How Boring Killed Breath Work, and Breath Work Killed Voice
Ah, Breath Work for actors. For years, the voice gurus of the world have attempted to make this integral aspect of voice and acting training more interesting but, alas, few have succeeded. The average breath exercise will accomplish little more than a maddening hyperconsciousness of the breath, itself, causing more tension than was there at the start. This is not to say that breath work is futile or that the traditional exercises have no merit. The truth is, most actors will not stay interested long enough to see the benefits. …especially in LA.
A couple of years ago, I was asked to teach a voice class at a well-known conservatory, only to have the plug pulled one week before, for the following reason: Students would rather not have a voice class. They say it’s boring.
Don’t mince words, Guys.
It would be easy to call the students, referenced above, lazy and to criticize them and their institution for undervaluing the role of voice work in character development. But, I don’t blame them. …In fact, I think voice class is boring too. Usually, that is. And that’s precisely why I went to grad school for it.
My theory is this: actors aren’t seeing the connection between breath work and character work. And, since breath is the foundation of voice, voice work (as a whole) gets a bad rap.
Growing up, I struggled with math. I think this was the case because I never had a math teacher who could make me appreciate number manipulation in a context about which I gave a hoot. And, because of this, I gave up on math in high school. Looking back, I would have benefitted from learning more of the ways in which I might apply the math I was learning. And word problems don’t count, thank you very much. I needed to get in the field – get my hands dirty – and take an active role in learning math conceptually.
Breath work should be approached in the very same way. Relaxation exercises are well and good, to start, but then we (the actors) should be encouraged to get on our feet and begin applying breath to voice and voice to character, right away.
Breath, after all, is inspiration. The inward breath is both a physiological phenomenon, called inspiration, and a manifestation of spontaneous thoughts/ideas, also called inspiration. And, in speech, inspiration directly precedes expression. And I think we can all agree that the ability to express emotions and ideas clearly, is the cornerstone of fine acting.
That said…
Stay tuned for my next installment – Breath Is the Soul of Character – and we’ll begin putting this concept into action.
Kristina runs private voice and dialect class in Hollywood, as well as around the world via Skype.
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