At Pearl Studios 500 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY, 4th floor August 9 through 14, 2022 I will lead a workshop of Kristin Linklater's Sound & Movement sequence of exercises extending into some of W. A. Aikin's vowel exercises (the source of Kristin's vowel work) followed by my original work with vowels and consonants, phonetic pillows and text.
Bring a well memorized text in order to check in with yourself between exercises. We will work each day from 12:30 to 5:30, taking a quick half hour break from 2:15 to 2:45. See detailed schedule, below.
The Workshop fee is $700. Venmo is the preferred payment method, you may also pay by Paypal, Zelle, or credit card. To register, you can reach me at LouisColaianni@gmail.com
It's been about 7 years since I've led Sound & Movement in New York, please be vaccinated or exempt. Let's make this a workshop of new beginnings, imaginative possibilities and rich collaboration. Hope to see you there.
"Louis Colaianni's ... underlying philosophy is the same as that which permeates Freeing The Natural Voice ... so, one need no longer divide voicing from speaking."
-Kristin Linklater
Workshop Schedule
Days 1-4, 12:30 PM to 5:30 PM, August 9-12, Linklater’s Sound & Movement progression. Exercises designed to affect the deep embodiment of spoken language impulses, using the strong imagery related to color and heightened physical presence. Interactive exercises with a strong emphasis on body to body sharing of breath sound and language.
Day 5, 12:30 PM to 5:30 PM, August 13 W. A. Aikin’s vowel exercises, which were Kristin Linklater’s inspiration for Vowel Work. These exercises emphasize a relaxed, yet energized, vocal tract and articulators, and develop passive (rather than placed) resonance. The central exercise is the resonating ladder (Linklater’s source for Zoo Woe Shaw), which stimulates the intrinsic undertones and overtones of each vowel. A wonderful warmup for text work.
Day 6, final day, 12:30 PM to 5:30 PM, August 14 Colaianni Speech progression. Combining the teachings and exercises of Kristin Linklater and W. A. Aikin. The exercises combine Linklater’s voice-freeing exercises (See Freeing the Natural Voice, Drama Publishers second edition, 2006) with W. A. Aikin’s vowel work, (see The Voice, Longmans, Green and Company, 1910). The exercises include whispering vowels, sighing vowels on sound, innovative application of a wide array of vowels to Linklater’s voice progression exercises, and a kinetic embodiment of vowels and consonants inspired by Linklater’s Sound & Movement progression as well as exercises inspired by Aikin, Montessori and Steiner. All exercises are designed to launch into language, including words in both isolated and connected speech, sound substations for accents and dialects, dramatic literature, improvised language, and poetry.
Louis Colaianni is a Visiting Associate Professor, at the David Geffen School of Drama, Yale University. Has also taught at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Vassar College, Dartmouth College, The Actors Studio at Pace University, Columbia University, The Eugene O’Neill Center, Trinity Repertory Theatre Conservatory, and Syracuse University. Voice, dialects and text coaching clients have included, Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, The Weeknd, Don Cheadle, Anna Gunn, America Ferrera, Maisie Williams, Marsha Mason. He has coached productions for Appletelevision, Netflix, HBO and Amazon Prime; was Voice and Text Director for three seasons at Oregon Shakespeare Festival; has also coached dozens of productions for regional theatres, Broadway, and Off-Broadway; has led workshops across the US and in England, Wales, Scotland, Finland, Germany, and Australia; taught many month-long intensives with Shakespeare & Company and trained one-on-one with Kristin Linklater to teach Sound & Movement. He is a Designated Linklater Voice Teacher, class of 1987.