We NEED to talk about the Renaissance 🪩🦄!

Beyonce is back like never before, and I'm here for it 🤩!

Last summer (2022), Beyonce enriched our lives with her 7th studio album titled ‘Renaissance’. The album, heavily inspired by ballroom and house culture, shattered streaming records in true Beyonce fashion. But while songs like ‘Break My Soul’ and ‘Cuff It’ conquered the charts of 2022, the visuals stayed out.

Dating back to the surprise release of ‘BEYONCE’, music often only represents one part of a Beyonce album. She is known for her visuals. Her music and albums tell a story that she seamlessly integrates with music videos and an often documentary-style visual representation of her album.

Months went by after the release of the album and still no visuals… She left fans waiting until she surprisingly announced the Renaissance Tour earlier in 2023.

So last night, I finally got to see the visuals… live!

It’s been almost 7 years ago since I last saw Beyonce live during her Formation tour. Having been to 2 of her tours, I know very well what to expect from a Beyonce concert. But boy… she completely exceeded anything I was expecting. To be honest, I am still a bit starstruck writing this.

Here’s my Renaissance Tour review 🌈

Opening

Deciding to be your own opening act and starting your concert with 5 ballads is only something Beyonce could pull off.

Even though Beyonce loves to be Queen Bey, she is still one of the most humble artists out there. Especially when it comes to her fans. Upon entering the stage, she immediately thanked her fans (me included) for their loyalty and support over the years because without them she wouldn't be doing what she does and loves.

Performing Dangerously in Love, Flaws and All, 1+1, I Care, and a stunning rendition of ‘River Deep Mountain High’ by the late Tina Turner, Beyonce’s voice, beauty, and perfection immediately set the bar. We were in for a ride.

My fave ballad was ‘1+1’.

Renaissance

Renaissance is a queer album and an ode to the ballroom culture. Luckily, the tour reflected exactly that. It is great to see Beyonce fully embrace all of her queer fans and include a more diverse dance ensemble. To me, that is what this Renaissance is about; diversity, inclusion, and just slaying all day.

The fact that she threw a full-on ballroom dance break before her last song ‘Summer Renaissance’ means that we are no longer underground like in the 80s. As a queer community, we have come a long way. I can only commend Bey for adopting our culture, giving us a world stage, and fighting for our beliefs.

But of course, she was not the first artist to do this. Yes, Madonna!

Luckily Beyonce wouldn’t be Beyonce if she wouldn’t give credit when due. For the show, she remixed her ‘Break My Soul’ with Madonna’s Vogue, screamed out “Queen Mother Madonna” and even nailed some voguing choreography. It felt like watching a crossover episode of two of my favorite series. I don’t think I have ever screamed that loud.

My favorite Renaissance song is ‘Heated’ but ‘Break My Soul’ truly got the whole stadium dancing!

Opulence

From the heavy techno beats to the futuristic AI-style visuals of the interludes, the Renaissance Tour was clearly set in another futuristic Bey-verse. Beyonce is giving Marvel a run for it 🤪.

To my surprise, she wore all-new outfits at the show that I was attending (Amsterdam Night 2). In honor of Juneteenth, she was only rocking looks from black designers. Pictured above is a look from Pierre Balmain. I literally have a hard time taking in her beauty.

The Renaissance Tour = a Ball 🪩

In true ballroom culture, looks and opulence are everything. So even though Bey had A LOT of costume changes, she got the essence of a ball exactly right.

My personal faves were the new Queen Bey outfit she wore for ‘America Has a Problem’ & ‘Pure/Honey’ and her pink dress for ‘Cuff It’ & ‘Break My Sould’.

Choreography

As a professional dancer, I always look very closely at choreography and staging. I already mentioned earlier that I loved seeing such a diverse dance ensemble. And this was only more highlighted during the actual ballroom dance break.

While the entire show was one big ball, in my opinion, it was this particular dance break where the dancers walked their own categories and showed their unique personalities and skills that truly turned the stadium filled with 50.000 people into an actual vogue ball. I lived to see it!

In general, I thought that both her new and revamped choreographies were very refreshing in their styles. It was still very Beyonce-like, but I could see that she had an entirely different cast and choreographer for this tour than her previous ones. There was just a very different energy (insert → Renaissance Energy) on stage, and it was more playful.

I mean yes, Bey still struts down the runway like Tyra Banks, but she was a lot more playful and goofy. It’s a lot of fun to watch her like that because it reminds you that she is still human after all.

My fave choreography moments were ‘I’m That Girl’, ‘Formation’, ‘Diva’, ‘Alien Superstar’, and ‘Run The World’.

With the Renaissance Tour, Beyonce has proven once again that she is one of the greatest artists of our lifetime. Like, we are so blessed to live in the same time as her.

To me, this tour was extra special because of the queer empowerment. And it comes at the right time. There is so much more hate against the queer community than a couple of years ago and we need artists like Beyonce on our side.

What I admire about her is that she truly dove deep into the ballroom culture, adopts its essence, and uses its elements carefully and respectfully to complement her own image. I cannot wait to see what is next.

Thank you Queen Bey for starting the Renaissance 🪩!

-Wouter