Sameer Copper photo
Syncopated Ladies Live!
Shubert Theatre
247 College St.
March 15, 2025
Two-thirds of the way through Syncopated Ladies Live!, Emmy-nominated lead choreographer Chloe Arnold led the audience in a tap dancing lesson. She dictated heel/toe touches until they went fast enough to be mistaken for a drumroll.
My attempt sounded more like an engine starting. I looked around the audience, and an unspoken consensus passed between us: Damn, this is a lot harder than she makes it look!
Chloe, her sister Maud, Delaney Prescott, Gisele Silva, and Ki’leigh Williams make up the touring crew of the Syncopated Ladies, a tap-dance band based out of Los Angeles. The group got their big break in 2016, when Beyonce reposted their tap cover of “Formation” on her website and later flew the group out to London. From there, the Syncopated Ladies have amassed over 100 million views online, popped up on the Late Late Show with James Cordon, So You Think You Can Dance?, and, according to the “Celebrity Reposts” section of their website, have been shouted out by Ryan Reynolds, Janet Jackson, and Lupita N’yongo.
By the time the first opening number in the current show is over, it’s clear why they’ve gone viral. The Syncopated Ladies are on point — or tap. They effortlessly step all over on the stage, hitting each beat with practiced precision. Arnold’s dynamic choreography synthesizes tap with a variety of genres, including hip hop. Combined with the powerhouse vocals of Nicole Ortiz, there are some numbers that are truly captivating, fresh, and spectacular.
It is unfortunate that the production design doesn’t rise to the high standard set by the dance team. It consists of a plain platform for the dancers to tap safely on and a projector screen. At its most unobtrusive, the screen displays stock imagery that establishes mood or intensity. (For example, during Silva’s solo number, the screen displayed landscape shots of her home country, Brazil.) At its most distracting, the screen displays music videos from the Ladies’ Youtube channel, doubling the choreography being performed on stage. The effect is akin to those TikTok videos where Subway Surfers plays in tandem with AI reading a Reddit post. It’s distracting, and detracts from the talent of the dancers.
The show, which runs about 100 minutes, is not straight tap dancing. Its numbers are sandwiched between a variety of non-monologues from the dancers about how they joined the company and pre-filmed video segments. Maud Arnold’s charisma stands out as a storyteller, though all of the ensemble members display some level of vulnerability. The videos are hit or miss — one hit is the “Legacy” section, where Arnold discusses the Black roots of tap dancing through archival footage and narration. At other points, the videos read more as infomercials for the Chloe and Maud franchise, whether it’s their Tap Fest, after-school programs, or clothing line.
I say this not to diminish the impact and scale of their work, which appeared both impressive and far-reaching. However, in my opinion, the show is at its most exciting when it embraces live performance, such as in “We Are the Music” when the crew goes “a cappella,” using the natural rhythm of tap and clapping to create the soundtrack to the performance. Maybe it’s less flashy, but I’ll take that any day over a video screening.
Still, the crowd went wild for the Syncopated Ladies, and audience members of all ages got up on their feet to dance, sing, and cheer them on. So if you want to take the whole family to a show near you, know that you can always get a sample of the show here, on Chloe Arnold’s YouTube page.
Syncopated Ladies perform Beyonce's "Formation."