap scene, whose narrative has been dominated by White, male performers despite the dance form’s diasporic roots. Yasutake credits her dynamic Black, female tap instructors for gifting her the confidence to find both power and joy in her improvisational footwork.

“Dancing has always been a part of our lives culturally if you think about various African cultures and where we come from,” says Yasutake. “Tap dance in particular is an art form that was created by enslaved Africans. It’s an art form of protest, and I think for all of us we carry that on and use our art as activism.”

Much like Atlanta’s newest all-female tap company, The Tap Rebels, Syncopated Ladies’ mission builds upon and expands the legacy of tap dance, from the Whitman Sisters, who shook up the Black vaudeville circuit with leader Alice Whitman billed as “Queen of Taps,” to legends like Edith “Baby Edwards” Hunt, Libby Spencer and Jeni Le Gon. Arnold honors these women’s contributions while also speaking to the progress that her group has made in terms of controlling their own narratives.

The Syncopated Ladies tap on a platform that upholds artistic, emotional, intellectual and financial empowerment, which Arnold calls “empowerment 360.”

“The reality is that there are lots of fields where Black, female artists are trying to push through and have their voice heard, and in our particular case we’ve had to build everything,” says Arnold. “What we have with Syncopated Ladies is a canon of work that we own and that tells our story from our voice. We are owning our narrative and I think that’s so vital because that’s how we’re going to ensure that our work does not get erased.”

Lee first saw Arnold perform in a downtown Los Angeles theater. Arnold was the first female tap dancer she had ever seen onstage. Lee was mesmerized by Arnold’s command of the space — all power with no traces of “dainty” dancing. Soon afterwards, she started taking classes from Arnold at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. Lee developed an experimental, wild style all her own before joining the Syncopated Ladies lineup.

“We are all so different, and I think that’s what makes us beautiful and work as a group,” says Lee. “We embrace each other’s differences and I would hope for [audiences] to carry that into their own lives.”

Adds Yasutake, who takes pride in the strong sense of sisterhood that the group promotes: “I think Anissa is one of the foremost improvisational artists of our generation. Years from now, people will be studying footage of Anissa, trying to break down solos that she’s performed onstage. That’s something we all hope for, that we leave behind a legacy and something people can look to for guidance.”

A Q&A talkback after the show will allow audience members to connect with the dancers, which Arnold says supports her ultimate mission to inspire the next generation.

“So often, theater is exclusionary for many reasons ranging from access to interest,” says Arnold. “We attract audiences that want to tap into their greatness. I’d like for our legacy not to just reach people that tap dance, but reach people all around the globe that feel the message in our movement and in our sound.”

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Amanda Sieradzki (MFA) is an arts journalist, dance educator and artistic director of dance company Poetica. She teaches on faculty at the University of Tampa and the University of South Florida, and writes for Creative Pinellas’ Arts Coast Journal, the Tallahassee Council on Culture & Arts, DIYdancer Magazine and ArtsATL.