Expressing Creativity

Expressing Creativity

Creativity is the basis of every type of performance. Creativity is shaped by the performer's personality, emotion, and imagination. Every performer contributes a portion of his or herself to express feelings and passion on various levels. Performers sometimes construct their presentations to fit their personal preferences because nothing is worse than being uncomfortable with oneself on stage, even though feeling that way is sometimes unavoidable. Although it is not common that performers will be completely comfortable on stage, comfort is gained through getting a feel for the stage, allowing a personal connection. Performers liberate themselves by adding personal flair to their pieces. The Lyon Opera Ballet and Diamanda Galas are prime examples of a successful creative process generating profound performance art. Both of the performances were very unique, a sign of authentic creativity

Diamanda Galas' performance exposed a very tormented and unsettling view of love that resulted from her personal beliefs and by using her astonishing vocal range. She performed songs involving serious subjects including love and death, and covered many 30's crooner hits in a very different way than originally performed. She took pieces like "Why Don't You Do Right" and reproduced them in her own style, adding her operatic vocal qualities to them. She also exercised her abilities as a mezzo soprano to take verses to a whole new level, changing many of the notes up and down the octave. These extreme exaggerations forced the audience to recognize her feelings of loss and sorrow. Galas applied a bodily range of motion to the music on stage using her unparalleled vocal range and her physical actions while sitting at the piano. Her movements were very different from any other pianist I have ever seen. Contrary to moving with the beat created by her piano, Galas sat and danced trancelike in and out of the rhythm, and occasionally sat still. Galas chose this type of motion to illustrate the raw emotion in her and other artist's music. Galas moved her body with the intensity and dynamics of her music while playing the piano, and sat still when the emotion came to a halt. She created this style because she is behind her music, and connects emotionally with her piano when on stage. This method is somewhat exclusive in that the audience can see the emotion communicated through Galas' body, but don't necessarily feel that emotion. Diamanda Galas clearly communicates her independence of judgment from the outside world. In essence, they are outsiders looking in.

The lighting used in Diamanda Galas' presentation sent a very clear message. The solo white spotlight focused on Galas relayed her personality as a solo performer. It is clear that Galas loves to be the headliner of her performance, and her lighting illustrated this unmistakably. From the moment the performance began and when Galas entered the spotlight, its place remained unchanged. The spotlight selfishly disregarded many important features, mainly the