Voice and Speech II

Catalog description

A continuation of THEA 520C. THEA 821C Voice and Speech II (2) THEA 821C is the second in a sequence of voice and speech courses for the actor. This second semester installment will continue the focus of voice/speech training addressed in THEA 820: focus on awareness and conditioning activities related to breath, posture, resonance and articulation. Prose and poetry readings will be used for application activities. Students will experience activities that will heighten their physical awareness of vocalizing. Most activities will involve a re-learning of how they speak, bringing to their conscious awareness the processes of voice/speech which were initially learned through early childhood nurturing. Class events will include awareness of breath patterns and the means to release inhibitive behaviors related to spinal posture, head and neck alignment, and musculature along the breath/vocal tract. Students will also gain awareness of how breath relates to their expressive/emotional system.Class activities will also include physical awareness of the consonant and vowels sounds and their phonetic transcriptions. Each event will strive to improve actors' intelligibility and increase musicality of speech. Through application assignments with word lists, sentences, poetry and prose, students will increase language sensitivity.This semester will also address voice quality issues directly and how they relate to the above. Specific events will focus on vibratory awareness in primary resonators and how to apply this awareness in all vocal life. Issues of vocal health, projection and emotional demands will be addressed.Students will be evaluated upon preparedness, work ethic, focus, openness to change, growth, degree of self-reliant recall and creative application of new skills. This studio performance class offers opportunity for assessment from the instructor in each class session. Periodic assignments will be made to assess self-reliant application of the work.