Singdancing is a new technique
for the new renaissance
performer/ composer.
Singdansingdansingdancing
is a spiraling loop of infinity.
Singdancing is a whole new genre of art, which needs a whole new generation of composing choreographers.
I am here to begin their training.
~A SINGDANCING MANIFESTOOOOO~
Vanessa Nowitzky, innovator of singdancing
To singdance is to voice the movement of energy through the body. Breath is choreographed into motion that etches sound into music.
To singdance is to allow movement to affect vocalization in order to form melodies.
First I choreograph movement, inspired by the impetus of emotion and exaggerated into its most beautiful and/or powerful manifestation. Then I notice when, within that movement, it feels good to inhale or exhale. Then I voice the exhalations, and allow the movement to affect the vocalization. Forces of motion throughout the body propel the breath, affecting the pitch and volume of the expelled air, creating rough melodic shapes as I vocalize. My composer’s ear then specifies the borders of these shapes into actual melodies, referring back to the original emotion for harmonic differentiation.
Singdancing is holistic self-expression. The act of singdancing is rooted in a deeply satisfying, primal or infant-like direct vibratory expression using the entire body and voice. As a holistic combination of composer, choreographer and storyteller, I heighten this “voice movement therapy” (Paul Newham, The Singing Cure) into the codifiable realm of music and dance. A holistic renaissance is emerging as modern humans are reaching for fulfillment on all levels. To singdance is to feel and express emotions through the twin channels of body and voice, simultaneously. The release can be incredibly enjoyable.
Any movement can form the basis of a singdance. I have even coached acrobats to sing while tumbling. Sing those back handsprings! Are the possibilities of modern dance endless? Is the potential of modern choral music infinite? Will the symphony orchestra ever be exhausted? Certainly the future capacity for singdancing repertoire is no more limited than these classic models.
Singdancing is musical theater on the right side of the brain. Ideas felt with the body tell stories more immediately and viscerally than those told verbally. Accessing voice with the intuitive mind frees the performer to explore greater singing range than he or she thought available. The integration of motion and song offers a full palette to the artist and a rich experience to the audience.
Popular and folk music is always dance music. Children vocalize their movement all day long. It’s natural to move and sing and it feels wonderful! Why has the experience been lost to intellectuals? Was it religious restraint, or overly mental methods of education and work that disenfranchise one’s own kinesthetic sense? These excuses melt away, for here’s a completely intellectual way to exercise!
Singdancing bridges learning differences. Intertwining dance so closely with music helps musicians learn dance, gaining healthier bodies, and helps dancers access their voices. Vocal range, power and stamina increase with each physically-based exercise. Theater students, who must develop both their voices and bodies, will benefit from the practice of singdancing. Voice students, who are called upon to move while acting in operas, will learn how to integrate their instrument. Composers, choreographers and directors will understand what they can ask of performers. Blocked writers suddenly know what they want to say. Any artists, even those who do not normally sing or dance, can clarify their artistic expression with singdancing, because the improvisations free up energy and clear emotional channels.
Two formidable arts, that of dance and a cappella music, each requiring many years of study, are inexorably intertwined in the act of singdancing. Students who are drawn to singdancing can begin the long road of their training here. The successful composer/ choreographer must produce and master a form of movement that incorporates breath, and understand how to map dancers through space, while simultaneously creating the melodic motion of vocal line and effectively harmonizing each part. Creators of singdance must be highly self-motivated, to rise above existing organizational structures and launch their own dreams. Each one becomes a leader and a teacher, coaching his or her performers to extend their abilities beyond their comfort zones.
Singdancing is an empowering affirmation of human creative nature, for the vibrations we create by singing, we also hear and respond to with our dancing, which then physically affects our voices, which make our music. In one continuous loop, the music from our own mouths becomes the rhythm and harmony of our vibratory environment, which in turn stimulates the act of our dance. Whether harmonious or dissonant, we create this environment, and we are responsible for our actions. As modern humans, we must all take responsibility for the environment we create. Singdancers show audiences harmonic visions, and synchronize everyone’s breath. As my composition teacher Stephen ‘Lucky’ Mosko once told me, “The purpose of art is to help people heal.”
The world needs singdancers.
The world is ready for singdancing.
singdancing 