Workshops Offered:

Use the contact form to get in touch or send us an email directly at info@vocalcontext.com for workshop inquiries.

Powerful and Resonant: Presentation Skills for Everyone

This workshop is for anyone who would like to be more confident and effective in public speaking. When we practice a speech, we generally focus on the content, but our tone and body language have far greater impact than the words used alone. Participants will gain awareness of their current speaking style and will learn clear and accessible ways to improve. Feedback is given from peers and the facilitator and participants will have ample time to practice in front of small groups.

Ideal for:

Teachers
Writers/poets who read their work out loud at readings
Business people
Politicians
Clergy

Still You: Achieving Accent Clarity

This workshop is for non-Native English Speakers who would like to be more comfortable and confident when speaking. Participants will become aware of what aspects of a standardized American or British accent are most important to learn and practice and will gain straightforward exercises on how to improve clarity and articulation Accent work is sensitive and often touches on parts of our identity and background, so this workshop is especially taught free of cultural judgment and without any aim to "reduce" participants. Participants will leave this workshop more confident about speaking English while keeping their pride of their first language and background intact.

Step Into Your Greatness: Audition Technique

This workshop is for actors and singers looking to improve their auditioning skills and aiming to increase their presence and impact when they are seen by directors and casting agents. In addition to providing feedback and side-coaching for audition monologues, participants will also become more comfortable entering the audition space and presenting themselves as someone warm, interesting, unique, and self-assured.

Speak The Speech, I Pray You: Introduction To Embodying Classical Text

This workshop is for actors who would like to be more connected and confident when performing Western Classical Texts such as Shakespeare, Greek drama, and poetry. Drawing from the work of Cicely Berry, Barbara Houseman, and other former RSC practitioners, participants will learn how structural elements of rhythm, sounds, rhyme, and punctuation create images, emotion, and drive for the characters of these texts. Speaking Shakespeare is the Olympics of theatre; it involves a fully connected and engaged body and voice. This workshop will help participants move away from small choices that dull characters and their actions and instead help them to expand in their own personal greatness to embody the characters boldly and dramatically.

Speak Your Truth: Empowerment Through Voicework

This workshop is for anyone who feels they have been silenced as an aspect of their identity such as race, gender, sexuality, language and would like to use voicework as a means of healing and speaking confidently while being one's self. Participants explore and discuss ways they have made themselves physically and vocally smaller in response to familial, peer, and societal pressures. Using this awareness, participants learn strategies to breathe more deeply, release tension, and speak more powerfully and comfortably. This workshop is also ideal for adoptees.

Voiceplay: Introduction of Voicework for Improvisors

This workshop is for improv performers looking to strengthen their voices and increase their vocal range and versatility for their character work. Participants will learn the basics of how the voice functions, what habits cause the voice to weaken or strain, and finally what exercises and changes they can do to improve their vocal range and stamina. This workshop can be extended into more advanced work using voice as a way of building ensemble and playfulness amongst a particular troupe.

Joyful, Not Scary: Singing For Everyone

This workshop is for anyone of any skill level who would like to be more confident, playful, and relaxed when they sing. Participants will be free to explore their breath and voice in a space free of judgment or criticism. This workshop is ideal for beginners who are terrified of singing and accomplished singers who have lost the joy of song and hope to find it again to increase their connectivity and expressiveness when performing. All exercises will be built from the group and with the spirit of ensemble and teamwork.

What To Do With My Hands: Combining Movement, Voice, Text

This workshop is for actors and directors who would like to be more confident and expressive with their whole body when speaking text. Participants will become more aware of their body and breathe and increase their ability to listen and respond to other actors in space. Exercises in this workshop are inspired and influence by Laban, Suzuki, Boal, Viewpoints, and the work of Frankie Armstrong.