THE GENESIS, EXECUTION AND LEGACY OF BEYCHELLA — NETFLIX RELEASES BEYONCE’S HOMECOMING (2019)
Coachella, thank you for allowing me to be the first black woman to headline Coachella.
– Beyoncé
If you’ve lived under a rock and do not yet have a Netflix subscription, now would be the time to re-think your life choices and get your free month trial. Beyoncé has just released Homecoming, an over 2-hour-long film documenting her performance at the 2018 Coachella Festival. Naturally, the timing is perfect — in the midst of this year’s edition Queen B reminds everyone that there had never been, nor is it likely that there ever will be another headliner of her caliber.
While Coachella, at its core, is a rather fun and joyful festival, Beyoncé managed to tweak this definition. Although she delivered a highly entertaining show, huge part of which was pure festivity, it came with a baggage. Going down the singer’s memory lane (especially when Destiny’s Child reunited on stage), we couldn’t help but dance to “Get Me Bodied” or “Drunk In Love”. We were dazzled by colors, sexy dance routines and we laughed at jokes — the act exceeded Coachella’s standards of merriment. Yet, all that glitter and glamor came with grind and depth. The set list contained anthems loaded with significance such as “Freedom” or “Formation”. In addition, if you analyze the construction of the show, you will start asking yourself “why the marching band?”, “is there any meaning behind the outfits?”. You see, there is much more to Beychella than meets the eye and Homecoming explains why.
I dream it, I work hard, I grind ’til I own it.
The documentary, written, directed and executive produced by Beyoncé, is a story of what it took to convert a vision into a body of work that has gone down in history. 8 months of rehearsals, unbelievably hard work, uncertainty and persistence led to a spectacular event putting Beyoncé’s mental and physical endurance to the test. As we know, she was first offered to headline Coachella two years ago. Since she got pregnant with twins, the project had to be postponed leaving her with under a year to get back in shape for April 2018. Homecoming reveals how after weighing 218 pounds and undergoing an emergency C-section Beyoncé had to grind and power through cut muscles to reforge her stamina. All that under immense pressure. After all, everybody awaited the return of the Queen in her usual shape so she pushed herself to the limits.
Beyoncé was back with a bang. Having planned her show with meticulous precision she stepped on stage in a Nefertiti attire embracing her heavy-is-the-head-that-wears-the-crown responsibility. From the initial idea born in her mind and janky beginnings (her words, not mine), through choreographies and costumes, to making a statement — she was the mastermind behind the tiniest details. Nothing was coincidental and everything had a higher purpose. The artist personally selected every one of the 200 dancers, decided on the shape and height of the pyramid prop while monitoring and managing the recording of content for the Homecoming documentary and live album. That was the additional pressure of the show, everything had to be executed in a way that would translate to a high quality film. And the result is just beautiful.
The roaring perfection of a show was also culturally one of the most important in Coachella’s history. Beyoncé, being the first ever black female headliner, naturally, executed her creative power in the most meaningful way — by integrating black culture into the festival’s tradition. By interweaving wise words from Nina Simone, Toni Morrison or Maya Angelou into her film and making college and university education the leitmotif of her stunning masterpiece she shed light on political, social and cultural issues. The marching band not only makes all the more sense now but the idea also broadened the spectrum of possibilities for diversifying songs’ incarnations, hence the live album with new arrangements of old songs. This excellent choice of musical canvas enabled Beyoncé to showcase some talent in her team as well. The whole crew gave 100% and Beyoncé knows that it takes a village. She made sure to put her dancers and musicians on the spot so we could admire their skills and learn their individual stories included in the film. Chapeau bas.
Lift every voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies, let us march on till victory is won.
It was of the utmost importance for the black community to invite us into their world and Beyoncé made that dream come true. Through struggle, challenges and hard work she changed history and set the bar higher for whoever comes next. After all, Coachella was renamed Beychella for a reason.
