Physical-vocal laboratory

The Body-Vocal Laboratory is a research-educational program that aims to bring together artists with an interest in movement, the body, somatic practices, voice work, and self-education. The idea is to convey the experience of lecturers from the field of dance art whose artistic and experiential practices are directly or indirectly connected to voice work. The online edition of the laboratory will take place in two blocks throughout January and February, and the lecturers are Zrinka Šimičić Mihanović (certified educator of somatic movement based on the principles of BMC® practice, certified movement analyst, and somatic practitioner), Ana Jelušić (who is completing her studies at the Feldenkrais Institute in Vienna and, in addition to Feldenkrais, uses the Lainklater and Corbeil methods in her work), and Lana Hosni, who has been actively researching the connection between physicality and vocal potential for the past few years and is also the initiator of the laboratory.

Within each of the mentioned techniques, there is an elaborate section that deals with the voice in a direct way, but there is also a whole spectrum of knowledge that focuses on working with the breath, body posture, observing habitual patterns, grounding, mobilization and relaxation of certain parts of the body important in working with the voice (diaphragm, pelvic floor, throat, neck, chest volume…) and as such can be indirectly linked to working with vocal potential. In this sense, the laboratory hopes to be a good opportunity for those who feel closer to working with the body to enter the voice and a good opportunity for those who feel closer to working with the voice to enter the body.

In the first block in January, the focus will be on approaching the voice through principles and knowledge based on the BMC® approach, and Zrinka Šimičić Mihanović and Lana Hosni will alternate in leading. In February, we can expect a continuation of the laboratory with a focus on the Feldenkrais technique.

As part of the body-vocal laboratory, Zrinka will, through an approach that relies on the practice of Body-Mind Centering® (you can find more about the BMC® practice at the link https://www.bodymindcentering.com/), offer participants an experiential introduction to different body structures through work with breath and vocalization. At the first meeting, we will be introduced to the skeletal-muscular structure of the chest and diaphragm. Furthermore, we will locate and activate internal organs through breath and voice and work with the glandular system with internal secretion (endocrine system). The contents of the workshops are connected and complement each other, but each workshop also functions as an independent unit.

As part of the second block of the laboratory, Ana will guide participants through voice and breathing research that relies on the somatic practice of Feldenkrais®. (More about the Feldenkrais method: https://www.feldenkraisinstitut.at/index.php/en/method, https://feldenkrais.com/about-the-feldenkrais-method/). Through Feldenkrais Method classes and then open improvisational explorations, we will focus on the various systems that participate in our breathing and voice, such as the skull and jaw, spine, mouth and nostrils, neck, chest, diaphragm, abdomen and pelvis. The emphasis of these explorations is on paying attention to what happens when we breathe and produce voice, noticing our habits and creating space for the easy and unhindered flow of air and voice.
Feldenkrais® Somatic Practice is a method of awareness in which, through slow and careful movement, we explore what we are doing when we do something. It is this slowness that allows us to pay attention to what we are doing or what is happening to us, to become aware of our habits and to open up the possibility of more options. Since Feldenkrais always takes place through movement, it attracts many people who are either professionally engaged in some form of movement or those who have some kind of injury. However, it is a practice that addresses the human experience in general and all interested parties, regardless of their experience with movement, are welcome.

Participation in the laboratory is open to all interested parties, regardless of previous experience. Although often used in the context of performance practices, somatic practices are based on universal accessibility and as such are applied in work with people from other fields of activity where people are often physically and mentally overloaded (athletes, managers, dentists, surgeons…) and for therapeutic and rehabilitation purposes. Voice work is also widely accepted by educators, educators, lecturers, public speakers and other interested individuals who actively use voice in their work.

Dates:

10. /12./14. 1. 6-8 p.m. (Zrinka Šimičić / Lana Hosni / Zrinka Šimičić)
17./19./21. 1. 6-8 p.m. (Zrinka Šimičić / Lana Hosni / Zrinka Šimičić)
24./26. 1. 6-7:30 p.m. (Lana Hosni / Lana Hosni)

31.1./ 2.2./ 4.2. 6-8 p.m. (Ana Jelušić)
7.2. / 9.2. / 11.2. 6-8 p.m. (Ana Jelušić + Lana Hosni/ Ana Jelušić + Lana Hosni / Lana Hosni)

Registrations to lana.hosni@hotmail.com (at least one day before the meeting). The workshops will be held in English via the zoom platform. It is recommended to follow the workshops continuously, but it is also possible to participate in individual meetings, regular laboratory participants will have the opportunity to access the workshop recordings. Participation in the workshops is free.

MORE ABOUT THE LEADERS

Zrinka Šimičić Mihanović (Zagreb, 1978) is a dance artist, certified movement analyst – somatic practitioner, developmental and somatic movement educator (CMA-SP, IDME, SME). After collaborating with choreographers and visual artists for many years as a dancer, she is now focusing on her own work and artistic research, which is largely characterized by collaboration with artists from other media. She is the author and co-author of about fifteen performances and in situ works created from 2007 to the present. She is the initiator and artistic co-director of the international improvisation festival Improspekcije, launched in 2007, and the initiator of the regional platform SomaHut, which brings together artists and experts from various fields around an interest in somatic work. She is the co-founder of the art organization Multimedia Hut. He teaches at the Department of Dance at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb and at the postgraduate specialist study of creative therapy at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek. He is educated through the programs of the School for Body-Mind Centering® and Laban/Bartenieff & Somatic Studies International. She graduated in History of Art and French Language and Literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb.

Lana Hosni (1989) received her dance artistic education at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD), after graduating from the State School of Contemporary Dance “Ana Maletić” in Zagreb, where she graduated in 2013 (contemporary dance diploma, performance major). As a performer, she collaborates with numerous artists such as Matej Kejžar, Sonja Pregrad, the BADco collective, Zrinka Šimičić Mihanović, Marjana Krajač, Irma Omerzo, Bruno Isaković, Zrinka Užbinec, Mila Pavičević, Sidney Leoni, Willi Dorner, Simone Sandroni, Yukiko Shinozaki and Heine Avdal, Costas Kekis. Since 2016, she has been actively exploring the potential of the voice, and her interest has crystallized in two directions – the field of traditional music (Kamene babe, Pjev, ZborXop) where she consistently tries to trace the original ways of performing old tunes, and the field of more experimental sound and research into the connection between voice and physicality through performance practices and pedagogical activities. The greatest influence on building a relationship with the voice has been the lectures of Anne-Marie Blink, Jonathan Hart Makwai, Irene Tomažin and Rob Burbe.

The project is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia through the Public Call for Programs for the Development of New Cultural and Educational Content and Digital Adaptation.

Visual author: Marko Gutić Mižimakov