February 10 Class

Today we learned a little bit about breath and breath support. The importance of these to an actor are second to none. Without breath, there is no voice.

Tommaso Salvini, a famous 19th century actor, said the three most important aspects of acting are "Voice, voice, and more voice."

This unit is about voice, and most theater teachers will tell you that Voice cannot be taught in one day, and cannot be taught in a few weeks. We are just going to be brushing over some of the bigger concepts in voice over the next few lessons so that you can have an idea and begin to expand your acting toolbox with voice work.

We talked briefly about Kristin Linklater today in class. She is one of the foremost vocal acting teachers in the country. Actors study her technique for years and continue to refine and use it over their whole careers. There is a tiny video on her website that you can click here to watch. It is small and poor quality, but the audio is great and you can get a feel for how a Vocal Coach teaches voice...hint, it involves the whole body.

We also hit the formal assignment of Dr. Seuss today, class time will be given next class to begin to work on this project. Performances for Dr. Seuss will happen February 23 & 25.

Next class, we will be working on differing inflection, tongue twisters & diction exercises. See you then!