What is Vocal Bodywork?

Vocal bodywork is the term I’m using to describe a practice I’ve devised over many years of practice. Its goal is to increase freedom and comunication between interconnected bodily systems through consciously embodied voicing. The practice is a set of activities and exercises I’ve devised to organise the body, through the voice, making it a place fit to the purpose of human expressivity. I invite clients to show up with their whole selves, including all the baggage - physical, psychological, spiritual, political -  as we work together to integrate bodily techniques for freedom, fluency and intentionality, step by step.

My Doctoral thesis focused on embodiment methodologies in experimental vocal music, with an emphasis on integrating knowledge of the whole and complex person who voices. What I’m calling “vocal bodywork” is the result of 20 years of performing, teaching and research experience; taking inspiration from a deep and varied reservoir of ways of knowing. As a vocal soloist, I’ve performed on stages and opera houses around the world, and the embodied knowledge of holding space for difficult music, techniques and audiences, definitely informs this practice.

But it would be true to say that vocal bodywork is less about teaching folks “how” to use their voices, than it is about using voice as vessel through which to find new approaches to being in our bodies. It’s a collaboration with humans as bodily and artistic research, and a lot of the vocal soundings go beyond what’s considered normatively beautiful. I’m more interested in accessing the gutteral, the buried and the non-sensical states than I am in teaching folks to sing.

Classes frequently explore topics from vocal physiology, nervous system regulation, pelvic floor and sphincter co-ordination, methods of integrating and organising change, vocal expressivity and attunement. A special area of focus is connecting the systems of breath and voice to the pelvic floor and sexual body. The parts of our bodies responsible for passing and transforming material from the external world - air, water, food, gasses of the digestive system, urine, faces, and all forms of ejaculate, are controlled by the coordination of sphicters; they are in many cases co-regulated.

We are at our most expressive and efficient when we can easily access our full range of motion, and when these muscles work in unfettered resonance with one another. This practice works to develop better communication between the bodily structures responsible for the power, source and resonators of voice in the upper respiratory tract, and pelvic floor. This can be particularly useful for folks working on strengthening their pelvic floor, pre- and post-partum, as well as for anyone with sports-related pelvic or lower back injuries.

Individual Sessions

Private sessions focus on hands-on adjustment and close feedback of vocal and breathwork tasks. Best results are achieved with regular classes but it’s also possible to address specific concerns in one off sessions. These sessions aren’t singing lessons, and while singing can be a key part of some people’s journeys, the classes aren’t just for singers. Anyone who feels locked into their current vocal state, especially in professions where effective and persuasive speaking are important (like performers, teachers, business people, or anyone in leadership) can benefit from these techniques for vocal presence, attention, expressivity and power.

• Upcoming small group classes are every Saturday 11-14H (June-July 2023) – €15-30 (sliding scale)
  
• 
  
• Individual sessions by appointment from €60 per hour
  
  
• (discounts possible for low income, QTBIPOC and long-term regular clients)
  
  
• Individual and small group classes take place at 36a Raumerstr, Prenzlaurberg, Berlin
  

Group Classes

Classes include movements and scores that can be repeated and refined over time. These are exercises for "every body" and no experience is necessary. All that's needed is a curiosity for how your body might better organise and express itself, and a willingness to do so in community with others. Exercises can be easily adapted to work on specific challenges, strengths and needs. The practice opens and strengthens the communicative body through focused, intentionally organised movement, breathwork, interoceptive and proprioceptive tasks, and simple, attuned singing.

Classes frequently explore topics from vocal physiology, nervous system regulation, pelvic floor and sphincter co-ordination, methods of integrating and organising change, vocal expressivity and attunement. A special area of focus is connecting the systems of breath and voice to the pelvic floor and sexual body. The parts of our bodies responsible for passing and transforming material from the external world - air, water, food, gasses of the digestive system, urine, faces, and all forms of ejaculate, are controlled by the coordination of sphicters; they are in many cases co-regulated. We are at our most expressive and efficient when we can easily access our full range of motion, and when these muscles work in unfettered resonance with one another. This practice works to develop better communication between the bodily structures responsible for the power, source and resonators of voice in the upper respiratory tract, and pelvic floor. This can be particularly useful for folks working on strengthening their pelvic floor, pre- and post-partum, as well as for athletes, performers, and anyone with pelvic or lower back injuries.

• Upcoming small group classes are Saturdays 11-14 (June-July 2023)
  
  
• €15-30 (sliding scale)
  

Workshops

Workshops include movements and scores for anyone with a voice, working together to hold space for one another’s expressivity. These are exercises for "every body" and no experience is necessary. All that's needed is a curiosity for how your body might better organise and express itself, and a willingness to do so in community with others. Exercises can be easily adapted to work on specific challenges, strengths and needs. The practice opens and strengthens the communicative body through focused, intentionally organised movement, breathwork, interoceptive and proprioceptive tasks, and simple, attuned singing.

Workshops are tailored to the needs of the group. Previous workshops have been offered at Universities, businesses, physiotherapy and osteopathy clinics, yoga studios, schools, and health retreats. Please feel invited to tell me a bit about your group and parameters for the workshop and I will return with a quote.

Singing lessons

Dr Jessica Aszodi is specialist in contemporary experimental voice and embodiment methods with 20 years experience performing and teaching around the world.  Jess works with singers and voice users of all stripes. She’s particularly interested in coaching new and challenging material & with aiding makers developing their own work. The studio welcomes students from backgrounds in theatre, dance, and somatic practices, as well as experienced singers.

If you have something strange and difficult to work on… Want to learn more about extra-normal vocal techniques… Need to integrate your performance practice with scholarly work… Or have some traditional repertoire you’d like to prepare with a non-traditional take on the ways to embody voice… You are warmly invited to come for a voice lesson

• Individual Voice lessons start at €60, with sliding scale discounts for low-income, queer and BIPOC folks.
  
  
• Individual and small group classes take place at 36a Raumerstr, Prenzlaurberg, Berlin