Tap Into Sisterhood: Empowering Girls through Dance 

“Today’s message is you won’t break my soul and we’re telling everybody – you can feel that and the joy and the love experiencing this space. There’s nothing like sisterhood, nothing like teamwork that’s making the dream work,” Chloe Arnold shared.   

The Fresh Air Fund in partnership with the Chloe and Maud Foundation and the Steward Family Foundation,  created a Tap into Sisterhood event to celebrate community, confidence and bravery through dance as part of our Summer Girls Empowerment series.  

Sisters Chloé and Maud Arnold are international Tap Stars and filmmakers with a dream of providing uplifting, inspiring, and joyful educational programming for young people around the globe in the fields of Dance and Entrepreneurship. The Chloé and Maud Foundation was founded to ensure that black and brown children have equal opportunity, encouragement, and access in these fields.

The Girls Empowerment Series is a 4-week summer virtual mentoring group for 13- to 17-year-old girls which features guest speakers who share their personal and professional journeys.  

Tap Into Sisterhood brought the Girls Empowerment teens together in-person for a celebration of dance and friendship. It was exciting for the young women to simply meet in-person, connect and have fun! They were able to express themselves through dance and create a safe space for everyone to talk about their own experiences and goals. 

“The best part of all of the events and workshops was seeing the girls come together and make new friends. I am happy that these young women were able to meet over zoom, as well as enjoy activities in person and build meaningful relationships,” Girls Empowerment mentor, Emikhe, shared. 

In the beginning, a few of the girls found dancing intimidating but as the workshop progressed, everyone felt encouraged to participate. Soon, everyone was having a great time and expressing themselves through dance.  

“I learned something about myself – most times when I get nervous or feel like I can’t do things it’s because I’m scared of being judged. I learned that no one’s opinion about me should matter, only mine. My favorite part was spending time with my friends learning how to dance. Even though I’m not the best at dancing, this event made me feel happy because I was with my friends, and I felt like the environment was really positive,” Melody shared.  

Together, the girls had a joyful new experience. They shared their dreams and goals, what they love about themselves, and what they are grateful for.