Diamanda Galas at Pace University (Sept. 12, 2005)
Diamanda Galas takes to the road, performing works from Defixiones, Will and Testament: Orders from the Dead
By Melissa Silvestri
Published: September 27th, 2005 | 11:27am
Have you heard of Diamanda Galas? You mean you don’t know of the avant-garde Greek-American performance artist with a four-octave range who has been celebrated worldwide for 25 years?
Just five years ago I had never heard of her either, until I was introduced to her at the age of 17 through Angry Women (Juno Books), Andrea Juno’s 1991 collection of interviews with wild and controversial female writers. She was insightful and had a razor-sharp wit, advocating the need for a bullshit-free society, rapists to be castrated, teaching women to learn how to use guns to kill, and expressing the rage and anger of the Armenian and Greek genocides from 1915 to 1923. Just reading the words made me feel her electric-sharp voice, leaving me excited and spirited to learn more about her work and her interests in William S. Burroughs, Baudelaire, and Maria Callas.
Galas has been performing all over the world since her debut at the Festival d'Avignon in France in 1979, where she performed the lead in the opera Un Jour Comme un Autre, by composer Vinko Globokar, which is based upon the Amnesty International documentation of the arrest and torture of a Turkish woman for alleged treason. Her works include Plague Mass, which raises the spirit of those with AIDS who do not want to be labeled as victims, Vena Cava, which focuses on clinical depression, and Malediction & Prayer.
Galas recently performed at Pace University in NYC, debuting the American unveiling of her show, Defixiones, Will and Testament: Orders from the Dead, on September 10. The audience was completely packed in the large, balconied auditorium. There was an array of people there: young and old couples, college kids, and solo members. I didn’t think Galas, with her witchy proto-Goth look and performance-art theatrics, would attract such a wide variety. Then I remembered that she had been featured on the cover of The Village Voice the previous week, and assumed that she had gotten more exposure and coverage that way.
The show began with an empty stage, save for a piano and two microphones. A solo violin played from a recording, echoing the opening of The Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black. A hissing voice from backstage spoke of the inevitability of death and remembering the ones who came before us, from The Graves of Our Ancestors, by Yiannis Ritsos. The audience sat in the dark, hearing this crackly, warbled voice get under our skin via a deep and penetrating sound system, awaiting the entrance of the grand Diamanda.
Galas entered, draped in a long dark veil and black dress symbolizing the generations of Greek widows who did not accept death silently and wore it like a badge throughout their lives. Galas barely made a sound as she walked to the microphone, opened her wide mouth, and began to chant a piece entitled Ter Vogormia, by Marar Yekmalian. I could feel the intensity of Galas’ operatic range, as well as the somberness and strength as she cackled and howled and sang in Greek -- a language most likely unfamiliar to those without Greek ancestry or knowledge of Greek history. Galas said that most people think of Greek history as only being in the time of Socrates, Aristotle, Alexander, and anything nearly 1000 years ago. Greeks are still treated like ethnic others in this country, or relegated to certain sections of a city designated as “their” area (like Astoria, Queens).
Galas is an intriguing performer to watch. Not only is her voice otherworldly and trained like a muscle, but is a mysterious, deeply intelligent, and incredibly striking woman. Her cheekbones are shadowed by the light, her petite shape is hidden beneath her veil and dress, and she comes off as one who does not belong to one place (besides Greece), but is a citizen of the world, and somebody who has been in all walks of life. I’m quite fascinated by her stories and her barbed wit, though I would probably be quite intimidated by her in real life -- as would many others.
A particular piece that stood out was her performance of El Baile (The Dance), by Siamanto. It was written in Spanish in the program but, when translated, described a deeply detailed account of brides being burned alive, dancing and dancing while they are being burned and sacrificed. Galas added to this text by resembling a Mexican witch, holding two microphones in the air like torches, making a horrific cackling sound with her tongue, and being illuminated by her shadow through lighting effects that gave the room a very spooky and macabre ambiance.
Galas is an important figure in the world of performance art, no doubt. But when one reads her interviews, her words are mesmerizing. You image her eyes becoming electric and her fingers moving quickly with the power of exchanging stories about past histories and the need to stop pussy-footing around issues and past events and to face it head-on, with few inhibitions. She is a woman who has lived an incredibly fascinating life, and I felt very lucky to be able to see her live, as did the rest of the audience; they gave her a standing ovation and had the look of being blown away and shocked by her collection of pieces.
Issue #35
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