Interdisciplinary Performing Arts

Interdisciplinary art in the performing arts is becoming increasingly popular Performance art has always utilized art forms from other disciplines but I think there is even more interest in creating the most multifaceted experience through integrating the arts.  What comes to mind is the Gesamkunstwerk or “the total work of art” as articulated by German composer Richard Wagner.  His medium was music and his platform was Opera.  Gesamkunstwerk is the pinnacle of experiential entertainment where the elements of a production are so seamlessly integrated that it results in the audience’s complete emotional immersion and subsequent connection to the work and story.  Opera is a great venue for all the to transpire, since the primary story is told by combining theatre and music. To my mind, the Metropolitan Opera’s most recent production of the Wagnarian opera trilogy The Ring Cycle is good example of  Gesamkunstwerk. The staged production includes digital effects, animation, and puppetry, all of which enhanced the audience experience of the story.

 Official Trailer for Wagner's Ring Cycle
(Metropolitan Opera, 2013) 

Many musicians and entertainers of contemporary genres create their concert tours in the spirit of the total work of art.  Although, not really a fan of the music, I find the work of pop singer Lady Gaga particularly interesting. She's put a lot of thought and artistic knowledge and understanding behind her persona. The presentation of her work is Gesamkunstwerk in to pop music. She created the Haus of Gaga to act as a creative think-tank to help create cohesion between her music, image, and shows.  Here's her take on it:

Haus of Gaga has part in every aspect of Lady Gaga’s stage persona. They develop interpretations of Lady Gaga’s artistic concepts across disciplines like hair, make-up, and costume design, sculpture, digital media, and dance.  

Celebrated contemporary artist, Jeff Koons, designed her most recent album cover. Check out Koons talking about their collaboration for the Artpop album below.

The visual elements throughout the experience are a crucial consideration of performance art.  Visual art manifests imagination in such a way that we can wholly embrace the truth of what we see, or challenge it head-on.  In creating the setting, this power informs the colour schemes, the style of application of the medium, the action, colour, and intensity of lighting.  The music should conjure the visual elements that give shape to the environment, and the most of all the feeling.  

Music not only provides inspiration, but it is often the catalyst for other artistic creations.  Dance is probably the most obvious example.  When hearing a new song, movement comes first, through tapping a foot or finger, or nodding the head to the rhythm.  Music enters our bodies and cycles out through singing or dance.  

When speaking of the visual arts, the best dancers seem to dance as if every movement they make, is to transform the body into a kind of sculpture if even for a split second.  I believe lines are integral to dance.  I think of the dancing body as a series of moving lines meeting, expanding and intersecting to the whims of the music and rhythm.

Here is Martha Graham's powerful choreography "Lamentation."   She talks about the inspiration of the piece and how it was interpreted through the costume and it's use as a prop within the work.  She follows this with the story's affect on one audience member who was deeply moved by the performance.

In life, a variety of external influences affects and inspires us.  We build our lives through these experiences, which empowers and evolves us as individuals and cultures.  The dynamic nature of interdisciplinary performing arts practices interprets and translates elements of one into another creating a broader artistic experience, a total work of art.

At the core of all this is the story.  How does the story move us toward understanding?  The arts are our vehicle towards discovery and understanding ourselves.  Anyone can be given facts, but the critical thinker looks for the reasons those facts exist and if they make our lives more meaningful.