Sunday, August 2, 2009

Are You Glamorous Enough for Opera?

Sunday morning musings...

This blog was inspired by a facebook friend's status...and got me thinking opera and music theatre and the visual presentation of the artist...

How do you present yourself? How do you see yourself? How do others see you? How do you want to be seen?   

My response to this Facebook status became my status: Glamour is the outward manifestation of the beauty within - you possess it - now just CLAIM it!

A simplification perhaps to fit into a status box, but something  I truly believe!

There are some realities in the business of opera that need to be addressed.  How you present yourself DOES matter!  And it should frankly.  This doesn't mean you have to lose 100 pounds and get your nose done and and and...it means that you take as much care and preparation with how you present your COMPLETE package as you do your aria package and your music and your languages and your musicianship.  It is not frivolous - it is REAL.  We SEE you first. We sense your ENERGY first, before you open your mouth to breathe and sing, before we experience your work ethic, your humour, your intensity - WE SEE YOU!

So my question again is? How do you want to be seen?  BE REAL! BE REALISTIC!  Don't hide! The reality of YOU and what you possess as a multi-dimensional spirit and artist CAN be reflected through the presentation of self.  The confidence of what you DO can be REPRESENTED by what we see and how you present that.  Show us what you want us to see - this is in your control!

So you are working on your weight - me too.  That doesn't mean you have to hide until you get to your goal!!! Use what you have to your best advantage!  Find clothing and fabrics that you feel good in - and that show you in best proportion and balance.  Find colours that accentuate your skin undertones and pick up your eye colour and create energy and presence, not make you disappear or become vague.  Get a great haircut that suits your personality and your bone structure - or creates more angles if you need more, or less if you have too many! Find a makeup artist who sees the canvas of your face and draws out the beauty that reflects an inner energy of your artistry!

THIS IS IMPORTANT!  When we find that outer balance of who we believe we are we walk differently; we hold ourselves differently; we exude another level of confidence;  we discover that inner glamour.  It is NOT hiding. It is EMERGING!!!  The glamourous self  - the spiritual and emotional self - now has a a tangible place to be seen.  It is not fake, but rather, authentic.

Glamour, beauty, confidence, presentation have nothing to do with age or size or height.  THEY DEFY THESE THINGS!!!! With all due respect, we have switched the order!!! We use our age/size/height et al to INFORM the glamour of our selves in how it emerges!

How you are seen for a role is only in your control to a certain degree.  HOWEVER, you are in COMPLETE control of how you are seen as YOU.  And YOU involves that outer as much as the inner.  You can't control a decision made that the Mimi needs to be 5'6" and you are 5'0".  But you can control the presentation of every inch of that 5'0" frame!!! 

You do not need to "settle" - but rather you need to EXPLORE YOUR POSSIBILITIES of your glamourous life!!! Perhaps what you thought you were is only a portion of what is there. Perhaps it will take you in a completely different way.  The journey will determine it.  

Be where you ARE, not where you would like to be.  Be present, be real.  Embrace YOU. Grow with yourself. Don't assume. Don't wish. BE. CLAIM. LIVE.

Your glamour demands it!









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