Some of Taylor Swift's critics have been put in their place after taking aim at her dance skills.
A clip of Swift dancing during her recent record-breaking Eras world tour went viral and showed her shaking her shag, moving her hips in circles while singing.
It was shared to the @amuse X account, formerly Twitter, and received 16.8 million views at the time of writing.
"Never realized how bad of a dancer Taylor Swift was..." they captioned the post.
But a number of her fans, including rapper Azealia Banks, defended Swift and pointed out that she has faced criticism over her dancing skills for years.
Banks reposted a person on X who had shared a video of Swift talking about dancing and explained that she addressed the criticism in her "Shake It Off" music video by attempting to try different dance styles.
"Wait is this why this is my favorite t-swift song??? I can't dance either sis I love this songgg," Banks posted on Monday.
Another person, @reputay_tyler13, also posted on X in defense of the singer.
"Taylor made a whole music video of her dancing awkwardly and people still drag about it 10 years later is so hilarious," they wrote.
Newsweek contacted Swift's representatives by email for comment.
Swift has often addressed her dancing and told Time magazine in 2023: "Learning choreography is not my strong suit."
One dance critic analyzed Swift's dancing for the New York Times and said the choreography for her Eras tour "knows how to use her simple moves to her advantage."
"As dance, the show is simple and unoriginal—yet exceptionally effective," wrote Brian Seibert in 2023.
"Swift is a pop superstar who dances but is not known for her dancing. Even many of her admirers will admit that in this respect she's no Beyoncé, no Britney Spears—that as hard as she tries, she's a little stiff and awkward. Be that as it may, body language is crucial to how the three-hour-plus performance works," he added.
Seibert added that even though Swift's dancing may be imprecise, it didn't matter "because her fans love her anyway. And it does, because this imperfect dancing is, I think, part of her nonthreatening Everywoman image. It makes her easier to identify with."
The singer finished her last show of the Eras concert in December after 149 shows across five continents. It has become the highest-grossing tour of all time and showcased Swift's 20-year career.
The three-and-a-half-hour-long concert was split into different eras of her music.
English (US) ·