Integrating Voice & Speech into the Organic Acting Process. An Interdisciplinary Approach

Authors

  • Ioana Octavia Visalon ”Dunărea de Jos“ University of Galaţi, Romania Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37130/5wt0tv03

Keywords:

organic acting, neuroscience, vowel chain, pedagogical instruments in Voice & Speech, applied psychology

Abstract

The hypothesis of this article is that recent discoveries in the field of neuroscience can provide essential knowledge about the organic processes involved in stage speech specific to authentic acting creation, thus contributing to improving pedagogical approaches in both Voice & Speech and also Acting.

The article presents the premises for the integration of voice & speech into the organic approach of acting, from a neuroscientific point of view, as well as some tools and pedagogical approaches modelled from this perspective. Documentation in the field of neuroscience has allowed me to adapt a method of applied psychology in order to create exercises that enable the integration of new habits regarding voice production in everyday speech. These new exercises increase the work autonomy of students, who are encouraged to create micro personal habits, individualized according to their own needs and lifestyle. The re-evaluation of a well-known pedagogical tool – the vowel chain, from the viewpoint of the neurological processes of speech, allowed me to develop a working method that enables the integration of text recall along with activating emotionally competent stimuli, while correlating the speed of speech with the one of reprocessing ideas.

Author Biography

  • Ioana Octavia Visalon, ”Dunărea de Jos“ University of Galaţi, Romania

    Ioana Octavia Visalon is an actress and lecturer PhD at the Faculty of Arts from ”Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi where she teaches Stage Speech Training. She is also a VASTA member – Voice and Speech Trainers Association (https://www.vasta.org/professional-index/profile/ioana-o-visalon) and for 18 years she taught Stage Speech at the Faculty of Theatre from ”Spiru Haret” University in Bucharest. She made her acting debut in 1994 at ”Radu Stanca” Theatre in Sibiu where she had leading roles until 1997. For 7 years she was part of Dan Puric’s PassePartout Company, performing in the company's productions on various stages such as Nottara Theatre, Bucharest National Theatre, Rapsodia Hall, as well as on numerous national and international tours. She was part of independent theatre productions, international film co-productions (French and English), as well as television films. She is the author of the book The Actor Beyond Word published at Transilvania University Publishing House in Braşov, a revised version of her PhD thesis titled At the Confluence of the Plastic Arts and the Performing Arts: Light, the Body of the Performer and Garments in the Contemporary Stage Performance, defended at the University of Arts of Bucharest.

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Published

2021-06-10

How to Cite

Visalon, I. O. (2021). Integrating Voice & Speech into the Organic Acting Process. An Interdisciplinary Approach. CONCEPT, 22(1), 260-272. https://doi.org/10.37130/5wt0tv03