It's time. I've spent months preparing my exact movements, days regulating my nerves, and hours in the process of applying makeup. The layers of the many cosmetic products I've used form such a thick layer on my skin that it almost looks like a mask, but the texture is necessary for my complete transformation. Every detail is essential. I can already feel the stage lights on me: they flood my eyes and almost blind me. I try to remember that their intensity and color are designed so that, from the audience, the stage appears to be a welcoming but huge environment, although from behind the curtain, where I am, they distort everything and remind more of the cruel, the sinister. The same could be said of my makeup and costume, I suppose. I wonder how I got here and try to ignore the feeling of alert, of danger, that instinctively invades me. I try to stay calm and focus on what's important. I hear my cue in the music andsurrender to my destiny: my moment has arrived.