New Thought Vermont

The Heart of Voice Movement Therapy: The Work and Its Application

An Experiential and Information Day

8:30 AM – 5:00 PM on October 24, 2015 at the Weston Playhouse

Workshop Sessions

Workshop 1A: (Morning) Singing/Voicing in Groups and Solo: Voice Movement   Therapy for Choruses and Choirs

Workshop 1B: (Afternoon) The Song as the Container for the Personal Story

Workshop 2: (Morning & Afternoon) Theatre of the Voice

Schedule

8:30—9:15   Registration and Gathering Time at the Weston Playhouse

9:15—9:45   Welcome and Brief Introduction to the Work of Voice Movement Therapy

9:45               Transition to Workshop Sessions

10—12:30    Morning Sessions 1A or 2

12:30-1:45   Lunch on Your Own

1:45—4:15   Afternoon Sessions 1B or 2

4:15—5:00   Closure

Cost: $35 for the day

Registration fee includes workshop sessions and light refreshments—lunch on your own. Please mail this registration form with payment (in the form of a check) to: New Thought Vermont, PO Box 185, Weston, VT 05161

Note: No admission possible without prior registration due to space constraints, and registrations will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis.
Download Registration Packet

Workshop Session 1A (Morning)

Singing/Voicing In Groups and Solo: Voice Movement Therapy for Choruses and Choirs, presented by Melanie Harrold, UKCP, VMTR

Singing together can be one of the most powerful tools for creating community.  The non-verbal components of rhythm, muscle, breath and sound mixed with melody and meaning invites eye contact and collective embodied agreement through repetition and harmony. This archaic tribal sense of belonging resonates and calls to us in our 21^st Century malaise of isolation and loss of self-worth, drawing us forward into a place of connection and empowerment through the sharing of our voices and experiences.

‘Love lies in the simplest of things, an evening sunset, when a blackbird sings.’  Fundamentally, singing together brings us into relationship with the complexity of the human condition and the simplicity of the desire for embodied, voiced human connection.

Melanie will be leading you through a morning of voice warm-ups and breathing exercises for choirs and choruses.  Through the medium of VMT she will focus on the embodied voice through resonance, tone and gesture, shaping and honing our singing, bringing our songs to life.

Melanie has an earthy and warm approach to her teaching that welcomes all singers across all styles of music.  We shall raise our voices…..we shall endeavour to Raise the Roof of the Weston Playhouse.

Workshop Session 1B (Afternoon)

Song as the Container for the Personal Story, presented by Christine Isherwood, BA Hons UK, Dip Assert Tr, VMT-R

In this workshop we will journey through some of the voice and movement work which constitutes Voice Movement Therapy, leading to an opening up of the voice and self. Entering into the sacred space of song as yet uncharted, allowing the body to sing itself. Through song we will engage with some of the pains, joys, and tribulations of life, finding and locating a new relationship with ourselves and all we encounter.

An experiential workshop with gentle movement. Suitable for all.

Workshop Session 2 (Morning & Afternoon)

Theatre of the Voice, presented by Carol Grimes, VMTR

Bring a hat, shawl, sarong or jacket…an item of clothing that makes you feel FANTASTIC!

The performer: Why do some people desire to sing, act, in fact, use a voice for a living? What lies inside the voice that speaks and sings? Explore how to be authentic in performance. This workshop may help you overcome stage fright and be present in the moment with the music, the song and the lyric, be it a large or small gathering or a workshop group.

Working with the unique and mysterious performer inside. Exploring persona. Who is she, who is he? Working with breath, movement and voice; with rhythm and melody; with your performing self.  You can whisper and roar, sing songs of love and passion; the grand toast or the poignant lament; a lullaby or a song of strength.

I love working with the rather contradictory form, guided improvisation. This aspect of my working life has given me many unexpected moments with my own performances and writings and with Clients, Groups and Choirs, enabling, through the modality of VMT, to work with voice, breath and the choreography of the body resulting in the unique ‘performance’ of the individual within the group and the group as a whole. Although I begin essentially leading and or guiding the process, the freedom of improvisation finds new ways into the unlocking of the unnecessary mysteries of the musical singing voice, especially for those who may have had no musical background or experience but desire to voice and express pulse, rhythm, timbre, lilt and cadence. Music accompanies language and articulates emotion, and our collective songs are a vast vault containing all that has been us, is us, and will be us.  To breathe is to be alive; in heartbeat and in pulse and rhythm – a harmonious integration of the voice and the body.