Beyoncé's refusal to shrink her blackness made her Coachella showing revolutionary
INDIO, Calif. - A quarter into Beyonce's triumphant, charged showing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival came a particularly poignant moment.
With the pop star floating high above the crowd via a hydraulic crane, Nina Simone's mournful version of "Lilac Wine" poured from speakers as two muscular dancers were intertwined in movement, a subtle nod to the fact that her April 14 Coachella debut came as Simone was being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, more than a half century after "Lilac Wine" was released.
After Simone's vocal faded, Beyonce reemerged onstage to lead the 100 dancers, singers and musicians backing her through a joyful "swag surf" - the title of a dance inspired by Fast Life Yungstaz's similarly named 2009 hit.
No doubt only a very specific constituency of the Coachella audience, as well as those watching at home, were aware of the
