Award-winning dancer and choreographer Luca Tommassini publicly accused Lady Gaga of stealing his staging concept for the opening of her current world tour in Singapore.
Through a set of video links in a note on his Facebook page, Tommassini contrasted Lady Gaga's entrance from a gigantic pair of open legs with the similar choreography and concept he created for Geri Halliwell at the Brit Awards in 2000
Tommassini admitted that the idea was not entirely new even when he used it for Geri, as he and David LaChappelle had previously used it for the Fashion Festival in Paris in 2000, but he encouraged Gaga to find her own way to "express herself".
While there has been no official response from Lady Gaga, the song "Born this Way" is already thought to be very close to Madonna's "Express Yourself". Madonna herself has publicly called attention to this fact in her current tour by remixing the two songs and ending by saying, "She's not me".
Tomassini has worked with Madonna, Prince, Michel Jackson, Ricki Martin, Paola e Chiara, Elisa, and Kylie Minogue, among others. He also served as artistic director and choreographer for X Factor Italia talent search reality show.
In May 2011, Beyoncè reused Tommassini's choreography for Lorella Cuccarini from the Sanremo Festival for her performance at the Billboard Music Awards.
