"Performing is like making love with your audience." -- Krystian Zimmerman, concert pianist

Live performance is a thing of beauty and magic. I love performing. There is little in this life that brings me to such a deep state of vulnerability. And under any other circumstance, I hate being vulnerable. Performing is like bearing my longings and darkest secrets -- only, I'm not whispering, but screaming. It is so raw, so real. Thus, performing for a one-person audience is a highly intimate experience...it's like being gently carried in the cup of one's hands until the final note is released. I don't feel safe enough to do this with many people, and so ultimately, I prefer to play for strangers.

But what makes performing beautiful is not simply the state of vulnerability. It is the mysticism of being both vulnerable and empowered, at the same time. It is a subtle uproar, a protest, a stance, a conviction. Like any art form, it is the liberation in screaming and being heard. And body language has nothing to do with it. I am a performer, not because I tilt my head, or close my eyes, or part my lips, but because I have an urgency to communicate. There are no 'natural' performers -- there are only those who speak and those who don't. Listen to the music; don't look at me.

On that note, one can only speak adequately if well-practiced. And right about now, I'm only mumbling, ha. I have a recital tomorrow, wish me luck.