Beyoncé's "Renaissance" made me want to dance more
Could have been shorter, but it inspired.
I am a frequent writer of all things Beyoncé.
I covered her Formation tour kick-off for Pitchfork when I was newly pregnant. That review is quoted in the Wikipedia for her song “Freedom.” I also wrote about Beyoncé’s 2018 Coachella performances for W, and I once took a photo of Jay-Z and Bey in Wynwood that made the rounds on the web.
I bought myself an opening-night ticket to see Renaissance, her new tour documentary, but then I showed up to the wrong theater. I finally saw the THREE HOUR LONG movie the next afternoon.
For some context, the Renaissance tour is Afrofuturism themed, and the house-inspired album won the 2023 Grammy for best electronic album. It’s all straight bangers, and, at 42 years old, Beyoncé is still in fantastic form. The movie was not groundbreaking, but it was hella inspiring in an unexpected way.
Her work ethic and talent are unmatched. So you'd think watching her would make me want to work harder to be more successful and skilled, but instead, I felt like the energy and rhythms of Renaissance just made me want to have more fun. I was like, damn, I am vraiment inspired to sing more and dance more in my everyday life.
I used to go out dancing all of the time, well into my 30s. Then, as a family, we did plenty of toddler dance parties, and ramped them up during Covid. But now that my son is in school, when I put on music during the day and dance alone, I feel almost guilty. Like: I should I be allowed to feel this kind of joy midday? Should I be living a life that’s more serious? Watching this movie, I thought: What is wrong with my programming? I gotta let go of some guilt and weird ideas about adulthood. I’m ready to enjoy my life more through dance and play, even if it’s alone at noon. I plan to start tomorrow. (HMU for dance parties!)
That desire for joy is actually what Bey was going for when she made the film and album. In a voiceover at the end, she says it’s all about “fun and escapism,” and liberation. She wants to get you in the mood to fuck (cuff?) something up.
That liberation vibe obviously borrowed heavily from the Black and Latino gay ballroom and Detroit house scenes. The film does a good job of honoring the ballroom and LGBTQ+ influences. This is clearly Bey’s Vogue era, but with the righteous intent of bringing Black contributions to the fore. One critique I had was that the history of house music was glossed over, but I mean, I could not have handled another 20 minutes of this movie.
I mentioned Beyoncé’s age because, as it turns out, being in her 40s is a key part of her own “Renaissance.” In the film, she says her younger years were about overcoming obstacles. Now she’s feeling a new kind of freedom. She’s shed her instinct to people-please. “I have nothing to prove to anyone at this point,” she says.
Beyoncé is starting to, in many ways, hand the torch to her eldest. I really enjoyed the scenes in which they explore 11-year-old Blue Ivy joining her mom’s tour as a dancer. She’s one cool kid with very proud parents who is ready to meet the moment.
It’s also pretty clear before they discuss Bey’s semi-recent knee surgery that she isn’t dancing all over the stage anymore. Nor should she! No one our age needs to tempt fate like that night after night. It’s not like she isn’t bringing the heat with her moves, she’s just playing it smart.
I will say, one thing Beyoncé lacks (or keeps well-hidden) is a sense of humor. On stage, she’s a force, but IRL, there’s not a lot of personality there. I think that is partly why she’s remained on top so long — being reserved staves away controversy.
Like look at Lizzo who has so much charisma and charm and owns the social medias — she got into hot water pretty early on in her stardom. (I must side note: Renaissance borrows sonically so heavily from Lizzo that Bey’s “Heated” even used the same controversial word “spazz” as Lizzo’s “Grrrls.”) But that lack of oomph and desire for control and perfectionism also makes for a borderline snoozy flick.
I read somewhere that the film was like a love letter to her fans. Putting out a movie like this or like Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour lets more people experience the tour. However, even as a music nerd who is obsessed with live shows, I would much rather see this kind of thing on the small screen so that I can snack, dance, and cuff something up in the privacy of my living room.
