Simulated Student Essay. "C".

Education

13 minutes ago

What Do You Think of Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’ and Her Performance at the Super Bowl?

By KATHERINE SCHULTEN

Are you a Beyoncé fan? What did you think of her performance of her new song “Formation” — with its implicit commentary on police brutality, Hurricane Katrina and black financial power — at the Super Bowl halftime show?

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STUDENT ESSAY:

I watched the Superbowl halftime show, but I missed all the references to police brutality, black financial power, and Hurricane Katrina.  I couldn't really understand the lyrics, but I liked the dancing.  I did wonder though when, if ever, Beyonce will be able to perform in pants.  Her thighs are big, but then she is getting older and has a baby.  She does a lot of step-dancing routine, with her backup dancers, who also wear only tights and clothes from the waist up.  She and Bruno Mars did a lot of hip thrusting for their dancing, while the English man jumped around in his dancing style in rainbow-patched clothes and a band with rainbow-themed instruments.  He was trying to be energetic too, and the song's words and themes were secondary to the dancing and jumping.  The artistry had to be that way -- almost over the top;  ok, definitely over the top -- to radiate out to the cheaper seats in the stadium, in such a huge performance venue.

You couldn't hear the snippets of anybody's lyrics, but it was more about the dancing performance than the songs and lyrics.

So I hope I won't get graded down for missing all of the aspects of Beyonce's performance that you suggest in the prompt -- the implicit commentary that I dd not see myself -- but it ran through my mind that I do hope Beyonce, who is a married woman with a child and whose body is big and mature now, gets to put on pants someday while dancing, because then she will have the best chance of aging in her career if the artistry goes beyond choreographed dancing like she helped pioneer in Destiny's Child. 

I think Beyonce's body is like Serena Williams:  large, powerful thighs on display because of the athletic nature of both performances, but like Peyton Manning (who gets to wear pants) physically limited by age in performance.  What Comes Next?