You always have to start from yourself…That’s what you understand the best…So the deeper you go into yourself, actually, the more universal you come out on the other side (Abramovic in Huxley and Witts, 1996, p.21).

In contrast to traditional training methods that approach the various art forms in a fragmented way – such as in Dance, Singing and Acting – the concept of SoundBody frames an area of interdisciplinarity in performance practice through integrative voice and movement work.  The primal focus is on the organic integration of the vocal sound and the movement of the body. The reciprocal relationship between the two provides the performer not only with a wholly new, and universal, discipline in itself, but reveals the entire uncensored self, a self that is connected, vulnerable and real. 

The holistic practice is precisely equivalent to what Marina Abramovic recalls: a search into the deeper self. Particularly the vocal sound is used to go into the deepest recesses of the self that solely with ‘silent’ movement are not as easily accessible to us. The deepest sense of being alive, and of who one is, is formed by the breath. As the breath is usually silent we stop paying attention to it and leave it to do the works by itself. The voiced breath, however, reveals that which was and is inherently in us: It brings our soul to the surface and beyond.

The workshop can last from three up to six hours and is a very physical exploration through the body. It consists of various voice-led task settings as part of individual, partner and group work. The theoretical as well as practical underpinnings are inspired by a mixture of practices as well as my own research (e.g. Body-Mind Centering, Authentic Movment, 5Rhythms, Jerzy Grotowski’s Poor Theatre, Rudolf Laban’s Art of Movement, Roy Hart’s and Kristin Linklater’s Voice Work). Breathing, Improvisation, Meditation, Contact, Voice and Set as well as Free Movement Work form the framework for this transdisciplinary approach. Furthermore, it is experienced how sounding with one’s own voice supports the flow, dynamics and grounding of isolated movements as well as dance sequences. The participants are led to explore their individual form of expression and encounter in choreographed movement material how the use of the voice supports contemporary dance technique.

It is also important to mention that the vocalisations that the participants are encouraged to make do not include speech, song or other semiotic or aesthetically pleasing content. The practice focuses on the intuitive, free and untrained voice, i.e. abstract sound,  that is used to resonate through the entire body, thus providing a new kind of consciousness of the moving body. 

It is suited for all kinds of performers and particularly for those who would like to explore the interrelationship of the voice and the body, expand and train the vocal apparatus, find new creative outlets, let go of blockages and tensions as well as possibly reveal some hidden aspects of the self.