I saw FKA Twigs perform at the Kings Theater in Flatbush in 2019. She was midway through her Magdalene tour and at a peak of her success so far. The show is like a fever dream to me, she fenced, she pole danced, she sang “Mirrored Heart” and cried real tears on stage, her voice cracking in places. I cried too. I had been a devoted fan of hers for six years then.
It’s been a decade now. My coming of age decade, my longest running love affair. I still listen to the first EPs regularly, which are still among my favorites of her music. Watching her music videos, I found fluidity in my body, learned how to really dance. She’s a consummate performer. Trained as a dancer, growing up in London clubs, the daughter of a costume designer who has helped create her looks, she learned to do a lot with a little. Although she is exceptionally creative and retains an unusual amount of direction and control over her projects, she has often been relegated in the popular imagination to Robert Pattinson’s…