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Volume 2, Issue 1
February 2006

Table of Contents:

A Message from the President
From the Editor
New Position Announcement
Help for Monticello’s Guides
VASTA Conference 2006
Your Board at Work
Former Member Search
Southeastern Theatre Conference

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Lisa Wilson

Dear VASTAns, 

I returned a phone call to an aging friend of mine today.  At 90 plus he battles his aging body: heart, breath, joints, deteriorated eyesight.  I am awed by my friend’s grace in aging and his immediacy.  He reminded me how “alive” Sharone was in the interview he gave, the day before his stroke fell him.  My friend spoke of truly living one day at a time, without assurance of tomorrow or taking it for granted that he would wake up.  My friend is an amazingly optimistic realist.  Ben knows that there is no guarantee of finishing his current writing project, an epic poem based on the life of an empress from 350 A.D.  Yet he bubbles with the enthusiasm of a young scholar who is working for the pleasure of the knowledge he is led into.  In the few moments I spent with him today, I was taken to the blues of the Mediterranean Sea, which are reflected in the tiles of the shrine built by the empress, the quandaries of power and religion, and unjust politics of a patriarchy.   

How does this relate to our work?  I don’t know about you, but I require reminders to appreciate the gifts we are given.  I need to remember not to wish my life away.  To be present, open to learning more, to sharing what I have learned without preconception of what must be the outcome.    

I spent last semester on sabbatical, a time I had laid out to reflect and work on the projects I have agreed to complete:  my autogenesis performance script and a chapter for a book.  Due to some serious health issues in family members, I spent a lot more time than I had anticipated, as primary care giver to these loved ones.  In the care giving process I reflected on my own aging but healthy body, and was reminded and very grateful for the knowledge, which supports and benefits my daily living. I was reminded that this knowledge comes directly from our profession.  In helping loved ones who have had to learn all over again how to walk, to breath, to support and stand, I realized this was what my reflective sabbatical was supposed to be about.  It brought home the tremendous gifts we have been given as voice teachers and coaches:  the pleasure of living in the body with awareness, with the capacity to alter or improve usage, the gift of passing on that knowledge to the students I am coming back to.  

While plunging headlong into the spring semester of teaching and rehearsal, I promise myself to put on the brakes and enjoy being present today.  I ask myself to take time to remember that we aren’t guaranteed anything and bring that gratitude into my busy life.

I wish you a good semester, the joy of the day, and look forward to seeing many of you this summer in Chicago.   

Please take the time to read the conference “teaser”; both the Board and planner Phil Timberlake have treasures in store for you this summer. 

Keeping on breathing, 

Lisa Wilson
VASTA President 04-06

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FROM THE EDITOR

Erica Tobolski

Dear Readers,

From time to time, we make mistakes; sometimes they are great, we hope for the minor. This month it is my pleasure to run a correction (or rather, an omission) from the last column of Member News. I say pleasure because I am familiar with Marya Lowry’s excellent work, first as a graduate student and more recently in her Lamentation workshop for the 2004 VASTA conference.

My apologies, Marya, but more importantly, thanks for your contributions and uplifting spirit.

MARYA LOWRY (Brandeis University) in August returned to Roy Hart Centre in France to teach a sold-out, six-day workshop, "Deep Song: The Art of Lamentation." In September, Marya developed and co-directed Shakespeare Shakedown: The Tempest Behind My Eyes for incarcerated girls ages 12-17, the conclusion of a three-week workshop. For Actors' Shakespeare Project's production of Twelfth Night, she played Olivia, December-January in Boston. On March 4-5, she will offer "Ecstatic Voice and the Art of Lamentation" workshop in NYC.

If you have ideas for articles or would like to submit an article for future issues, please contact Erica Tobolski, Editor at tobolski@sc.edu, or Allison Hetzel, Associate Editor at ahetzel25@aol.com

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New Position Announcement

Antonio Ocampo-Guzman has been selected as Associate Membership Director for the VASTA organization. He will assist Mark Enright, Membership Director, in increasing the outreach to potential new members. If you know someone that might be interested in joining VASTA, give their name and contact information to Mark at markenright@juno.com or to Antonio at ocampito@cox.net. Thanks and welcome Antonio.

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Help for Monticello’s Guides

Kate Burke

Thomas Jefferson’s majestic Monticello crowns Charlottesville’s highest hill. THE attraction in this small, old town, it is the hub of a wheel of land sacred to the memory of several presidents, including Madison, Monroe and Wilson. People move here, drawn by Jefferson’s aura, legacy or sense of style. Others speak wryly of “St. Thomas Jefferson” or ask tongue-in-cheek “what would Thomas do?

Asked to do a workshop for Monticello guides, I arrived at the Jefferson Presidential Library to check out the room where I’d be teaching: the luxuriously appointed parlor of a former summer retreat where Franklin Roosevelt waited out stretches of WWII with friends. I had asked that chairs be arranged in a large circle, and 40 or so women and one brave man gathered there.

When giving workshops I strive to give value for monies received, but this one seemed a bit daunting. Many guides have little prior public speaking experience, but their love of history compels them to serve. Many are women in the splendid time of life willing to give tours indoors and outdoors in all weathers in Jefferson’s exquisite and expansive gardens.

When offering a workshop I tend to divide the work (and my hand-out) into 3 or 4 areas of focus. This solid, rhetorical division provides an umbrella under which I can “place” any exercise I present. In this case I used “Warm-up,” “Resonance,” and “Articulation,” giving a brief sketch of each to lead in to the work.

The group sat rapt, yet sometimes flashed deer-in-headlights looks of those experiencing their first voice work. I’ve learned when I see this look to stop and give participants time to catch their breath. I questioned them about their speaking demands (how many tours per day, how long a workday, particular problems needing to be addressed, etc.), and after some dialogue it felt right to launch into a second taste of what I had introduced earlier. Phased repetitions seem to make for a deepened experience of new or foreign material.

Arthur Lessac’s notion of the “familiar event” is the foundation of my teaching, and I feel that with it I can pass on a means for continued, independent voice exploration, keeping my pact with myself to provide tangible work that makes a real difference. With theatrical groups I might start with text work to get at a meaningful experience of voice work, but not in this case. Monticello guides know a great deal about Jefferson, his slaves, his house and his gardens, but the unscripted information is accessed by the spatial stimulation of walking into a given area, which calls up a particular knowledge base. It’s interesting to watch this while taking a tour. Text work didn’t seem a viable way in for this group, and I ima gined that guides might feel sensitive about speaking their own version of facts in front of peers.

Recent Vastavox discussions support the notion that a relaxed, “yawned” “M” sound allows most folks to perceive resonance front and center, if not up top. So, after a few breathing and body exercises to get the group accustomed to my voice and speaking rhythms and to establish an atmosphere of safety and light hearted play (using a few jokes) I began with “M” sounds.

Buzzing and resonant “M” sounds led easily to the magnificent and magical properties of the long “E” vowel sound. I gave beloved Arthur total credit but didn’t use the term “Ybuzz.” Naming a thing to neophytes can make of it an unattainable ideal. Playing with the long “E” allows for soft, reaching lips, “yawned” mouth space, and the vibratory, rin ging feel of the sound, all of which can then be felt and applied to large vowel sounds and robust, called “whoa”s. ( "Call" is the term Lessac uses for the rich, penetrating sound produced when certain vowel sounds are sung or spoken in the upper 2/3s vocal range with full " yawned" oral space.)

Even in a short workshop I think it crucial to work with each individual present. Each participant will have taken the risk to speak out, supported by the ensemble, and each will carry a memory of that courage away for comfort on a cold day. In this case I acknowledged all sounds by saying “thank you” and “all sounds are welcome,” especially when voicings were accompanied by self-critical comments. When participants signaled a perception of tonal change by a change in visual focus or facial expression, I linked their perception to an internal physical feeling and reinforced it mightily.

Consonants are a welcome mouth feel after the expansiveness of sustained, vibrated vowel sounds. I demonstrated some heavy, elocutionary-type consonants, contrasting them with the light, upbeat, musically percussive events of the Lessac Orchestra. The group marveled at the subtle clarity of the sounds. I promised that the sounds would make their guiding clearer with large groups and in open spaces, without strain or loudness. Individual work on the Orchestra ensued. The scat band I experienced at the recent Denver conference would have been just the ticket, but the guides tasted the light music of the consonants nonetheless.

We finished with a bit of text work. I asked each guide to choose 2-3 sentences always spoken in their tour, inviting them to chant a version and then immediately to speak a version. This exploration is one I learned from Cicely Berry and Andrew Wade in a Classical Text workshop in Tempe, AZ years ago. I use it repeatedly and have found it to be a kind of Ybuzz for text work. Even the tightest, most held voices began to flow, vibrate and change pitch in the spoken version. I pointed out specific, energized consonant and vowel sounds in the second versions. Participants could perceive the differences in the 2 versions and said they were eager to try the experience again on their own.

I concluded the workshop confident that participants had relaxed, taken risks, experienced keen vocal vibration and perceived changes in others’ voices as well as their own, a good outcome by any lights. I took questions and distributed the hand-out which included a “why voice work?” intro and a listing and/or description of each exercise introduced. Afterward the contact who requested the workshop invited me back for a second one.

Last summer I appeared as Lotte in Peter Shaffer’s Lettice and Lovage with the local Heritage Repertory Theatre. Twenty Monticello guides attended a performance and thoroughly enjoyed the antics of Lettice, an eccentric British tour guide. Shortly afterward I received an invitation to a V.I.P. tour of Monticello, including license to park near the house itself (unheard of), a leisurely tour with the personal assistant of the director of Monticello, and an opportunity to tour second floor rooms which are rarely opened to the public. This lovely gesture was tit for my tat: I took the guides on a tour of the Speaking Voice.  They in turn opened Monticello's hidden delights to me.

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VASTA Conference 2006 

“ Babble: Encountering Sound and Speech ”

Mark your calendars…
Set aside the date…
Run, don’t walk…

August 6-10, 2006 , following the ATHE Conference

Host: Roosevelt University in Downtown Chicago

Featuring:

See the April VASTA Voice for more detailed information on registration, accommodations and scheduling

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Your Board at Work

Lynn Watson

The board met in Chicago, Illinois on November 11, 12 and 13.

Attending were:
President: Lisa Wilson (LW)
President Elect: Phil Thompson (PT)
Board Member: Rena Cook (RC)
Board Member: Rocco DalVera (RDV)
Board Member: Marya Lowry (ML)
Board Member: Beth McGee (BM)
Board Member: Judylee Vivier (JLV)
Past President: Kate Ufema (KU)
Past Board Member: Kate DeVore (KDV)
Secretary: Lynn Watson (JLW)
Treasurer: Craig Ferre (CF)
Journal Editor: Mandy Rees (MR)
Director of Technology: Michael Barnes (MB)
2006 Conference Planner: Phil Timberlake (PNT)

The following is an overview of the meetings, which included written reports from officers and others not in attendance.

A substantial portion of the meetings was devoted to discussion and action items related to implementation of the VASTA VISION 2014 plan.

A motion was made to approve theGlasgow Board meeting minutes. Motion passed unanimously.

Erica Tobolski, Newsletter Editor, will move to running regular columns and including advertisements in the newsletter. VASTA members will get a 10% discount on advertising rates in the newsletter. Advertisement money will go to the scholarship endowment. The “Mid-Atlantic” and “New England” newsletter regions will be reorganized into “Northeast” and “ New York” regions. The Board expressed gratitude to Michael Barnes, Erica Tobolski and Allison Hetzel for undertaking the considerable task of making the newsletter transition from print to electronic format.

Lise Olson reported that the profit from the Glasgow conference was approximately $10,000. Congratulations to Lise on the organizational and financial success of the conference.

VASTA’s 20 th birthday will coincide with the 2006 Chicago VASTA and ATHE conferences. The occasion will be noted and formally celebrated at the conferences.

Mark Enright reported on membership renewal. Renewal by email began in 2005. Member enrollment and retention are priorities.

Ginny Kopf reported on the mentor program. She continues to match mentors with mentees and will prepare an article on the subject for the newsletter.

Amanda Durst will continue in her position as VASTA Archivist. Plans are underway to collect oral histories of VASTA.

RC reported on the potential for having a VASTA graduate student representative to ATHE’s graduate group, whose focus is professional development. RC will work with the Board to formalize the process of applying to be the VASTA graduate representative to ATHE.

RDV reported on international relations and will continue to gather information in this area.

In spring 2006, elections will be held to replace RDV, PT, and ML who will step down as Board members in the summer of 2006. PT will remain on the Board in his new capacity as President Elect. To expand input from membership, the Board will invite an “early career” VASTA member to attend the next Board Meeting in the summer of 2006.

RDV reported on productive discussions with NAST for VASTA to function in an advisory capacity in the development of guidelines for voice training curricula.

Craig Ferre reported that VASTA’s available funds have grown by $10,000, due in part to strong membership numbers. The budget shortfall of 2004 has been made up, and VASTA continues in good financial health.

MB reported on technology. He will create a survey on member response to the electronic newsletter. JLV reported that she received a good response to her survey on volunteering for VASTA.

PNT reported on the VASTA August 2006 Conference. The 2006 conference will be held at Roosevelt University. The conference title is “Babble: Encountering Sound and Speech.” VASTA will request that member presentations include a handout describing pedagogical considerations.

Budgeting for the “Regional Outreach Grant” (ROG) and “Regional Outreach Workshop” (ROW) was discussed. Members can apply for up to $150 for a ROG and up to $500 for a ROW. <http://www.vasta.org/resources/rog.pdf>

MR reported on the Voice & Speech Review. Copies of the 2005 journal were printed and sent to Scotland for the conference. Journals were mailed to members not attending the Glasgow conference. We continue to search for a new publisher for the journal.

VASTA will continue to participate in the ACTF Irene Ryan Awards, with PT as the ACTF Liaison.

Respectfully submitted
Lynn Watson
Secretary

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Former Member Search

Mark E. Enright

Dear Members,

I would like to take the opportunity to introduce myself to the VASTA membership as the new Director of Membership. I have been a voice teacher and coach for the last 7 years in New York and have been an actor since birth. I have been extremely fortunate to have had tremendous teachers of voice who are all part of the VASTA community. I consider myself lucky to join their ranks as part of an organization that is celebrating another significant milestone in 2006, our 20th year of incorporation. Our roots date back to 1968, when a fledgling group of the American Education Theatre Association (AETA) organized to address the state of "Actor training within the United States." The group, Dorothy Runk Mennen, Kristin Linklater, Sue Ann Park, and Robert Parks, spoke passionately to the AETA about the need to address the lack of support for vocal training in academia. Undoubtedly, this was the start of something that influenced theater programs in the last half of the 20th century and into the present. Many theatre programs in the United States can proudly state that they have at least one voice and speech instructor among their faculty, and the profile of voice and speech professionals has continued to rise in theatres across the United States. In many ways we owe this group of people, and the many who have followed in their footsteps, a tremendous amount of gratitude for the opportunities we have had in our own careers over the years. In the 20 years of our organization, VASTA's core strengths have always been the diversity of its membership and its desire to raise the standards of our profession. We broaden our own perspectives by learning from each other, and that is why we continually invite new and current, members to actively participate. Every year as we gain new members, we unfortunately also lose touch with others. I have compiled a list of members who we have lost touch with over the past few years and hope, with your help, that we can invite them back into the fold. So now I turn to you. If you know the whereabouts of any of past members from the list below, please contact me by email at menright@med.cornell.edu or by phone at 212-875-7941.

Mark Enright
VASTA Membership Director

1997 and 1998 former members:

• Absten, Pamela
• Allen, Ruby
• Anderson, Isabelle J.
• Baker, Natalie M.
• Baker, Danette M.
• Blager, Florence
• Blanchette, Diane
• Bleecker, Joy
• Bloch, Beverle
• Bredenkamp, Esther
• Brier, Lara K.
• Case-Sulby, Susanne M.
• Dunne, Lee F.
• Engene , Gene L.
• Felder, Sarah
• Fleck, Charlotte
• Gabriel, Denise L.
• Gaupp, Andrew C
• Graziano, Robert
• Harvey, Pamela Lynn
• Higgins-Lancaster, Karla
• Hirrel, Christine
• Holland, Steve
• Huff, Helen
• Jerome, Roger
• Kachingwe, Michael
• Kincaid, Bill
• Klautsch, Ann
• Kozan, Anita L.
• Kraus, Roger
• Kung, Jennifer
• Lane-Plescia, Gillian
• Leader, Charlie
• Lemmer, Karina
• Leslie, Rachael
• Linkins, Jason B.
• Livingston, Linda M
• Lowery, Barbara
• Mayans, Nancy
• McCain, Susan
• McDougall, Christine
• Michaelson, Jonathan
• Miller, Tobias
• Mulligan, Kathleen
• Ohrenstein, Dora
• Olson, Darlene F.
• Parker, Susanne
• Pitblado, Diane
• Potgieter, Christo
• Reed, Laura
• Rice, James Goodwin
• Sevec-Johnson , Christine
• Silberschlag, Joan S
• Snow, Donna
• Spergel, Mark
• Tarnoff, Jill Wolf
• Thorne-Chawkin, Phyllis
• VonHallett, Diana-Marie
• Wagar, Paul
• Wesson, Kathleen B.
• White, Karen E.
• Wiltshire, Anne
• Winegar-Painter, Sharon
• Withers-Wilson, Nan
• Younts, Shane Ann
• Zekan, Marta A.
• Zielinski, JoAnne

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Southeastern Theatre Conference: Voice and Speech Presentations and Meetings

When: March 1-5
Where: Orlando, FL
How to Register: visit <www.setc.org>

Wednesday March 1:

4pm: Meet and Greet/Things That Work: Bring a burning issue, a challenge you’re facing, and a voice or speech exercise to share. A time to relax with other voice and speech trainers with some hospitality.

7:30 pm performance of LA NOUBA by Cirque du Soleil

Thursday Mar 2:

Actor Warm-up Alana Ghent and Mia Self

9:00 am: Safe and Effective Vocal Variety and Authenticity in Stage Combat: Brian Evans

10:30 am: Cockney Dialect for the Stage: Brian Evans

12:00 noon: Spice Up Your Dialects: Jamaican, Trinidadian and East Indian: Rinda Frye and Kamillah Long and Be Boyd

12:00 noon: Voice of the Archetypes II: Janet Rodgers and Marlene Johnson

4:00 pm: Return of the Queen’s English: Learning a British Dialect: Daydrie Hague

5:00 pm: Voice and Speech Committee Business and Brainstorming Session: Bring your ideas for workshops for next years SETC conference

8:00 pm When 16 Bars Go Right: Laura Wayth

Friday Mar 3:

 8:00 am: Actor Warmup: Marlene Johnson and Sarah Barker

2:30 pm: Dialect Triggers for Improv or Multiple Roles: Ginny Kopf

4:00 pm: Fuhgeddaboudit Again: Richard Gang

Saturday Mar 4:

8:00 am Actor Warmup: Brian Vernon

9:00 am: Brin ging Breath to the Body through Yoga: Alana Ghent

10:30 am: Tackling the Dialect Show: Ginny Kopf

1:00pm: Dialect Triggers for Improv or Multiple Roles

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©2005, Voice and Speech Trainers Association

Questions or comments? E-mail us at vastavoice@vasta.org

This site is designed and maintained by VASTA Director of Technology, Michael J. Barnes , with assistance from Chris Neher.

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