Much vocal training which has served to awaken body awareness through movement practice, has focused on developing vocal power through connecting vocally to aggression and anger.
Interestingly, these methodologies have often been established by male practitioners. However, I believe that the psychological and somatic research work of re-connecting the voice to the body involves evoking many more emotions, including vitally tenderness, grief and joy. These “feelings” give us sensory connections deep within our bodies which are equally as effective as anger in opening doorways into the powerful and wild world of vocal discovery, including singing.
It is my hope that this delicate and potent work will not only become widely recognised as an essential element of vocal training, but also that it will be guided by experienced voice trainers who are increasingly aware of the psychological duty of care implied by their role.
“POSTCARD” by Margaret PIKES published in a special issue of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, an international scholarly journal published by Routledge (This special issue is on the topic ‘What is New in Voice Training?’).