In the autumn of 2012 I auditioned and was so fortunate as to get a part and attend a 3 month voice and singing workshop with opera singer and voice coach Angelina Kalahari at the Actors Centre in London, this workshop was also the groundwork for the dramatic musical theatre production TEMPUS that premiered at The Tristan Bates Theatre in the beginning of 2013, written by Dr. Philippa Semper and with music composed by Elizabeth Dockrell-Tyler. I was privileged enough to have a solo song written for me. It was a wonderful cast and crew, and the whole process was filmed and documented.
TEMPUS was set in the future, the Earth’s in trouble, ice-caps melted, the seas are rising so, that much of the land has drowned, this creates deep conflict between the Druids and Scientists, though wanting the same outcome, each believes theirs is the right way and the other is wrong.
The cast was: Steven MacGillvray, Nikola Trifunovic, Moshana Khan, Madelyn Swallow, Cecilia Gragnani, Mira Noltenius, Asha Kingsley, Dawn Stanley, Peter Oliver.
My wonderful friend Steven passed not long after, and I left London hoping to be back, but things kept me I Copenhagen, so TEMPUS for me is filled with joy and deep sadness at the same time, and I miss everyone who was a part of it.
On the 21st of November 2012 I wrote my first blog ever for the TEMPUS project, here it is:
… and the water flows…
Before the ‘Tempus workshop’, the voice work I have done, have always been about the speaking voice and for theatre. I have always had a fear of singing and all through acting school I cried every time I had to sing in class. It was horrible. Where this fear comes from I do not know, can only think it has to do with having to be quiet as little, I remember fearing ‘singing’ since very young.
Having later on overcome a bit of this fear, working with performances with singing in it, I have for a couple of years really wanted to learn how to sing and use the voice properly. And that is why I wanted to audition for the ‘Tempus workshop’. Now working with all the voice techniques, warm-ups, drills and exercises, things are changing in my body, I feel the muscles are changing, I feel the breath is changing, my mindset is changing, and my emotions are moving into new places in my body. This has shown itself also through large quantities of tears every morning for a couple of hours, for 3-4 weeks, not out of sadness, just ‘out pour’. It is like my body has restricted singing for so many years, and now it is finally letting go and accepting it. And it is working, the singing is getting better, and I am now able to sing a whole song without crying. Now if there are tears, they are under control, and not out of fear. And that is an amazing feeling to be able to sing and get the voice out without fear and restrictions, even my inner very critic ‘critic’ is proud and amazed.
Listening to every ones voices in the workshop and in rehearsals, they are improving so much from week to week, it’s incredible, and almost overwhelming. Angelina talks of having a ‘Sound Bath’ when you hear all the different voices and sounds, and I understand her more and more, I am getting almost addicted to hear everyone sing their Tempus songs, and hear how everyone improves so much from week to week.
My part in the ‘Tempus Performance’ is Aniara and she, like the rest of them, is working on how to stop the waters from rising. This Sunday morning I learned that my apartment was overflowing the one downstairs. I could only stop the water downstairs, if I let my water running. Every time I shot the water off, downstairs got flooded. For 36hours I waited at home for a plumber and I had to leave the water running. The desperation of not being able to stop the water and the constant thinking of it, made me think a lot about how the Druids must be strangely looking at the waters rising and saying their spells, calling mother earth and the Spirits, doing their rituals, but nothing happens. They do everything to keep themselves active and convince themselves that they are doing the right thing, but it does feel a bit like they are desperately waiting for a plumber to come and fix it for them.
… and now it’s raining outside … and the waters are rising … and I feel so unable to do anything about it … I‘ll go and have a bath … and sing Aniara’s beautiful song … without tears.
