authenticity as physicality

If you watched my conversation with soprano, Kelly Slawson on Instagram last week, we talked about many things. (You can still watch it on my IG page @seyvoice)

One of those things was the physicality and the genetics of any singer. And it got me thinking about how authenticity is revealed in that physicality.

As artists, and human beings, we often grapple with “what is authenticity?” throughout our journey.

And then, what is “authentically me” and how do I discover that, develop that, live that. It’s a process and a journey.

So how about the physicality of our authenticity? What does that look like?

How do we claim the authenticity of our physicality?

Are we willing to acknowledge our physicality? To figure it out? To develop it? To learn about it?

Until we know what it is, how do we develop it authentically?

Kelly made the point of sports athletes having different physicality types and those types are suited to certain sport better than others.

Why wouldn’t it be the same for singing athletes?

I regularly say that the voice is fine - it’s where it chooses to reside that isn’t always optimal. We need to acknowledge and respect that physicality and then develop a technical behavior OVER TIME for that voice to grow into that physicality and that physicality to respond to that voice.

This doesn’t happen just because you want it to.

Yes, it’s scary and daunting sometimes. We are dealing with a lot of outside demands that don’t recognize this. The industry often wants what it wants when it wants it and expects you to deliver.

Sometimes that’s possible, and sometimes it’s not.

Coming to terms with that is part of how you can embody the authenticity of you and your voice in the physicality you are developing for it to blossom in.

We often start from the mis-aligned angle: what THEY want.

What happens if we start with: what have I got?

That’s the beginning of the authentic journey of physicality and as physicality.

What am I working with? What kind of muscle do I have? What kind of muscle twitch is present? What is the size of neck? The size of my larynx? What is my face shape, bone shape? How flexible am I? Are my joints strong or loose? Do I know the physical development of my larynx and resonators and soft tissue? Do I know where I am in that physical process and where I might be headed?

What am I actually working with physically? How do I claim that more thoroughly and work with it, not against it?

How do I work to serve my physicality first and foremost?

When a singer comes to me and wants to find their “authentic voice” - the first thing we begin with is the physicality. Sometimes it’s frustrating, but it’s always illuminating. That authentic voice won’t come out and play until the physicality is being acknowledged and developed. And it’s a constant exploration. It’s never ending and that should be a good thing!

So I leave you with more questions, because you know that’s what I do!

Ask yourself how that physicality shapes the voice? How that physicality supports the voice and the breath? How that physicality is developing as a whole and within the intrinsics? What do those muscles want to do within the structure of your physicality?

Enjoy the exploration!!!

with fondness & fierceness,