Increasing our knowledge
of the body-voice synergy - Fitzmaurice
Voicework is an exploration of possibilities.
Catherine Fitzmaurice works from a premise of
engaging the body by activating the reflexive,
autonomic nervous system so that the senses and
the breath are alive and functioning efficiently
(Destructuring) then harnessing that energy to
focus a performance through the text
(Restructuring).To quote Fitzmaurice's article
"Breathing is Meaning" in The Vocal Vision: "the
act of speaking is always somewhat
improvisatory,based on impulse …It is a
commitment to the manifest present."
Downtown Manhattan,
May-June 2002, 24 people meet daily in a studio
for a six weeks of intensive Fitzmaurice
Voicework. I was lucky enough to be one of them
and believe me it was a rigorous six
weeks!
Catherine Fitzmaurice ran
a 3-hour session every day, the rest of the
teaching was delivered by a different master
teacher each week, among them Professor Joan
Melton from California State U-Fullerton, the
person who first introduced Fitzmaurice
Voicework to us at the 5th AVA Voice Symposium
in Brisbane and who has since written a
marvellous book: "One Voice:Integrating Singing
Technique and Theatre Voice Training". The
participants came from various fields associated
with vocal performance: voice and speech
teachers, acting teachers, singing teachers,
actors, singers, and speech pathologists. It was
interesting to note that many of the teachers
appeared to specialise in either voice or speech
whereas in Australia we who teach speaking voice
to performers usually teach both.
The framework of the
course was divided into 6 weekly sections: vocal
function and health, destructuring,
restructuring,singing, speech, and text. The
final two weeks were devoted to practically
guiding the voice through text, under the expert
eye and ear of Professor Dudley Knight from the
University of California-Irvine. Phil Thompson
from California-Irvine had some fascinating
ideas on learning accents and dialects using
computer technology for audio
feedback.
Catherine Fitzmaurice
originally trained at the Central School of
Speech and Drama in London where she returned to
teach before going to the United States in 1968.
She has worked extensively internationally as a
voice teacher and actor and explains the drive
for her research as coming from noticing "the
lack of ability in most of my students in both
countries to isolate, without undue tension, the
breathing actions of the vocally efficient
rib-swing and abdominal support". Catherine drew
on the modern and ancient somatic training
systems of Bioenergetics, yoga, and shiatsu;
adapting and experimenting, she wove them into
her breath and vocal research. This has resulted
in what she calls "a series of exercises and
interventions…Destructuring".
Practically, the
destructuring is achieved by allowing a tremor
to pass through the body and breath on an open
[ah]. Catherine has found a series of
physical positions that encourage tremors; these
positions provide a form as the work is very
personal and and can be adapted to the physical
idiosyncracies of the individual. Catherine's
philosophy is to encourage individual research
and hence autonomy for the performer. As with
any body/voice work, the health and physical
capabilities of the individual must be taken as
the foundation for care and development of
training.
The restructuring is well
named because it is a conscious engagement of
intercostals and the transverse abdominus for
breath support into the act of speaking,
replacing the need for rib-squeeze or neck
tension. The resulting freedom allows for a wide
range of vocal expression without strain.
The research is ongoing
and practical with Fitzmaurice Associated
teachers contributing ideas from their own
formal training backgrounds and personal
research. During the training in New York
ingredients from Alexander Technique,
Feldenkrais, physical training, song, classical
voice texts including Shakespeare, poetry and
contemporary texts were all fed into the
mix.
At first when I began the
training in New York, I have to admit I was
dubious…were the tremors quaking through
people around me manufactured or spontaneous? A
debate ensued, ultimately how I found the tremor
didn't seem to matter. The excitement was in
allowing an unresticted open tone to erupt from
your body, you feel very awake and alive in your
presence. In actor training we often talk of
being 'grounded' in performance, this
Fitzmaurice Voicework can help make the breath
and hence the thought very immediate, very
current: allowing the breath to be chaotic
(destructuring) and then using that energy
efficiently, imaginatively through the text
(restructuring).
Fitzmaurice Voicework is
currently being taught at Yale School of Drama,
Harvard University/American Repertory Theatre's
Institute for Advanced Theatre Training, the
University of California-Irvine, in studios for
New York University's
undergraduate drama program, and numerous other
institutions and theatres in the United States
and abroad.
Catherine is in the
process of writing a book but for the moment
there is an excellent web-site featuring further
information on all areas of the Fitzmaurice
Voicework: articles, workshops, and outlines of
the work and of Fitzmaurice voiceworkers.
Catherine may well be visiting later in the year
and if you would like any further information
about potential workshops or about how and when
I use the Fitzmaurice Voicework, feel free to
contact me on j.moody@ecu.edu.au.
Julia Moody
Head of Voice, Acting
Dept, WAAPA@ECU
Grad Dip Nida (Voice
Studies)
Associate Teacher
Fitzmaurice Voicework
"Breathing is Meaning",
The Vocal Vision, editor Marian Hampton,
Applause Books, New York,1997.
"One Voice: Integrating
Singing Technique and Theatre Voice Training" by
Joan Melton with Kenneth Tom, Heinemann,
2003.
Web site:
www.fitzmauricevoice.com