Joe Brown performing at Coachella, 2018
From "Stepping on Stage with Beyoncé," Slice of MIT, 7 May 2018
[Choreographer and professional dancer Joe Brown ‘07] was among dozens of performers who delivered a show [at the Coachella Music Festival] that he says was, “Everything I’ve been working for—a celebration of everyone involved.”
“My goal was to be the next Walt Disney,” Brown explains. “I majored in Course 2 [mechanical engineering] because I wanted to design rollercoasters and to create my own theme park.”
[Beyoncé's Coachella performance was] a two-hour long, tour-caliber set that paid tribute to black culture, from song selections to traditions of historically black fraternities and sororities—something Brown says was especially important for him. “They created a show that pretty much represented my whole life—from the stepping to a lot of the cultural aspects, and even to some songs that my parents would play for me back in the day,” he says. “It was profound.”