Introduction to Fitzmaurice Voicework

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.