Mostly people say “I cannot sing”, as if it is a conclusive, simple fact about themselves that cannot change. Instead, I believe everyone can sing, its just that we haven’t been taught how to sing. I teach people how to free their natural voice. I want to share what I have learned about my own voice and my thoughts about this complex and mysterious area of human expression.
As a trained dancer from a young age, my raw inner fire was tamed somewhat by the grace and discipline of ballet. I spent hours and hours repeating techniques for core strength and refinement of movement. This increased my body intelligence. Instead of being consumed by fire I used the fire combined with discipline. This allowed me to shine with a deeper energy that entertained my audiences. However, I felt something was missing in my dance career. Like typical dancers, I spent most of my time in the studio and on stage silent and muted.
This all changed one creative day when I experimented with a wireless microphone attached to my body. During this session I discovered unique ‘breath’ and the natural sounds of my body while dancing. This reminded me of tribal cultures using a combination of dance, breath and sound in ritual. Examples include throat singing, native chanting, mantras and oral story telling.
From then on, the rebel in me began to defy the classical aesthetics of traditional dance, and I started to introduce work that challenged my physicality while singing. I became the first dancer in my dance company in Israel that was asked to sing. Choreography brought out of my body wailing-like voices combined with dark low throaty sounds.
I wanted to explore these mysterious voices more deeply so I decided to pursue Musical Theatre. This helped me learn to dance and sing at the same time. Funnily enough, after a few years I felt I had sold my soul to the devil! I had immersed myself in popular entertainment culture (including acting on TV shows) which didn’t connect with my deeper creative drives.
Though I can’t deny I gained great skills through musical theatre, I was still looking for more. I then trained with vocal teachers and speech therapists. Finally I moved into classical singing and trained in opera. I loved the virtuosity and athleticism of the classical techniques, and my voice range grew wider.
After 15 years of a wonderful career in Israel and Europe, I decided to move to Canada in 2002. Arriving in Calgary as a fresh stranger, I started again from zero, and it has been my home ever since. I have also enjoyed teaching dance and voice at the Alberta Ballet School, the U of C Dance faculty and privately. My company, La Caravan Dance Theatre creates “dance operas” with contemporary dance, ballet and live vocals.
From my experience and multi disciplinary training, I have found that the best way to free the voice is to focus on the body as an instrument and the breath as the source. The metaphor is similar to how the wind blowing through a flute creates sound. Many of my students have needed different approaches, whether they are young, old, beginners or advanced. Some students have needed to overcome physical dysfunctions, mental and emotional fears and self-judgment. My Calgary studio has become like a laboratory experiment in voice expression, and my ears and eyes started noticing immediate results when the body and breath is made a key foundation in voice training.
I notice that people feel they can’t or won’t sing for various reasons. One of the main reasons is some kind of trauma from the past, most likely in childhood when our values and identity were still being formed. An adult parent, teacher or caretaker could have reacted negatively when they heard us singing or playing with our voice. Societal beliefs like ‘girls should be quiet’ and ‘boys should be confident when speaking’ are ingrained in our collective psyches. The opinions of others regarding our voices, either positive or negative, determine how we perceive our voice, whether we like it or not.
In the process of growing up through our teenage years to adulthood, our bodies also started changing emotionally, physically and mentally. We began losing the carefree attitude of childhood and became more confused, frustrated, shy, angry, suppressed or depressed. As adults we feel easily ashamed and exposed. We usually don’t know who we are, what we should be, or how to show up in the world.
I’ve found that everyone has an authentic, unique voice, and that it can be brought out from beneath the layers of confinement and fear.
The voice is a symptom, result and a mirror of our soul. Our bodies are like a memory bank, like a battery that needs to be charged. Without our body functioning fully, our instrument is affected and we cannot sing freely and naturally. This is why I focus on body awareness when teaching people to sing.
We all have a voice, we all have a heart, we all can sing. I believe that when we free our voice, a healing takes place for ourselves, for others and for the planet.
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