Back to Basics...

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This week we went back to basics in Black Company with a two and a half hour voice class that explored all aspects of vocal technique.  Now…first it’s worth admitting that I am a bit of a voice geek…I’m fascinated by the way that slight adjustment in posture, breath, placement and intention can significantly change the sound we make.  With just a little consciousness we become warmer, clearer more in control of how we speak.   Also I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of meeting some inspiring experts over my career who have taught me so many techniques and given me such valuable insight.  Saying that however, voice isn’t one of the most glamorous aspects of acting and to really make lasting progress there is an awful lot of hard work involved. In addition exploring voice can often make people feel vulnerable, still I love it and the Black Company session this week illustrated one of the reasons…

During the workshop we took a journey through physicality, breath, resonance, tone, articulation and all the other aspects of voice…it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening…everyone there was open to try new things or revisit things that had looked at before with a fresh perspective.  The atmosphere was happily conducive to self evaluation, discovery and development.  However equally  gratifying was that by the end of the night the actors actually sounded different – audible and perceptible progress had been made…their voices were better than they were than when they started…what better way to spend an evening


On the agenda next week for Black Company…Approaching Text and Character…

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