Movement

for

Vocal quartet

as in

what kind of movement is useful / interesting / necessary / justified for small ensemble vocal improvisation with text?

vocal preparation: humming, singing into the skin of the face, unvoiced consonant work [t,k,tch,s], exploration of registers, and dropping attention to pelvis with lip trill (connecting breath flow with low dynamic support)

ensemble preparation: walking in space from stillness to maximum group speed to stillness (listening exercise to open awareness to space: creating a perfect accelerando ritardando)

improvisation preparation: vocal quartet, where the defining factor is silence
*not a silent quartet. how might we frame silence?

performer question: can/should i move?

answer: yes, but let your movement be in service to the sound.

performer question: can/should i interact with the others?

answer: yes, but not though physical or character relationship. relate through the sound.

research: one performer with prewritten text (book), others respond vocally (undefined)

adjustment: we tried with performers’ eyes closed
*corinna was eager to perform with others who were not sighted. she felt like she didn’t miss anything, because no one was using sight to interact with each other or the audience.

facilitator question: what movement was useful / interesting / necessary / justified?

collective answers:
when they moved to change the location of the sound source

when they moved to hear the sound better
when singing made me move
when i needed to close my eyes and walk away, because it got too much for me

when i wanted to subvert the situation by entering the audience, and also because i wanted to go to each audience member individually
when their movement/placement affected the sound of their voices ex. holding the book in front of face, standing in a corner, covering mouth with hands

general notes:
session lasted around an hour but we could have easily done one more hour.
improvisations were untimed, and were between 5 and 8 minutes each.
performers were great!

instant compositions were compelling
it was great that there was a mix of instrumentalists, dancers, and singers. everyone approached the text and vocalizing differently.

one participant commented that they felt comfortable singing in this situation, and that the text made them feel free.

maybe text is also a gateway for beginning vocal improvisors.

– page started by tsk. add thoughts freely!