Blue Ivy Carter is the first descendant of our Queen. Since the day she was born, the expectations have been high. Since the day she was born, her parents have been giving us snippets of her life, through concert videos, edited Instagram posts or red carpet appearances. The Blue Ivy Carter we’ve seen has usually been through the eyes of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, with one notable exception.

In February, I wrote about how Blue Ivy saved a terrible sketch at the Grammys by essentially just existing. After the Grammys, the expectations were even higher because we then knew that this is not a child who is being forced into the spotlight by her famous parents. This is a child who LIVES for it.

A couple of days ago, TMZ gifted us with more proof that Blue Ivy Carter is likely to fulfill her destiny (I’m sorry, I had to) of entertaining a generation, just like her Ma. Last weekend, Blue performed at her dance recital. By Monday, TMZ had the video of Blue and her fellow tiny dancers grooving along to Earth, Wind and Fire’s September. Excellent song selection. Before I speculate widely about how TMZ obtained my current favourite clip on the Internet, please consume it in all its glory.

 

There are so many things to discuss but first, can we just talk about how Blue (and probably her stylist Beyoncé) DGAF about the “hair up in a bun” memo the other girls definitely got? Blue and her fresh braids were like, “nah, we good.” She’s front and center, obviously, slaying her choreography so hard she doesn’t care that her elbows are very close to taking out the girls beside her. THIS VIDEO IS MY EVERYTHING. When I first saw it, I was still on a Wonder Woman high and I pictured Blue Ivy, in all her chest-thumping, high-kicking glory, delivering a Diana Prince-esque, Khaleesi-style name speech:

 

“I am Blue Ivy Carter, the first of her name, daughter of Beyoncé, granddaughter of Miss Tina, princess of pop R&B and I am here to save you from your depressing timelines.”

Blue Ivy Carter dancing is the carefree black girl joy we all needed.

As I mentioned above, most of the videos of Blue Ivy we see are through Beyoncé’s social media. This was a leak. To me, it seems pretty obvious that a parent at that recital took this video and then sold it to TMZ. That parent has probably already been banned from attending every school event in the future. The Beygency has already deducted who sent this video based on the angle from which it was shot and where the parents were sitting. Their kid will have to find a new school. To that parent, I ask: was what TMZ paid you worth alienating yourself from BEYONCÉ’s mommy group? WAS IT? Which brings me to my next question: how much pressure do you think these parents are putting on their kids to become friends with Blue Ivy? If I was the parent of a kid in Blue’s dance class, I would sit my child down and say, “Listen, this is the most important thing you will do for your family. Do not f-ck this up for me.” Don’t worry, I’m not a parent IRL.

Since the video does not appear to have Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s approval for public release, Refinery29 published a piece asking, Is This Video Of Blue Ivy Too Private To Be Online? Lainey often mentions that Duana is a Beyoncé scholar. She’s read the unauthorized biography. She’s watched all the tapes from when Beyoncé was a little girl, practicing diligently in her basement. I too have studied Beyoncé’s origin story. Since we'll be studying this tape for generations when Blue Ivy becomes the most important artist of her time, NO, it is not too private to be online. The piece also mentions that the parents of the other children in the video might not want their kids’ faces all over the internet, which is valid but again, if I was a parent of one of these kids, I would only be concerned with how well they were nailing their moves beside Blue.

“Listen, you are basically auditioning to be in the reincarnation of Destiny’s Child. You could be the Kelly. I’ll even settle for Poor Michelle. Do not f-ck this up for me!”

The girl second from the right might actually have a shot the way she flawlessly landed that passe at 0:29. Yes, I just had to Google that ballet term. And yes, I’ve watched this video way too many times.