--- description: Little girl from Raleigh North Carolina performs sassy dance routine to Respect by Aretha Franklin title: Girl Dances to Aretha Franklin for Recital: Video image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch This Little Girl's Sassy Dance Routine to Aretha Franklin's 'Respect'  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jun 9, 2015 2:21 PM CUT  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jun 9, 2015 2:21 PM CUT A six-year-old tiny dancer from Raleigh, North Carolina, is going viral for her especially animated routine to Aretha Franklin’s 1967 hit “Respect” at a recital Saturday night. Johanna’s performance has racked up nearly 23 million views since mom Elissa M. Colón [uploaded a video of it to Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/elissa.colon/videos/10153350768798446/ "undefined") on June 7\. [Colón told TODAY.com](http://www.today.com/parents/little-girl-dances-aretha-franklins-respect-recital-t25201 "undefined") that her daughter didn’t know who the Queen of Soul was, but when she heard the song, she said, “Ooh, she’s got a lot of sass, mommy.” ### See Barbie Suited up in 3D Printed Armor  The three Barbie outfits in Rodda's "Faire Play Battle Set". Jim Rodda  The helmet of the gold suit of armor in the "Faire Play" battle set. A rose garden pattern is repeated throughout the armor. Jim Rodda  Barbie stands in her silver suit of armor, complete with shield and sword. Jim Rodda  Barbie holds a bow and arrow in her medieval robe. Jim Rodda  3D printed quiver with bow and arrow. Jim Rodda ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3914097/aretha-franklin-respect-girl-dance-recital/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3914097/aretha-franklin-respect-girl-dance-recital/"},"headline":"Watch This Little Girl's Sassy Dance Routine to Aretha Franklin's 'Respect'","datePublished":"2015-06-09T14:21:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:47:26.858Z","description":"So much sass","url":"https://time.com/3914097/aretha-franklin-respect-girl-dance-recital/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3914097/aretha-franklin-respect-girl-dance-recital/","name":"Watch This Little Girl's Sassy Dance Routine to Aretha Franklin's 'Respect'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Misty Copeland On Changing the Face of Ballet","description":"\"I never thought I could make a career out of something I enjoyed doing something I was passionate about, something that gave me a voice,\" says Copeland, who is one of the first African Americans to be a soloist with American Ballet Theatre.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/hwcdTt33/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-04-16T01:56:48.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hwcdTt33.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3914097/aretha-franklin-respect-girl-dance-recital/","duration":"PT2M34S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3914097/aretha-franklin-respect-girl-dance-recital/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```