5. My study plan
What I concluded until now is that for my method, which is my ‘study plan’ and will be termed as such, I must use my arms in order to connect physically to my expression. Also, I concluded that the embodiment of gestures by rehearsing them could help to find a stronger affinity with the text. These gestures should be coherent to the semantic meaning of words in the text (see 2.1.1). Furthermore, through historical and neurobiological findings I stated that the gestures for my method should not be designed in advance but rather have a spontaneous character. This can be accomplished if my physical involvement is the same in my singing as in my speech. With these findings I made a study plan.
5.1 The structure of my study plan
When I study a new piece I usually take the following steps:
1) If the piece is not written in my native language I make an accurate translation
2) I practise the words
3) I practise the rhythm and the melody
4) I speak the words in the rhythm
5) I sing the words in the rhythm
If I want to physically engage more with a text, I have to incorporate this aspect from step 2 onwards. The question I want to answer with my study plan is: “How do I have to practise the words in order to become physically more engaged with the text?”
To strengthen the physical connection to a text I formulated five steps with the assumption that when my gestures are appreciated as being spontaneous, physical involvement in my singing has to be as strong as in my speech. Therefore, the first step is to speak the words without singing to create a physical connection based only on the text and not on the musical intent of the piece. I think that expressing myself without speaking makes my physical connection to the text’s meaning even stronger. This is what I do in step one. I speak the lines in my mind and try to explain through my body language what I am feeling and what I am talking about. I build up my physical connection by adding each time another layer. The second step is the addition of speech, without all word repetitions. The third step is the addition of singing, and the fourth and last step is to perform my piece in a stressful situation to see if my physical connection stays strongly associated with the text and does not get interrupted. Once this is accomplished, my method has proven to be successful, resulting in erasure of my meaningless gestures, and the replacement of these by more meaningful gestures and movements that contribute to my expression.
Furthermore, I need to rehearse my gestures in order to create the layer of physical trust, which I mentioned in section 1.5.3. To avoid my physical expression looking too rehearsed, I make focus points. These are moments in the text that I mark in order to remember that I made a gesture. I do not rehearse all the details of the gesture, only that I moved with my arm in a certain way or direction (see 5.4.2) By reviewing what I did I could get a better sense of this. During my collaboration with Fajo Janssen he pointed out to me that these gestures should not be produced strictly in the same way each time. I should more have an idea of what my arms and hands are doing at certain moments in the text. This will prevent me from focussing too much on the gestures, which will enable me to stay focused on the text.
Below you see the steps of my study-plan.
1) Speak out the words in your mind and seek a way for your body to express it.
* Analyse your gestures. What can you see?
2) Speak out the text. Speak out the words as if you are having a conversation with someone. Do this at least two times. It is important to be aware of the character's attitude in here as well. Is the character angry, happy, convincing, seductive et cetera? Incorporate these aspects into the way you speak your text. Check if your physical connection is as strong as you felt in step 1. If it feels less, then find the reason for this. If it feels as strong, then you are on track.
* Analyse again your gestures. See what gestures you repetitively use on which words. Use those as focus points in your speaking (and later in your singing).
3) Speak the text in the rhythm. Can you physically stay connected to what you are saying?
* Analyse again your gestures. Incorporate the new gestures you use in the word repetitions.
4) Sing the text in the rhythm. Do the gestures you use as focus point help to become more engaged to what you are saying? Do you feel physically more secure and free? Do your gestures still look spontaneous or do they look too static?
5) Sing in a stressful performance setting. See what happens. Can you stay physically connected to the text or do stressful thoughts still interrupt your mind?
I worked on each step with Fajo Jansen in a private session and took his comments and suggestions into account during the process.
5.2 Observations from body work dance teacher Fajo Jansen
In my first session with Fajo I explained my gesticulation problem and I showed him my study plan.
I made a summary of the conversation in which I included the most important things Fajo and I discussed (see pdf 2). I want to refer to a specific part in this conversation.
AIMEE: “In my research I mention that I would like to find a way to physically express myself in the same way as I do in my speaking in order to act credibly. I assume that the amount of gestures I make in my singing, and the urge to make them, have to do with how I express myself in daily life (which is with lots of gestures!). I should embrace the fact that I want to make gestures in my singing instead of going against it. However, I wonder how to do this without them becoming funny or distracting for the public. I clearly do not use the right gestures in my singing. Otherwise the public would not be bothered, right?”
FAJO: “To answer your question, you have to go a few steps back. It could be that in daily life you already place your gestures incorrectly. If you do not experience a feeling of physical freedom, then it is likely that your gestures are created from out of one or only a few places in the body. Instead, they should be created by the whole body. For example, take someone who has bent forward shoulders. This means that the impulse for his or her gestures does not find a free passage through the body. The tension in the shoulders blocks the inner flow. During singing this for sure then causes for an obstruction in a singer’s physical expressiveness.
AIMEE: “Ok, If I understand you correctly you say that in order to find answers I should also look to the way I speak in daily life?”
FAJO: “Yes, this could be helpful. However, this takes time because you should observe yourself many times and we do not have that amount of time. But I think I can get a good sense already of your inner flow if we start to work on your study plan.”
This assumption of ‘placing gestures incorrectly’ indeed occurs in my singing. Fajo confirmed this after he went through some of my previous video recordings. He mentioned that my gestures can be perceived as a bit too forced, not free, and a bit unnatural. This was his description of what meaningless gestures look like. According to Fajo, meaningless gestures occur when a singer is not grounded enough. Therefore, he or she can become more easily distracted by nervous thoughts (e.g. regarding their singing or their actions), because there is no focus or stability in the body.
FAJO: “You experience grounding when there is a strong connection between the soles of the feet and the ground. The energy you need in singing is drawn from the ground through your feet into your body and should flow through the body into each body part. From out of this flow your gestures are created.” He mentioned that this flow should have a vertical centre. I can help myself in this by imagining that my spine is the long vertical line through which the energy flows.
I said in 3.2 that the character of my gestures in my study plan should be spontaneous. They should be similar to those in speech. I would now like to add to this, after I heard Fajo’s analysis, that I also do not want them to be forced. They should be free and look natural. Thus, in order to carry out my study plan I should first learn how to place my gestures in a correct way. Therefore, I have to improve my grounding and inner body flow in order to create the right gestures for embodiment.