An Australian dance school has received a cease and desist letter from Sydney lawyers representing Beyoncé, regarding a dance class dedicated to the pop superstar's music.
As ABC reports, 'Bey Dance' director Liz Cahalan said her "heart kind of stopped" when she was sent the email from the lawyers, given that the US singer is known for being very protective about her brand.
"It was never meant to be like, 'Oh that's a great business idea, I'm going to take Beyoncé's stuff and make some money off it'," Cahalan said.
"It was about the fact people were transformed when they let themselves move like Beyoncé… here's this iconic woman who is so beautiful and so feminine, but also so powerful, and they're not normally ideas we put next to each other."
The original notice reportedly instructed the dance company to remove any Beyoncé references from the school and classes in 14 days, including using the word "Bey" in the class name, playing her music in the classes and social media mentions.
"They said they could see what we were doing was out of complete admiration for Beyoncé's work, but it could be damaging to Beyoncé's brand, because people might think we were affiliated with Beyoncé," Cahalan said.
"I'd be chuffed if people genuinely thought we were, but we're clearly beginner dancers, in Australia, just wanting to show our admiration for this performer."
The school has since been renamed and Beyoncé's music has been removed from the classes completely, instead replaced with names like Madonna and Rihanna.
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