An opera singer confronts her body shape

Danika Lorèn, a member of Canadian Opera Company, has gone naked for a Toronto magazine to confront the misperceptions she encounters as an opera singer.

Danika writes:

I remember the day I saw the call on Instagram about taking part in this feature. I was feeling very frustrated by the body image attitudes being projected onto many of my peers in opera. So doing this was in some respect an act of rebellion. 

In opera, our body is our instrument. It’s hard not to be hyper-critical of every element you’re putting out there.

I think opera is trying to keep up with other entertainment industries in being hyper-focused on the body and putting forth a certain kind of look. Hopefully the music and the voice still come first. But it’s competitive, so it’s easy to start obsessing about the way you look….

Read on here.

photo (c) Samuel Engelking

UPDATE: In a second interview, with COC News, Danika says, ‘I wanted to put all of my power into a picture.’