“Shit, My Wig’s Been Humbled.” The Challenges of Dancing & Singing Mozart

Above: The dance film collaboration with Amy Zhang, of “Ach ich liebte”

In my previous post, I took you through the core tenants of my creative process: starting with the music, training and conditioning, choreographic process, and the tools I use to navigate hurdles I often face when fusing dance and opera together simultaneously.

Here, I’m breaking down the process even further, specifically, how I used these steps to navigate challenges I faced when choreographing my latest project, “Ach ich liebte,” from Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio. As the title of the post implies, it was…well, humbling.

“Surprise, You’re Doing This in 6 Weeks!”

These techniques earned their metal during the “Ach ich liebte” creation process. In May 2024, on a whim, I submitted a proposal to The Tank, a NYC venue for emerging artists, for a one woman show incorporating arias by Handel, Bellini, and Mozart, including “Ach ich liebte.” The aria was still very new to me, but I loved how it was going, and I figured, well, if they pick me for something, it won’t be for awhile. Then in June, The Tank contacted me to ask if I was interested in doing the show, and if so, was I available in July? Holy shit - I was taking my sweet ass time learning this aria, but now I had to perform it in 6 weeks? With two other arias? Choreographed? Yikes. In a fit of delusion, I actually said yes. And then promptly panicked, because now I was on the hook to choreograph an aria I had just learned, and if that wasn’t enough, it just so happened to be one of the most challenging arias in the soprano repertory. 

The Anatomy of a Role: The “Oh Shit” Challenges of Konstanze

“Ach ich liebte” is sung by Konstanze, the lead soprano in Mozart’s opera The Abduction from the Seraglio. Technically, Konstanze is an anomaly in the soprano repertory. The role requires a soprano who has coloratura, an ability to be heard clearly in the low and middle part of their register (not a soprano’s favorite place to live), and an ability to easily oscillate between tricky coloratura passages and long legato lines without missing a beat. In short, it requires a super soprano. If you have a technical weakness (ex. your coloratura is great but you have trouble being heard in your lower notes, or, in my case, you’re great with legato lines but have a history of sloppy coloratura to navigate), there’s no where in the music to hide. Oh, and she has three ridiculously hard arias, none of which are short, and two of them happen with little to no break in between. Singing Konstanze is the musical equivalent of asking Simone Biles to do her Olympic floor routine three times in a row. In short, it’s insane…

Above: Ross channeling the vibe of sopranos learning Konstanze

…Which is exactly why it appealed to me. As I’ve developed and gotten more consistent with my own vocal technique, I’ve started to see and experience how these tricky roles are actually possible. Difficult, maddening, but still, possible. And, the beauty of being based more in the dance world now than in the opera world is, I have more creative freedom to try things. If I have a slightly sloppy coloratura run during a performance, it doesn’t mean life or death (which is exactly how it felt for so many years when I was trying so hard to be a good little traditional opera soprano!). Instead, it means I have something to work on, all while doing many other things well. Ironically, it’s in the dance world where I’ve found opportunity to actually really learn and grow as an opera singer, and my coloratura is getting better- how funny is that?! 

Getting It Choreographed

So there I was, with a deadline for getting Konstanze choreographed. In what was a fortuitous coincidence, I ended up doing two artist residencies shortly after this was confirmed, so I got ample time and space to create and develop the material. This was where I really dug into the choreography, which proved to be more of a challenge than I thought. It was the first time in awhile that my choreographic process was on a very set timeline- and it showed. It took awhile for me to get out of my head and stop judging everything I tried. Part of me was like, “What the hell! It’s not open heart surgery, it’s just art!” Eventually, I went back to a process I use a lot when learning music: back to basics, one phrase at a time.

Instead of trying to do a whole section of choreography, I’d start with one musical phrase, or even half a phrase. Then, I’d go through my full musical process with it: break it down to vowels, check my onsets, add consonants, review the text, then connect the words together into a legato phrase. All the while, I’d move around the studio, doing a mix of walking and improvisational movement. Eventually, as I went through that process, I’d stumble (sometimes literally) into a movement I really liked. So I’d play around with that idea, and then let that choreographic idea evolve into another movement, and then another movement, and so on and so on. Eventually, this process helped get the piece done. But then, things got really interesting. 

Covid & A Reality Check

I was on my way home from the second residency, a week and a half before I was supposed to do the show at The Tank, when out of the blue, I came down with Covid. In what must have been a miracle, I got through 5 days of quarantining and emerged at the end with no symptoms, and it was safe to mask up, leave my apartment, and be in public spaces. The problem was, my stamina was shot. I felt like I had just gotten hit by a bus. Vocally, I felt like I was back in preschool. 

I had to have a real honest talk with myself and my coach, Riley McKinch, and come to terms with a hard truth: this was not going to be the performance of my dreams. In fact, I had to essentially retool a whole section of choreography, because I knew I didn’t have gas in the tank to do what I had originally planned. It was humbling and it wasn’t going to be pretty, but that wasn’t my job in this instance. My job was to pace myself, manage my energy, and do the best I could with a post Covid body. 

The Performances
The performances went decently well. I got it done, I didn’t fall apart, and I managed my body and energy as best I could. The worst part was the point 5 minutes right before I was going on for the last show, when I had the startling realization that I did not know what what going to come out of my mouth when I started to sing. It was the stuff out of nightmares, and was one of the most terrifying feelings I have ever experienced as a performer. 

That I got it done is a credit to my mentors around me, Riley’s excellent coaching, my base training and technique, pacing myself, and having a realistic outlook on the situation. I knew the performance was far from perfect. I knew any seasoned opera professional would find about 50-100 things I did that were wrong. But the reality was, even if I had been in full health and did the best singing of my life, those opera professionals would still have found 50 things that were wrong, or not good enough, or not their cup of tea.  Sometimes, the success isn’t in being perfect, but in know that you got the job done. That being said, the experience made me put aside “Ach ich liebte” for a bit. My wig had been humbled, and I needed a break.

Collaborating with Amy Zhang
A few months later, as I was starting up MANX, I met Amy Zhang, a talented pianist and videographer, through a collaboration MANX was doing with the Brooklyn Motion Capture Dance Ensemble. We clicked immediately, and I knew I wanted to work with her on a project. I was ready to revisit “Ach ich liebte” again, and pitched an idea to Amy: what about a one take dance film of the choreographed aria? It would be an immersive, visceral take on opera and movement. I had done a project like that before, where the whole thing is shot in one take, and I loved the thrill and challenge of capturing the creative work through that process. Amy was down to give it a whirl, so I got busy dusting off and revamping the aria.

The first thing I did was get really clear about what worked or didn’t work for that show at The Tank. For The Tank performance, I had a lot of static choreography that had me doing movement in more bound states. It was cool and interesting, but it had also tied me in knots. This time around, I threw out those sections completely and opted for more free flowing movement to anchor for the piece. That way, the more bound or static elements existed within a much more physically flowing state.

When you watch the film, you’ll see there are long stretches where my arms are in an undulating crossed position and do not come apart; this is intentional, I wanted movement that reflected Konstanze’s sense of a world closing in on her with her options limited, but to do so in a way that allowed me to breathe and find a sense of flow, using momentum for physical and storytelling advantages. I also expanded the intro to be much longer, which gave me more time to develop ideas before launching into the singing. The result was a piece that was much more fully integrated in body and voice, where I could better pace myself and not lose the essence of the story. 

Above is footage I took of Amy filming me - I’m not kidding when I say she’s doing just as much work, if not more!

A week prior to filming, Amy and I met to rehearse how we would film the aria. Just like I wasn’t standing and singing, Amy wasn’t standing and filming. In fact, to film the piece, Amy essentially had to mimic the patterns in my choreography, but do them one to two steps ahead of me, so she could anticipate my next move. I know what I’m doing is not easy, but I swear, I think Amy had the harder job, and by the end of the rehearsal and filming sessions, we were both sweaty betties. It opened my eyes to just how much work goes into really good film work. Amy did a fabulous job, and we cannot wait to collaborate again on future MANX projects. 

On a personal note, it was a huge win for me: each time we met, we ran the piece on average 3 times in an hour, and instead of fatiguing, I actually got BETTER with each run. It was like each run gave me more confidence, and the realization that it was all coming together only added fuel to the fire. After the Covid scare in the summer, just doing well was a success in of itself. In short, it was a great project with which to end 2024.

I hope this info has been interesting. Amy and I had fun with this process, and I think hearing the behind the scenes process about how creative work gets done is really fascinating, so I hope you enjoyed too!

Thanks for coming along on this adventure!

-Melanie