25 July 2012

Miss Pronunciation VI

This one comes courtesy of my wonderful colleague and friend across the ditch, Kirstie O'Sullivan.

We trained together and I quite possibly learned more about the kind of teacher - and person - I wanted to be from her, than I did through my official training.

Enough of the gushing.

I never forget when I am corrected on pronunciation - and I am always gracious when this happens - how else does one learn?

Remuneration. Read it slowly. Yes. I know it's about numbers, but the M comes BEFORE the N.

Quite often I hear this pronounced as re-NUM-eration (rɪːnjuːməreɪʃən). I did myself until the divine Ms. O. pointed out the fault.

Please. Similar to the post regarding 'UTMOST' - don't manipulate the pronunciation of the word to fit the sense.

It's re-MUN-eration - rɪːmjuːnəreɪʃən.

19 July 2012

Miss Pronunciation V

Miss Pronunciation with Utmost Respect.......


It was only last week..... it stopped me in my tracks:

- I have the UP-MOST respect for him.

This happens a lot. We change the pronunciation of a word to logically make it fit the meaning.

I have the UTmost respect for this crazy language; thus I throw you this tidbit (or 'titbit' if you're going with the classic British pronunciation):

Please don't replace consonant sounds with others just to please some rational explanation you have regarding a word. This is not a rational language and one cannot attempt to make it so.

Just accept.

Miss P. will continue in this vein next week.......


17 July 2012

Inspiration

I was looking for inspiration for my blog this week. I was busy. Really busy. And I thought:

- What was the most inspiring thing that happened to me lately?

Nothing huge, nothing sensational. And then I thought:

- Anna. Stop looking for the huge, the sensational. What were the little things that jumped on your diaphragm and just took your breath away?


Here are the things that affected my breath this week:

1. Leading students to breathe for the first time at the and seeing their faces as they discovered they could.

2. Watching a student reach the heights of exploration during performance, not knowing where her breath would take her.

3. A woman nearly backing into me in the car park.

4. My daughter running with her shoelace undone.

5. The silhouette of this beautiful city as I drove towards her down a long highway.

6. Breathtakingly brilliant dinner conversation with some pretty special theatre folk.

7. A photo of a very handsome rugby player texted to my by my friend Simon......

8. Stubbing my toe.

9. Receiving a long-awaited parcel in the mail.


10. A phone ringing during one of my classes (not mine - and whoever you are, you still owe us a packet of snakes).

11. Every word falling out of the face of a Shakespeare scholar I shared a bottle of bubbles with.

12. Rigorous argument with a colleague I respect very much.

13. Discussion of a business idea that seems too big to comprehend.

14. My phone going off in a class (there is a first time for everything).


    It is no coincidence that the word inspiration means to both to breathe in and to be stimulated to do or feel something.......


They are ultimately one and the same thing. Our breath reacts to the stimulation of everything we do and want to do (intentions folks). If you really take the time to LISTEN TO and OBSERVE your breath, you will find you are able to really live in those moments of life that you have hitherto glanced over. You'll take in colours, smells, textures that you would have taken for granted.

And it is this specificity that we must bring to our acting. Where is the breath of that character at every moment, heightened or not. And how does the rest of the body, the voice and therefore the text respond to that breath?

With the inspiration comes truth.

With the inspiration comes life.

11 July 2012

Miss Pronunciation IV

Miss Pronunciation, etc.


Over used and wildly (and widely) mispronounced as EX-SETERA

Yes - this little Latin expression is actually two words:

Et = and
Cetera = the rest

We may have contracted it down to three letters and a punctuation mark in writing (etc.), however it remains:

ET-SETERA (ɛt sɛtərə)

noʊ ɪfs, ændz ɔː bʌts!

5 July 2012

Miss Pronunciation III

 

Pronunciation Express


 It’s a coffee driven city, this Lady Melbourne.......

And you might wish to order a coffee.

This in no way gives you the right to ask for an EX-presso.

You might want an ES-presso (ɛsprɛsoʊ).

You might want it fast.

But it still remains an espresso.

That’s all.



3 July 2012

Space

          
Luminescent Space by FirstLight Studios

                        ‘Words need space!’ - Bill Pepper, Voice coach and Head of Voice, NIDA 1995-2010.

 
.........He wasn’t wrong. This was the catch cry during my own voice training. It managed to invade my own vernacular in the same way I find myself sounding like my mother: I'm always surprised by it - but it always makes sense.

It wasn’t until I started working under the Artistic Director of Present Tense Theatre, Bryce Ives, several years later that I understood a wider application and gained a greater appreciation of Bill’s wise words. So here is my exploration of voice and space.


Space: a continuous area or expanse that is free, available, or unoccupied

This literally applies to the space we give in the body to our sound. An open and unrestricted vocal tract, space in the mouth so that the articulators can do their duty, space for the lungs to expand. A place that is free and available for the sound to occupy and resonate.

This also applies to the focus one must find before doing any kind of voice work. To put all else aside, exist within the walls of the physical space and dedicate the self absolutely to the task at hand. To be free and available and unoccupied to respond to the text or other stimulus.


Space: the freedom and scope to live, think, and develop in a way that suits an individual


Accepting impulses and being able to really find a free and natural voice means finding space. This is not meant in terms of wide open fields, but a more quiet and positively charged space that comes from and inner strength that we develop as artists.


Space: The environment in which we work as artists


At the drama schools I lecture at there is a tradition of first years cleaning the space in which they learn. With bucket and sponge. And elbow grease. This is not some kind of punishment, as much as some of the actors cry foul for a while. It leads to a respect for the space to which they are bringing themselves as artists. It leads to an intimacy with the space in which they know every knot of wood in the floor or slight elevation. It allows them to breathe in the smells and take in textures that they would otherwise have never explored.

Importantly, it allows them to resonate with the space through a very physical process.

And one needs clear space.......my students know better than to leave their bits and pieces lying around. One can’t resonate in a space full of mobile phones, bags and other paraphernalia. One can’t bring themselves in a free and available and unoccupied way to a space that is filled with clutter. 


Space: the near vacuum extending between the planets and stars, containing small amounts of gas and dust.

- In space, no one can hear you scream.

Yes, I’m referencing Alien.

There’s no sound in space. At least that’s what I’m told.

That's all.


Space: The distance between one point and another.


Words carry thoughts. They must hit a target. Like an arrow released. Or the thought is wasted - the words have no weight. And once they land they need time/space for absorption and reflection.


Space: an interval of time (often used to suggest that the time is short, considering what has happened or been achieved in it).


Constantly the cry goes up in my studio:

- Nothing in good voice practice ever happened fast!

Quite often I am working with a client to undo more than 20 years of accumulated habits.

If you want a quick fix for aesthetic purposes, it generally won’t make it’s way into muscle memory and you’ll lose it under pressure. Excellent vocal technique and health take time and patience and a whole lot of space...............



Any thoughts on Space? If you’d like to elaborate just comment or email me.......