The Source of Voice
Silke Volkmann | 22-29 June 2012
Price: EUR 450 (GBP 390)
(Standard shared accommodation or tent and 3 meals per day included)
Explore your vocal potential and its connection with your body, breath and movements. Discover in playful ways how to express and communicate the abundant aspects of your being through sounds, words and songs. You will find: To discover your vocal potential is to discover yourself more deeply.
With bodywork, toning and sound meditations we free the flow and power of the natural voice and learn to move the voice inside the body. Later we add voice techniques for singing and speaking in different pitches and timbres. Improvisations and exercises challenge you to find new qualities of your voice. This “sound material” can be used as a basis for experimenting with individual texts and songs.
By singing together we create community as one big “mouth”. Listening to pitches, sound qualities and rhythm becomes as important as making sound. What happens when we listen not just with the ears but with the whole body? Equally the whole body can be considered a “mouth”–a source of sound.
This workshop is an opportunity for exploration and going beyond what you already know. There is no right or wrong. Every aspect is worth expressing. The voice always leads you to the next step. Sometimes to places you didn’t expect before…
The instrument is you. Enjoy!
Though this workshop is open to anyone interested in opening their voice more fully, it can also be beneficial to voice professionals (singers, actors, speakers). They will gain additional experience in taking a holistic approach to the voice. Children are welcome! Childcare at workshop times possible: Two creative teenagers aged 12 and 16 will entertain your youngsters for a small fee!
Please bring:
- A song you like to sing yourself and a typical one from your own country.
- A small text, not more than one page (DIN-A 4). This might be a poem or a prose text or an idea for a speech you would like to hold.
- A yoga mat or towel (or something similar) for working on the ground
- Loose clothing
- Paper and pen for taking notes–coloured pens may also be useful
In attending this course you accept that you are fully responsible for taking care of your own physical and mental health. If you have physical limitations, e.g. in your ability to move your body or spine, please talk to the leader before the workshop starts so that we can take care of this together.
Course leader: Silke Volkmann, vocal coach and drama teacher, diploma in cultural pedagogy.
Silke works as a freelance coach for voice, speech and presentation. This work is open for everyone who is interested in using their voice more consciously. Often she supported people in the sectors of business and science. She also provides trainings for choirs and performers and leads a circle for harmonic singing. Formal theatre training, acting experiences and exploration of consciousness have great impact on her work.
Silke lives in the country near Berlin and has come several times to Greece to give summer workshops.
For more about Silke’s work: www.voicepresence.info (in German)
Member of the European network of voice workers: www.stimme.at
“The voice is for me a guide to explore and discover what “intensity” means in life. How can we bring a sparkling quality into conversations and depth into what we say? Voice is much more than words. The physical quality of the voice is such a honest indicator of how we really feel. I love to sing–and share this love with other people”
