Voice and Speech IV

(5 Credits)

Fall Year 2 Voice and Speech Discipline: Second year builds on the skills of awareness, anatomy, phonetics, and flexibility acquired in first year and delves deeper into the study of character idiolect and accents. Speech is investigated as a means to transformational acting. Students study a myriad of different speech patterns and accents using the International Phonetic Alphabet, vocal tract posture, prosody, flow of sound, and over all physicality of the speaker. We play in a palate of exercises that help identify where the body/mind tends toward tension and contraction in order to protect itself through habitual unconscious behavior. This year includes a Cabaret performance, so there is also focus on the physical elements of sung storytelling. In the second semester, students are encouraged to work on material that is contemporary.