Short Courses & Events / Archive

Making Holistic Connections Between the Voice, Body & Emotions

Tuesday 26th March 2024, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)

Discover the rich and expanding capabilities possible within you as this course introduces you to the Emotional Body® method’s approach to making physical, vocal and emotional connections. The emotional effector patterns will be introduced as the primary approach during this two-hour introductory lesson. References will be made to how Estill Voice Training® and gentle movement lessons inspired by the Kinēsa® process of somatic education can also assist individuals in expanding their expressive capabilities and developing harmonious communications throughout the body.

Emotional effector patterns are precise breathing and muscle manipulations linked to specific emotional feelings. Each effector pattern has three parts: (1) a breathing pattern, (2) facial expression, and (3) postural attitudes. All three parts work together to create one effector pattern, or biological code, that directly stimulates nerves, cells and organs. The resulting pattern works like a key that opens the door for one particular basic emotion to express throughout the entire body. The patterns are based on scientific findings, independent of gender or social heritage influences, and result in the expression of basic universal emotions and modes of expression.

Estill Voice Training® is an evidence-based system that promotes body awareness and mindfulness and provides exercises designed to develop control of specific anatomical areas of voice production that contribute to the sound and feeling of the voice.

Kinēsa is a somatic method that combines kinaesthetic movement lessons with physical emotion regulation techniques and somatic sensing methods, all designed to assist the individual in raising their awareness of their individual habits, and helping them assess and consider opportunities to form new behaviours that might improve their overall wellbeing.

During this lesson participants will explore…

  • Emotional Effector Patterns and how they could impact the physical and vocal expression;
  • Vocal expressions of emotion and feelings, and the impact internally and externally of what occurs with the shared energy that sounded expressions create;
  • Fully connecting the voice and body with the patterns, along with intentions, desires, and actions in the creation of more consistent, holistic expressions;
  • Concepts around physical, vocal and emotional personal tolerance levels, identifying and setting personal boundaries, and considering consent-based agency around emotional expressions;
  • Centering, destressing, revitalizing and restoring the nervous system to achieve a calm and restful state, and a quiet mind.

Professor Laura Bond

Laura Bond is a Full Professor of Drama and Interdisciplinary Studies at UNC Asheville teaching acting, vocal and physical expression, voice-over, voice acting, and emotional expression.

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Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.

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Sorry, this is an archived short course...

We have plenty of upcoming short courses coming soon. See details of some of them below or look at the full list of short courses.

Simultaneous Singing and Dancing in Musical Theatre: A Cross-Disciplinary Evidence Review
Tuesday 17th February 2026
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
(London Time)

Simultaneous Singing and Dancing in Musical Theatre: A Cross-Disciplinary Evidence Review

Debbie Winter
Dr Claire Thomas

This short course invites participants to critically examine the latest cross-disciplinary evidence on the physical and vocal demands of musical theatre performance. Drawing on a comprehensive literature review conducted by Debbie Winter and Claire Thomas (Voice Study Centre, University of Essex), the course explores research from voice science, dance medicine, sports science, and performance pedagogy.

It’s not a virus! Reconceptualizing and De-pathologizing Music Performance Anxiety
Thursday 19th February 2026
8:30 AM - 10:30 AM
(London Time)

It’s not a virus! Reconceptualizing and De-pathologizing Music Performance Anxiety

Rebecca Herman

Performance Anxiety is one of the most widespread and debilitating challenges facing musicians across all ages, nationalities and musical genres. Despite decades of research and the development of numerous interventions, we do not yet have an established way of supporting performers experiencing performance anxiety. Aimed at performers, teachers, researchers and students, this presentation will first summarise the current state of play in performance anxiety research, before exploring alternative ways to think about performance anxiety, drawing on new research outside of performance psychology...

Performing Pain: Vocal Health in Emotional Roles!
Thursday 19th February 2026
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Thursday 26th February 2026
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
(London Time)

Performing Pain: Vocal Health in Emotional Roles!

Louisa Morgan

How connected are acted emotions to our real-life emotions? Are they expressed differently? Do they feel different in the body? This 2-part course with Louisa Morgan looks at the potential impact of acted emotion on vocal health, why we should consider it as voice practitioners, and how to care for our performers needing to work with it.