As I work my way through Rodenburg and Lipman on voice, I'm struck by the complexity of something we do all the time, almost reflexively it seems, yet who listens to themselves and notices their vocal quality? The constraints they put upon their voice? Not me. But listening to the variety of voices, paces, and yes, intonations today and aided by David's summarizing activities and observations, I'm realizing it is time I brought some focus to what I've taken for granted as I tell stories.
Does anyone besides me feel a little intimidated by Rodenburg? Right now, her book feels too overwhelming and Lipman's chapter too short (where is the book that is j-u-s-t right? asked Goldilocks) but it is interesting that both make the point of useless/unproductive tension that blocks effective use of our voice. I did find Lipman's warm-up suggestions useful, tried them out and immediately saw the limitations of trying to learn something from the aural/physical realm from a printed text. When he says to yawn, what does he mean? Does anyone know? Are we supposed to mimic opening the jaws wide, closing the eyes, and making that descending sound? Or just the sound minus the wide jaws? I do hope we get to try out some of these exercises in class, although with the Friday deadline for our personal stories (yikes!) I know we must turn our attention to that topic this week.
This is why I've found this class was so perfectly coupled with storyteller's gym. Cathy, if you're not in it you might want to consider asking David if you can sit in for a session. It's very cool. We always start with some physical activity and focus on the physicality of telling and then we look at ways in which we can open our imaginative sides. It's a very cool experience!
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the yawning, I believe he means the whole shebang -- wide jaw and all. It helps me!
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