Toeing the line between classic and futuristic, Dua Lipa proved herself a consummate performer at the 2021 Grammys as she delved into a rendition of “Levitating” featuring DaBaby and “Don’t Start Now” (with an instrumental of “Future Nostalgia” interwoven as a sort of “interlude” between them).
In contrast to the epileptic seizure-inducing performance from Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion of “WAP,” Lipa relied minimally on backdrops for accenting her showmanship abilities, wielding nothing more than some clouds and a lunar motif. Bathed in purple (don’t tell Prince) as she sang the initial lines to “Levitating,” Lipa looked more relaxed than anyone who took the stage that night before DaBaby appeared to deliver his verse and give us a preview of how socially distanced dancing will work in clubs of the future (nostalgia).
Lipa then reemerges onto the scene, descending from the stairs in a new overcoat: specifically a glittery purple tuxedo jacket. After singing a bit with DaBaby, her bevy of purple-clad dancers show up again to serve up decidedly Megan Thee Stallion-esque choreography (perhaps they have the same “coordinator”).
Soon after, she makes the audience’s eyes bug out of their skulls as she takes off her coat to reveal nothing more than a glittery bikini and bra as she does her own stripper moves (theme of the night, really…so where was J. Lo amid all this Hustlers fanfare?). The “Future Nostalgia” instrumental then leads into “Don’t Start Now,” the song everyone turned to for humor at the start of the pandemic, but then it became all too real with the lyrics, “Don’t show up, don’t come out… Walk away/You know how.”
As she writhes on the floor in unison with her dancers (imitating some Anglicized version of the Cry Baby–once more echoing Megan Thee Stallion’s current predilections), the lone backdrop necessary remains a giant moon (after all, she did just release the Moonlight Edition of Future Nostalgia–an album that rightly beat out Chromatica for Best Pop Vocal Album).
Busting her 70s-inspired moves as the lights of the stage’s stairs are caught in the camera with just the right amount of soft focus flare, it’s almost as though, at times, we really are transported into some Saturday Night Fever shit (or just Madonna’s Confessions on a Dance Floor era). Lipa’s manner of having actual fun while performing also greatly contributes to the “celestial” nature of it all. And it’s quite possibly not since Britney Spears that we’ve seen someone so devoted to their choreo. So yes, Lipa really does deserve an award, for her music and her dancing queen status.
