Whole Body Voice - Katie Bull

Whole Body Voice
Numerous Clients including: Felicity Huffman (TransAmerica; Phoebe In Wonderland); Eva Longoria (Screentest), James Spader, Kerry Washington (RACE, Broadway); Bill Irwin (Waiting for Godot, Broadway), David Shiner (Seussical) "...She made me understand that the voice, the physical awareness of the actor, and the emotional life of the character are integrally connected. She gave me techniques to relax and empower the voice that I continue to use in my life and subsequent work but, perhaps just as importantly, she also brought me closer to the inner truth of the character." Jonathan Cake (Coriolanus, Globe Theater) Power. Audibility. Expression... KATIE BULL VOCAL PRODUCTION WHOLE BODY VOICE the whole body speaks	Next Level I Class starting Mid-Marchsponsored by Atlantic Theater Company, NYC. Contact Katie for details. Inquiries: Kjbull@mindspring.com KATIE BULL - WHOLE BODY VOICE the whole body speaks It's about connecting to your VOICE!! I am excited to be part of that process with you. Let's breathe and explore the voice, together... Level I beginners, and returning advanced students: Classes, Private Sessions, Combined-Privates & Film, Television, and Stage Production Coaching REFER your FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES, & STUDENTS. Thank you for any referrals you have made in the past. I look forward to speaking with you. Thank you, Katie APPLICATION PROCEDURE: 1. Reply to this email address (kjbull@mindspring.com) and include your phone number a. if you have been referred, please be sure to let me know who referred you PLEASE NOTE THAT THE WHOLE BODY VOICE gmail address is no longer in use. A new WBV gmail address is forthcoming. Please use THIS email address to Reply. (kjbull@mindspring.com) 2. A phone interview initiates the process of application - go to my website (www.katiebull.com) for key discussion points, such as >your goals, your specific interest in this particular Jones-based vocal approach ie. what draws you to this work. For some advance reading about what this voice work is, you can purchase Chuck Jones 'book, Make Your Voice Heard (Backstage Books press) on Amazon.com and at Barnes and Nobles. 3. Upon acceptance, I will send you the details re: where to mail payment. The fee is $450, in a check made payable to KATIE BULL Your check assures your place in the class. Payment plans/sliding scale available for alumni students, only. Private Coaching $150 per hour/best time is Monday afternoons A Combined-Private is also available; join with one or two others to reduce your fee/Mondays Production Coaching, Negotiable	"...a call to Katie Bull is the first call I make after getting a job...She teaches, encourages and challenges me to find the truth of a character's voice and more importantly the truth of the character's heart." Felicity Huffman (TransAmerica; Phoebe In Wonderland; Desperate Housewives)

UPDATE 2011-2012 TWO VOCAL COACHING ANECDOTES from 2011: STAGE: In working with Brad Fleisher who was starring in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Broadway) I watched a total pro utilize this voice work with a level of application that was virtually instantly integrated. Brad really knew how to draw on his whole body wisdom, using WBV structure & freedom. As this work offers - he was empowered to be expansive and include all associations and references, including previous vocal and body training, and his athleticism. He was able to dip into muscle memory, and work with new and specific imagery, drawn from his knowledge of his text, to explore imagery inspired specificity of motion for his character which affected his whole range. Only a brave artist would dare - on stage, in performance, and even after the opening - to try new things. He was not afraid to bring his acting explorations further into the realm of the purely visceral, and to allow his imagination and his body to unite even more fully. In just a few sessions he was evolving his work - holistically - and that was profoundly rewarding to witness for this coach. Click here to read more....

Update Continued: The sign of a great actor, from my perspective, is a whole body release of clinging to the known, and this requires, simultaneously, a whole body command of kinesthetic awareness, and clarity of physical intention - in the moment. The actor may make choices, and have strong commitments, and simultaneously, the actor is open to allowing for change in choice or approach to choice, in the moment. This openness is a kind of reclaiming of the essential playful nature of the "change process" as it manifests in the breath, and vibration of resonance, in the body. An actor who does not cling to what they know, but rather asks questions and authentically explores, is going to be more spontaneous, expressive, and unpredictable, vocally. This voice work inspires that kind of spontaneous creative freedom. I was blown away by how fast Brad integrated the coaching. I was riveted to his explorations in the coaching sessions, as I could really feel him "in" the process of authentic exploration. FILM: In working with Ms. Eva Longoria on preparation for an important screen test I heard and felt how the depth and dimensionality of this woman's heart energy unfolded through her breath; wow - what a range of expression she has available. Again, in a private setting, with her full commitment of mind, body, and spirit, she was able to explore the impelling forces of her character's vocal dimensions, and to feel, in her body, where those resonances live, as part of her acting, vs. "the voice" we "do". I was moved by Eva's beautiful raw work in the preparation process, and I am excited for where she goes in the realm of film. When I coach someone, I am looking at the whole of their being, and in this actor I heard her commitment to truth, and how the notion of the Here and Now inter-sects, in her body, with her active commitments in every day life - such as her focus on the health of children around the world. This "nowness" combined with what she cares about, moves her vocal instrument. This was a reminder to me, of how the "voice" is really the whole person. Whole Being Voice. UNDERGRADS <3: In 2011 I continued to have the pleasure of working at Atlantic Theater Company Studio coaching NYU productions with fantastic new directors like Mikhael Tara Garver, and Alicia House who are entirely whole body oriented, and brilliant rising director-stars. With the ATC undergraduates in a very comprehensive training process in voice, movement, and alignment, the vocal work was exceptional. ATC and NYU are producing amazing young working actors, and have been for years. It's such a joy to coach these kids, and then see them on TV or, in film, or, on stage, USING their voices with such gusto, and self-knowledge. I received some great notes from "the road" as former students took their self-coaching skills into their new professional environments, right out of school. Yay! I also coached in the ATC Conservatory, and, at Tish, where I directed a Stageworks Cabaret set in the Prohibition era, which I co-created with the cast : titled, My Sweet Edible You. What a fantastic night of audience inter-active environmental theater. These actors brought the house down, using their voices in truthful, robust, AND nuanced performances, while improvising in character continuously....in the period. We had a blast and I am looking into how to do this project professionally. COACHING PROFESSIONAL WBV CLASSES: In my own WBV classes outside of studio, which are listed here, I continued to foster the vocal experience of connecting with breath, listening, and using the voice as an instrument that is not secondary to the acting process, but rather, entirely inherent in the very meaning of The Moment, or "acting range". I love my small pro groups who are in daily active application of the vocal approach on the audition circuit, in fringe, off-broadway, regional theater, independent film, and feature film. This year's Level II class culminated in a July Nature Intensive - a long weekend at my home in the Catskills. That was truly fun....in the sun! "MAKE IT YOUR OWN" Chuck Jones As I am ever expanding my own skills, I am excited to announce that I have been in training for in the Fitzmaurice Voice Work, and am a 2012 candidate for Certification as an Associate of Fitzmaurice Voicework. I was first introduced to this work in 2004, by body worker, vocal coach, and beloved friend, Ilse Pfeifer, with whom I barter-exchanged my Jones work; and we have been exploring the intersections ever since. Over the years I have integrated new approaches to my vocal approach, which is rooted in the work of my first mentor, Chuck Jones. Chuck's work, influenced by Kristen Linklaeter, Iris Warren, Cecily Barry, and Patsy Rodenberg, changed my life. What Chuck offered me as a mantra was "Make It Your Own"; he was open to, and curious about all the approaches I integrated even then, including the work from my dance improvisation movement back ground, and my jazz background. Towards the end of his life, he wrote me a personal note as an inscription when signing his book Make Your Voice Heard (for which I wrote the updated Preface) - and in the note he said, "Thank you; your work has been influential". I am excited to continually allow new influences as I think nothing in life nothing should remain static. I find Fitzmaurice Voicework to be deeply compatible, augmenting, and evolving of what I teach. I am excited to continue to explore that work, which is so organic. Anything organic, ie.) anatomical and energy-rooted in the design of the human animal, I am in favor of! I feel a wonderful sense of bounty each time I enter the realm of being a student, myself, and as a teacher, I love to witness discovery in as many pathways as there are individuals and unique bodies! Go to www.fitzmauricevoice.com for more information on the Fitzmaurice approach, and you can read about the new threads I am integrating into my teaching work these days. At The Voice Foundation Conference I presented my second workshop: last year I presented a lecture dem titled Voice and Gravity; this year I presented "The Character Voice Arrives from the Whole Body" - and touched on many of these themes. In the room were other coaches with varied back grounds and yet we had a common thread - the love for, and joy in, the voice... and an openness to each other's varied pathways. I am excited how all these exchanges will continue, in 2012. This year I joined VASTA; while work has thus far prohibited me from traveling to this Conference, I am excited to be part of this ever expanding organization. At VASTA, as at The Voice Foundation, there are such wonderful horizons! MUSIC aka JAZZZZZZZ Lastly, I am profoundly honored to have signed with the innova label as a jazz singer/composer. After self-producing four previous albums on my own record label Corn Hill Indie, the Innova Label, with Naxos Distribution, has released FREAK MIRACLE, and the reviews are fantastic! The label has just submitted the album for the grammy nominations; the submission is a huge moment for me which I greet with gratitude. Thank you Innova. www.innova.mu Go to my jazz page for more information on that part of who I "am". Jazz, and music, for this performer is all rooted in the process of conversation, and is sourced from my whole body. So what I'm sayin is - I practice what I preach, people. And I would love to jam, with you.