FKA Twigs Celebrates West Coast Ballroom, Nearly Cries

FKA Twigs defines Eusexua, the name of her third album and it’s sister album, Eusexua Afterglow, as “the sensation of being so euphoric that you transcend human form.” On Sunday night, she brought this feeling to life on Coachella’s Mojave stage.

Twigs pushed herself to the brink during the 75-minute set, throwing her body into her signature pole dances, but also spinning on top of another dancer during “Love Crimes,” wielding a sword, and performing as though the music and emotion were trying to claw out of her body. Towards the end of the set, as she dove into an intense performance of “Cellophane,” the feelings broke through. Twigs was practically in tears during the song as she looked across the crowd, which stood completely captivated by her.

It was a particularly stunning and poignant moment of a performance that also featured a celebratory ode to West Coast ballroom culture. Honey Balenciaga and Makayla Basquiat appeared during a dance interlude introduced by actor and ballroom performer Dashaun Wesley, who declared, “Lets get ready to vogue in this motherfucker.” By the end, Mojave felt more like an performance art exhibition than a stage in the desert.

Coachella officially brings Twigs’ U.S. tour dates to an end. The Body High tour, which recently included a stunning Madison Square Garden debut, is the latest in a series of successes for the musician. Earlier this year, she took home her first Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album for Eusexua. The set list she performed tonight closely mirrored that of her tour, but ramped up to a higher scale on a physical level.

“Going on tour the last month and looking out into the audience, I’ve not really seen fans or people that are just kind of into my music,” Twigs said at Coachella. “What I’ve seen is community. I’m looking out into the crowd tonight and I see the same thing. I think that all of us are here tonight because we want to grow, because we believe in ourselves, because we’re artistic, because we have an expression, because we’re here against all odds.”

She continued, “We’re open minded, beautiful feeling people and the way the world is today, we need that. Take just a second to say hi to the person next to you, because the fact that we’re all here means that we’ve got something beautiful in common.”

The performance represented everything Twigs knows Eusexua to be. “When I think about Eusexua, it’s about accepting yourself and accepting other people. It’s about tolerance, and it’s about presence, and it’s about realizing that we’re so much more than our vessels,” she told Rolling Stone last year. “We’re these beautiful lights. I always talk about the light inside my chest. I’m not FKA Twigs. I’m not even Tahliah. I’m a tiny light inside my chest, which is filled with endless love and possibilities.”