On the Seattle Opera’s 2000-01 subscription preview CD, General Director Speight Jenkins makes a striking statement about Maria Callas as he introduces that season’s production of Lucia di Lammermoor:
Callas not only created a remarkable Lucia, she revolutionized the approach to all Bel Canto operas. Before Callas, Lucia di Lammermoor was a vehicle for a lyric coloratura soprano who could warble instrumentally, and the opera was best known for the duet between the soprano and the flute. The tenor had a famous and remarkable scene, but no one took anyone in this opera seriously. . . . When the angel recording of “Lucia” with Maria Callas appeared in record stores . . . in the fall of 1953, a lightening bolt could not have been more shocking. Suddenly there was a woman, obviously abused and terrified of life, hanging on to sanity by a thread.
. . . We felt her pain for the first time when we heard Callas sing. All the sopranos who have followed her have, to one degree or another, created a Lucia who is a human being.
What is it about one person’s performance that is so captivating that it affects and revolutionizes the very art form it inhabits? In the case of Callas’s Lucia, it was that audiences didn’t hear her acting like Lucia, they actually heard Lucia, felt her pain, and took compassion on her madness.
“It amazes me that there should even be a question about the importance of developing dramatic skills for the young performer,” exclaims Robert Swedberg, opera director and associate professor of music at the University of Michigan and former general director of Orlando Opera.
“It’s like asking, ‘If I want to be a performer, will I need to develop breath support?’ or ‘Will I need to be able to sing more than one octave?’ The answer would be a resounding, ‘Of course!’ Yet we still ask if dramatic training is necessary for the performer.”
Fritz Robertson, professor of voice and music director of the Boze Lyric Theatre at Anderson University School of Music, certainly agrees. He believes the dramatic training process not only teaches good dramatic technique but actually benefits the singer vocally as well.
“I am absolutely convinced that acting and dance training work hand in hand with vocal training to produce the most free, most beautiful, and most compelling performances from our singers. I have seen it happen time and time again—when young singers are communicating honestly and ‘in the present,’ they make amazing vocal leaps forward.”
Many directors admit, however, that as good as well honed acting skills are for the singer, they’re also a matter of survival.
“This will sound horrible,” says Mel Kirby, coordinator of the Emerging Artist Development Program at Calgary Opera. “However, to be brutally honest, there are just so many young singers auditioning for roles or positions in Young Artist ensembles, as beautiful as a voice may be, a person’s chances may be ruined by a stiff presentation, bad acting choices, lack of poise. No matter how great they may sound . . . a terrific voice is considered just one of the components.”
Dale Johnson, artistic director of Minnesota Opera, seconds this.
“If you are truly serious about a singing career, please know that the field is very crowded and any skill that might help you get ahead should be on your plate. . . . And this is not about ‘thin vs. fat.’ That is simply an excuse. I can point out to you examples of singers that might not be called ‘thin’ being some of the most beautiful and expressive performers. . . . Acting and dance class should be some of the first things that young singers work on.”
Robertson is in agreement with both directors.
“With so many people with excellent voices vying for the same roles, the ones who get rehired are those who are good to work with, are musically reliable, and can communicate effectively in order to move and delight their audience.”
Peter Kazaras, artistic director of the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program and the director of opera at UCLA, certainly agrees, but takes a slightly different tack.
“I do not believe that ultimately ‘stage presence’ can be taught. I am aware that some folks disagree with me, but this has been my experience. A performer has the ‘it’ factor or does not.”
Dance training is certainly an asset as well, not only for making movement on stage more natural and for becoming aware of one’s own body, but also for a heightened awareness of stage space and the larger ensemble.
Dean Southern, assistant professor and stage director of Frost Opera Theater at the University of Miami, emphasizes this heavily in the school’s offerings.
“The physical awareness gained through dance training is vital to acting training. Audiences will hear what a character is feeling if it is in the voice, but believability and emotional impact will be strengthened if the audience also sees it.”
“[Movement classes] should help you be more aware of your own body and more aware of how you use your body,” explains Kazaras. He echoes the sentiments of many other directors and professors as well.
“In my opinion,” Kazaras elaborates, “the purpose of all movement training is to help the performer access the incredible creativity and intelligence the body possesses. This is non-intellectual creativity. This is creativity from the guts. The moment a singer puts on ‘singer body’—like the carapace of a beetle—and stiffens up and starts making nonsensical gestures that mean zippo, that singer has lost his way and is no longer interesting. The more a singer relies on his own body intelligence to help with characterization and with truly being onstage right there in that moment of performing—which, again, is not an intellectual exercise—the more compelling that singer is.”
Johnson reflects, “How a singer moves during the singing of an aria can be stunning. How a singer can stay quiet—think of Maria Callas—requires as much concentration and technique as is possible.”
When someone is trying to decide what type of dance or movement training to engage in, many directors encourage modern dance classes. Though, many caution against the study of ballet, citing that it tends to tighten singers up in the wrong way and that it tends to take years of study to benefit from the coordination and discipline it demands. Directors do steer singers toward yoga, due it its approachability, its connection to breath, and the many benefits that can be reaped shortly after beginning its practice.
“Contemporary singers need to be in excellent physical condition, be connected to their bodies, and have a sense of dynamic stage movement,” Kirby explains. “Most singers to whom I’ve spoken feel that yoga is the greatest aid to them ‘finding their bodies.’ It produces awareness, physical poise, aids in overall strength and flexibility, and helps singers find the balance of necessary physical tension or flexion and relaxation which moving while singing entails.”
“Those who take yoga will unquestionably develop their understanding and use of breath in ways that nothing else addresses,” Swedberg agrees. “This absolutely frees up the voice, as these performers are also going to have fewer entanglements and will likely be better balanced individuals in other areas as well.
“I really do wish I had discovered yoga many years ago,” he continues. “Now I live for it, and I also have the privilege of teaching it to performers. I think it offers the best combination of physical, mental, and emotional development for the singing actor. Too many don’t try it because they assume they are not flexible enough, but it really is much more about developing a relationship to breath, which is so fundamental to performance—and at the same time core strength, coordination, balance, and relaxation all are developed as well. I offer this class now at University of Michigan. It has become part of the curriculum, and I see wonderful results with the singing actors (and instrumentalists, conductors, and dancers) who take the class.”
Johnson sees these same results with students and performers alike.
“Singers who are comfortable and free in their bodies are able to produce a more natural sound. I have watched many a singer get tied up in knots with their bodies saying one thing and their voices saying another. [A] great mentor of mine said, ‘Get out of the way.’ Yoga and tai chi are very good tools for opening and releasing body tension.”
While being connected to breath, knowing effective relaxation techniques, and being able to move freely and naturally are important, there are other very practical reasons to pursue dance training as well.
Bill Graham, executive director and stage director of Spokane Opera, points out the importance of knowing basic classical dance styles, especially since many young singers today are disconnected from those genres.
“Any type of dance class is a plus in learning stage movement, but at some point a singer needs exposure in more classical forms. I am amazed when I have to teach singers to waltz if a scene requires a simple ballroom waltz.”
He adds that “the responsibility of anyone wanting to become a serious singer should start with themselves exploring all historical, cultural, and literary aspects of any time period.”
In this same vein, Sheri Greenawald, artistic director of the Merola Opera Program and director of the San Francisco Opera Center, includes period dance classes as part of the singer training in those programs.
“Most singers who arrive at Merola. . . come with a good knowledge of basic stagecraft. Not all can ‘dance,’ however. . . . I have always had teachers focus on the dances most often found in opera—minuets, tarantellas, polkas, waltz, mazurkas, etc. If possible, we do scenes incorporating these dances, like the finale of Don Giovanni. . . . Dance classes need to help [performers] be comfortable when confronted by a director who wants them to dance in ‘Figaro’ Act III.”
“General body carriage and period style are essential in operatic performance,” echoes Southern, “and these are areas in which many singers are sorely lacking. So much time is spent on the voice, and rightfully so—but if the body doesn’t match what the voice is doing, the performance is somehow incomplete. I find that much rehearsal time is spent correcting errors related to basic body movement. For historically accurate productions, knowledge and ability in ballet is especially beneficial. However, many productions today are more abstract, for which the freedom of movement promoted by modern dance is important.”
The Minnesota Opera recently put on such a production, and Johnson eagerly chimes in.
“This past season we produced a new Faust directed by Doug Varone, featuring his dance company. Now, this was not your dad’s old kind of French grand opera style. The dance was integrated throughout the piece rather than saved for the traditional ballet moments. Our cast—Paul Groves, Judith Howarth, and Kyle Ketelsen—were all asked to move in a certain style that was stunning and innovative. I think they enjoyed it very much, and the audience loved it.”
Similarly, Calgary Opera’s Emerging Artist Development Program specifically chose Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges for their annual opera production last year, since it required using movement to define its characters. Singers were required to impersonate fireflies, dragonflies, a nightingale, an owl, and trees, as well as create a personification of fire.
So, how does a performer go about being trained in these arts, either during the course of university studies or after?
Young Artist Programs at many opera companies were created exactly for this purpose and are one of the best and most well known options for the emerging singer. The problem many directors of Young Artist Programs find, however, is that singers tend to be unprepared even for a training program.
“One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard from my colleagues in professional companies is the lack of readiness we continue to find. [We need] performers who exhibit a balance of singing and acting skills,” remarks Swedberg.
“There has been a big disconnect between what educational institutions are producing and what the professional companies need,” he continues. “I hope to be able to change that now with my work at University of Michigan. In most Young Artist Programs, the young artist will be asked to hit the ground running—performing immediately for outreach programs, possibly educational programming, and likely supporting roles in mainstage productions. So part of the reward for the young artist is training in a professional setting, but that may be happening at the same time that there is a high expectation for well balanced performance as a singing actor.”
This is certainly true at Seattle Opera, as Kazaras describes.
“Now that General Director Speight Jenkins will be using singers in our program for mainstage roles, albeit generally supporting roles, the issue of being performance ready is even more important. If they come into the program and are immediately going to be in a show, there is no time for me to work with them before they are in the hands of the director of the mainstage show they are in.”
Kirby has a slightly different perspective, and he chuckles as he responds.
“Thank goodness they don’t arrive with what they need to succeed in stage skills, otherwise we would have nothing to offer them. . . . Often a lot of their acting movement repertoire remains that which we associate with the older types of operatic acting: gesticulating, using a variety of stock gestures and attitudes, mugging, etc., which are not really seen as acceptable anymore.
“A lot of this they have picked up from having been thrown onto stages at the undergraduate and graduate level without proper introduction to proper [acting] technique first. Comprehensive and structured acting and movement courses of study are not often a part of the majority of young opera singers’ experience, and programs such as Calgary Opera’s Emerging Artist Program are intent on filling that gap.”
The programs at Anderson University in Anderson, Ind., and the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla., are intent on filling that gap as well. Both include dramatic and dance training as part of their standard curricula.
At Anderson, undergraduate students are required to take a minimum of two semesters of dance and one acting class. Additionally, as part of their opera workshop classes, students have access to additional acting training, which includes classes led by drama and dance professionals. Study can range from work based on Uta Hagen’s Respect for Acting, the Viewpoints acting method, spoken monologue work, and improvisation.
“We have spent the last 10 years developing the Boze Lyric Theatre program at Anderson because we firmly believe that the responsibility lies squarely with us at the undergraduate level,” explains Robertson.
“As the lyric theater world becomes less and less compartmentalized (opera/operetta/musical theatre/performance art), and as opera becomes televised and broadcast live in high definition, the era of ‘park and bark’ when opera singers could simply face the conductor and create sound, however beautiful, is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.
“The mastery of these skills takes time and the foundations need to be laid as early as possible. . . . Of course, Young Artist Programs are most valuable in honing the skills and bridging the gap from preprofessional performance levels to professional performance levels. But this presupposes that the basic skills have already been worked on with some regularity and direction.”
At the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, acting and movement training are included in the curriculum beginning in the freshman year. All freshman students at the Frost Opera Theater meet in a separate class for six hours per week, three of which are devoted to dance and movement training. The remaining three hours focus on acting skills, such as interpretation, characterization, gestures, and so on.
An “Acting for Opera” class for sophomores and new graduate students reinforces these skills and applies them to original language repertoire, such as arias and scenes, with added emphasis on additional elements of stagecraft.
There is also ample emphasis given to dramatic development during rehearsal periods.
“A great deal of teaching also takes place in rehearsals [in order] to further develop and assimilate dramatic and movement skills,” Southern explains, “although it is assumed the basics have been learned in class. This year, on the initiative of my colleague Alan Johnson, we are supplementing opera classes and rehearsals with ‘First Fridays,’ where we view videos of various opera productions and discuss the musical and dramatic choices in them.”
For prospective students about to enter an undergraduate or graduate program, Greenawald offers a word of advice about what to expect and how to size up the school.
“If schools are not teaching movement classes of some ilk and not giving acting/performing training, then I would question how serious that school is, at least on the graduate level. Undergrad should be about giving [students] the basic tools of the trade—musical/vocal techniques, history, languages, etc.—but grad schools need to be giving them the professional tools required in the business.”
