This is a 2 hour introductory session into Fitzmaurice Voicework®, aiming to help you sense the fundamentals of the work, connect to your own learning and experience of the body:voice, and give you possible openings of curiosity into allowing the voice to be unique, authentic, present, resonant, alive and communicative.  We will look at the four main ‘themes’ within the work, destructuring, restructuring, presence and play; we will make time to reflect on the practical elements – and the more intellectual considerations in connection with other modalities in voice work.

Fitzmaurice Voicework® was developed by Catherine Fitzmaurice to enable actors to be more playful and present; allowing the voice to be reactive to the needs of the body, the breath and the thought in the present moment; creating more options within performance, freer creativity, and a deeper sense of the body’s ability to express with reactive freedom and energy in the breath, releasing psycho-physiological holding patterns and connected breathing constraints.  It is taught in the MFA Acting programs at Yale and Brown, as well as NYU undergraduate studios, the University of California – Irvine, Moscow Art Theatre School, Shanghai Theatre Academy, and many other theatrical institutions across the world.  It integrates well with other modalities of voicework, actor training, and is also used in corporate coaching and teacher training.

Much of the session will be an exploration, practical by nature; there will be time for discussion of individual and collective experience.  There will be some ‘floor’ work:  If you have floor space available and a yoga mat this will suffice.  Please wear loose-fitting clothes you are comfortable in for movement, and have layers that you can add or remove with changes of body temperature if needed.  If you have a zafu, or hard cushion, that would be helpful, along with somewhere to write [or scribble] notes.  If you do have a section of text learnt, a monologue, a section of a song or poem [around 8 lines] you will get the most out of the session.

Jedd Owen-Ellis Clark is a voice and singing specialist, practitioner, researcher, singer, writer and performer, teaching voice studies and practical vocal arts to actors, speakers and singers alike, at numerous conservatoire/university faculties and privately. He is a certified Fitzmaurice Voicework® teacher, and gained a MA [Distinction] in Practice of Voice and Singing from Guildford School of Acting, unique in its holistic practical study of interdisciplinary voice and singing pedagogies; he was awarded the Faculty Award from GSA in the same year.
His last song recital in 2016 encompassed 400 years of song in four languages, from baroque to 20th century, jazz standards, pop and modern musical theatre. He has presented, performed and created workshops for UK and international voice conferences on the theme of ‘Fellowship Singing’, and the challenging question: “Why do we come together – to sing?”.  Half way between academic skills and practical exploration, working across both artistic disciplines of speech and song, from primitive and physical voice release to improving technical skills and vocal performance development, he works with individuals’ voices to find a balance of strength and flexibility, breath flow and particularly presence; giving more openness to the voice and depth to performance.

https://www.fitzmauriceinstitute.org

https://www.fitzmauriceinstitute.org/writings

Vocal Traditions:  Fitzmaurice Voicework