Find Your Voice

As I get older, I am continually surprised at how much I still have to learn about myself.  I have years of training in the body, how the body relates to the mind, sensation work, voice work, applied bodywork, physiology, anatomy, and tapping into my reservoir of feelings.  And still, an avenue filled with gems is work with the voice.

The voice work that inspires me viscerally is Roy Hart work.  I would suggest a foundation of breath work (Berry, Linklater, Fitzmaurice) prior to this type of work.  In RH work, they often use a piano to play notes and the RH instructor leads the class in vocal quality.  For example, if the instructor is looking for light and thin notes that are also high pitch, we might work with the word "violin" to carry the tone.  To be clear, the sound quality is not the goal.  In other words, the Hart people are not after helping someone sing "pretty," but rather tap into the sounds each body/soul can express.  That freedom allows a participant to maximize range and cultivate sound and support in the body.  All people, not just opera singers, want this.

I recall the morning after working with the Roy Hart people the first time, my ribs ached with movement and breath.  I didn't know my ribs could swing that much!  They felt like an accordion - and powerful.  In no other activity had I been able to get my breath to be so big or support for so long - because I was breathing in huge thoughts and could ride the breath and the thought simultaneously. 

Though the voice work I lead is not Roy Hart, I am certainly inspired by the work.  Roy Hart said, "I left (being an actor) in order to go back into the world of non-art or humanity, because I couldn't stand the split between art and humanity."  Well, artists have to be their essential human self to bring life to the characters flaws.  These breathing creatures capture the imagination and heart of self and audience.

Before you can use your voice, you have to find it.  In your own way today, using your voice at the pitch, volume, and duration you decide - call out to someone you love!  They might hear you - even in another state.

Copyright 2010 Heather Corwin