The new Voice Class at QUT (Creative Industries) began yesterday, with a bunch of very committed young actors. We worked our way through the Mini-Mini vocal warm-up, addressing posture, the basics of the breathing process, and general principles of acting to be applied to every exercise we do –

1) be self-aware: get the ‘voice’ in your head to give you factual information, rather than a judgmental commentary

2) be open to being changed, to adjusting what you are doing, moment to moment

3) listen to yourself, and to each other

4) give of yourself, and you will have more to give

5) your individual creative contribution is never diminished, even when you become part of the collaboration

We finished up with a group humming and ‘ah’-ing improvisation, standing in a circle with shoulders touching, each person having the opportunity to stand in the centre for a time. It was a great experience, and there was much excitement at the end, that such amazing sounds had been possible, and that the vibrations could be felt in our bodies so profoundly.

I just want to remind us all, that the voices we produced in the last 20 minutes of the session came as a result of the preparation undertaken during the first hour and 10 minutes! So, (nag, nag, nag…) do your warm-ups!

Enjoy

Flloyd