Ros Steen interviewed by Robert Price for his podcast series.
Ros Steen was recently interviewed by Robert Price for his podcast series The History of Actor Training in the British Drama School. The episode, entitled Ros Steen and the Voice Work of Nadine George: Tradition and Evolution, traced Ros’ journey in voice and the first encounter with Nadine and her work which was to change the direction of her own practice. She talks about her introduction of the work into professional theatre contexts in Scotland and the establishment of the Centre of Voice in Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland for the teaching, practice and research of NGVW. The lineage of the work from Wolfsohn and Hart to Nadine ‘s creation of her technique is also discussed together with the radical philosophy Ros believes is inherent in this work which constantly re-evaluates itself to meet the times now.
To hear the episode click here https://www.buzzsprout.com/1393114/8068725
Breath work and Four Voice Qualities practice sheet
Download our practice sheet here to help you work through the breath work and Four Voice Qualities at home.
Next year’s words await another voice’: British Sign Language and voice work with D/deaf actors at the RCS
Accredited NGVW teacher Mel Drake introduces her work with D/deaf actors on the BA Performance course at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Download a copy of Mel’s essai here
Essai recently published in: Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 2019 What is new in voice training? Volume 10, No. 3, 448 – 454
Publication by Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
A Collection of Papers by Ros Steen
VSI is delighted to be able to share with you a collection of papers from Accredited Teacher, Emeritus Professor and former Head of Research and the Centre for Voice in Performance of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Ros Steen.
Ros has been a Voice Practitioner for over 35 years and has studied and worked with Nadine George since they met in 1990. Trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly RSAMD) and the University of Glasgow, Ros pioneered the use of Nadine George voice work as a medium of rehearsal in professional theatre in Scotland and was responsible for introducing and establishing the work as a core language of the Scottish theatrical landscape. The work forged a new role for the voice specialist in productions, that of Voice Director.
These papers give a fascinating insight into Ros’s work with the Nadine George Voice Work and the voice in training and theatrical contexts.
Click on the links below to download a copy of each paper.
Helena, Hitler and the Heartland : Ros Steen, pp 43 -58 originally published in Shakespeare Around the Globe and other contemporary issues in professional voice and speech training presented by the Voice and Speech Review, Mandy Rees,ed, Cincinnati, OH: Voice and Speech Trainers Assoc., Inc., 2005, ISBN 0-9773876-0-7 Used with permission.
Teaching Voice in the New Millennium :Introduction to the Day : Keynote address. Published in The Contemporary Voice: How We Teach Voice in the New Millennium ed Bruce Wooding, 2006. Central School of Speech and Drama.
Seein Oursels as Ithers See Us by Ros Steen, originally published pp 281 -290 in Voice and Gender and other contemporary issues in professional voice and speech training presented by the Voice and Speech Review, Mandy Rees , ed, Cincinnati, OH: Voice and Speech Trainers Assoc., Inc., 2007, ISBN 978-0-9773876-1-8 Used with permission.
Double-hinged Doors : The RSAMD’s voice work in Training and Theatre, LIPA conference, 2008, Ros Steen and Bill Wright
What We May Be : the integration of Lecoq Movement and George voice work at the RSAMD, Ros Steen and Joyce Deans, pp 46-62 in The Moving Voice, the Integration of Voice and Movement Studies presented by the Voice and Speech Review, Rena Cook, ed, Voice and Speech Trainers Assoc., Inc., 2009, ISBN 978-1-934269-55-8; Used with permission
Earthing the Electric by Ros Steen is published in Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, Vol 3 (3) 2012, Routledge.
Vocal Coaching “Inner Echoes”
Accredited teacher Laurent Courtin publishes his thesis on the challenges and power of vocal coaching.
Through his experience of NGVW and his own applied methods Laurent explores the power of vocal work in the coaching context.
Download full thesis HERE
Tuning into the cascade of experience
In this blog from Vogel Wakefield Consulting Martin Vogel eloquently relays his experience of a weekend workshop with Nadine in Glasgow in November 2019. This piece really captures the essence of Nadines work.
Download the full blog HERE.
Growing Voices ed Ros Steen
It is over 25 years since Nadine’s voice work was first introduced to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and to Scottish Theatre. Since then, the work has been developed and researched within performance training as well as professional theatre productions. This has resulted in creating a significant impact on rehearsal performance practice, the role of the voice specialist in production and on the application of the vocal work to directors, the direction process, and new writing. The work became the core vocal practice in the Conservatoire’s School of Drama in 2006, when Professor Ros Steen established the Centre for Voice in Performance, CViP.
Growing Voices charts the growth and development of the work’s impact on training and the profession through a range of responses from directors, voice practitioners, playwrights, actors, staff and students, who speak in their individual voices about their relationship to the work.
This publication from the Conservatoire’s Centre for Voice in Performance is a testament to the profound impact of Nadine and her work:
‘…the technique opened a whole new thing which has been amazing – the voice, the communication, the vibration and resonance and the energies.’ John Tiffany, Director (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Black Watch, Once)
‘…thank you [CViP] for all that you did over the years to ensure we were able to have the best experience possible in voice. I will cherish our masterclass with Nadine George for a very long time to come. ‘ Contemporary Performance Practice student, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 2018.
ARTEACTA 2: Academy of Performing Arts, Prague
Michaela Raisova looks back on her research fellowship working with Nadine George in London 2018 on the voice and classic text.
This publication, published by the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, focuses on performative art and artistic research. The book has been released in the Czech language only.
https://namu.cz/arteacta-2-2018
Acting through Voice and Speech: A Tone Resonates
In this book accredited teacher Karin Rudfeldt explores her life-long work with the voice and the spoken word; primarily from the perspective of a teacher and in her role as assistant professor of Voice and Speech at the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts, but also as a musician and poet.
The book looks at voice and language in relation to characterisation and the creative process and seeks to find the connection between that which flows and that which binds, the link between chaos and order.
Click the links below to view Karin’s book in Swedish or English
Karin Rudfeldt_Acting through Voice and Speech_SWEDISH
Karin Rudfeldt_Acting through Voice and Speech_ENGLISH
The Deadly Power of the Living Voice by Thorey Sigthorsdottir
MA dissertation piece
Advanced Theatre Practice Central School of Speech and Drama
In this dissertation, Sigthorsdottir explores how voice can be used as a creative tool in the devising context.
Working with the Nadine George Voice Work and using qualitative and quantitative analysis in the workshop context Sigthorsdottir explores this question and evolves discussion around the use of voice in the devising process. With commentary from Nadine George and Guy Dartnell, collaborative, artist, teacher and mentor.
“I’m just playing the notes”
Accredited Voice Teacher Henning Silberg, reflects on his experiences with the Nadine George Voice Work from the first time he met Nadine in 1988 through to its evolution and teaching at the Danish National School of Performing Arts.