ATHE Conference

Summer 1998, San Antonio

The 1998 Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) Conference is being held in San Antonio, Texas, August 12 - 15. Although final plans for VASTA presentations have not been completed, at this point in the planning the following VASTA Programs have been chosen:

Debut Panel: Eric Armstrong and Dawn Mari McCaugherty will begin the Debut Panel with a presentation titled RELISHING TEXT. This workshop proposes ways to develop response to language's inherent qualities and demands on the speaker. (Re)discover the pleasure/power of language, based in awareness of its kinesthetic qualities. In the latter part of this session Rena Cook will share the exercises that provide the foundation of Patsy Rodenburg's work, focusing on breath, support, placing the voice and then applying it to text work. This workshop, VOICE: TEACHING THE BASICS OF BREATH, SUPPORT AND PLACEMENT, will be most beneficial for those who have never been exposed to Patsy's work and for those who want a new look at some basics that we as voice teachers often take for granted.

THE EXPRESSIVE ACT: INTEGRATING BODY AND VOICE. Michael Lugering and Louis Kavoras will introduce and demonstrate a preparatory technique for the training and development of the actor's instrument. In this experiential approach, the traditionally disparate disciplines of acting, voice and movement are synthesized in a dynamic and vital form termed "the expressive act." This truly integrated and holistic approach to the craft of acting should have practical and theoretical relevance to a wide ATHE audience primarily voice, movement and acting instructors, directors, dancers and performance theorists.

EXTENDED VOCAL TECHNIQUES AND THEIR USE IN CURRENT VOICE TRAINING AND THEATRICAL PRODUCTION. Carol Pendergrast, Marya Lowry and David Smukler will demonstrate and discuss unusual techniques for vocal training, developed by Roy Hart, Suzuki, and Tran Quang Hai (Mongolian overtone chanting). Both the potential benefits and pitfalls of these techniques will be discussed. Examples will be cited and video samples shown of these techniques in use in theatrical productions.

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FEELING SOUND: AN APPROACH TO SPEECH AND DIALECT PEDAGOGY. The session, lead by Dudley Knight, will be a demonstration with group participation. It will allow participants to experience the process of building articulation skills to a high level of sound distinction and sound awareness, but wholly separate from any prescriptive patterning. The entire International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) of sounds used in language will be explored, as well as the muscular actions of articulation that can enable us to feel a dialect pattern without relying solely on key sound changes.

THE INTEGRATION OF FELDENKRAIS. Elizabeth Moulton and Lesley-Ann Timlick will examine the benefits of integrating vocal practice with the Feldenkrais Method. It will reflect how the fusion of these disciplines can extend the actor's transformational abilities. Goals of the presentation are: to explore the benefits of integration of voice and movement practices, to reveal an integrated training practice, to reveal to others voice and movement educational practices which work with multi-cultural student population.

IT'S IN THE BAG: AN ABSTRACT ADVENTURE WITH VOICE & MOVEMENT. This participatory workshop, presented by Kate Ufema and Ann Bergeron, will make use of abstract sound and movement to explore text. Using 'Full Body Masks' ( lycra bags that cover the full body), words will be "dehumanized" in order to reach the essence of the text.

MULTI-SENSORY TECHNIQUES FOR TRAINING DYSLEXIC ACTORS. This discussion/ workshop will assist educators in helping dyslexic students realize their full vocal potential in non-evasive approaches to vocal articulation and pronunciation. Diane Winslow and Carolyn Blackinton will address many issues confronting people with special learning needs and give alternative multi-sensory methods for teaching students who struggle with conventional means of learning to shape phonemes.

STAGE SMOKE AND THE ACTOR'S HEALTH. In a safety conscious age, actors and their advocates are raising serious concerns about the health effects of stage smoke, or fogs. Barbara Acker will discuss the principal types and methods of generating smoke and offer advice on safe fogs. Dudley Knight will discuss the possible health risks. It is crucial to educate directors, acting and voice teacherseveryone in the business of theatre to put health before spectacle.

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