Communicating across boundaries, through research, integrative pedagogies, and practical training
To book courses in the US and abroad, please contact Joan Melton at joan.melton@joanmelton.com.
Founders
Joan Melton, Voice/Movement Research and Training, Director of Programs
Jennie Morton, Anatomy/Physiology, Voice and Dance Technique Integration
Guest Artists
Irene Bartlett, Jazz/Contemporary Pedagogy
Janet Feindel, Voice/Dialects and Alexander Technique
Wendy LeBorgne, Professional Voice Care
William Lett, Tap/Voice for Musical Theatre
Marya Lowry, Roy Hart/Ecstatic Voice/Lamentation
Michael Lugering, Expressive Actor Training
Patricia Prunty, Classical Singing Techniques
Mimi Quillin, Dance Techniques, Jazz
Mary Saunders-Barton, Singing in Musical Theatre
Neil Semer, Vocal Technique and Performance Practice
Kenneth Tom, Vocal Anatomy/Physiology
Pat Wilson, Studio Work/Mic Technique
Practitioners
Julio Agustin (Hons), US
Zac Bradford (Hons), Australia/US
Kristen Calgaro (Hons), US
I Putu Budiawan (Hons), Australia
Sammi Grant, (Hons), US
James Harrison (Hons), Australia
Robert Lewis (Hons), Australia
Maggie Marino-Pitts (Hons), US
Erica Northcott, Canada
Sara Paar, US
Nick Salamone (Hons), US
Elizabeth Smith, US
Jennifer Spencer (Hons), Canada
Caitlyn Stirling, Australia
Petra Valman (Hons), Sweden
Janet Van Wess, US
Jack Wallace (Hons), England/US
FEATURED PRACTITIONER
SAMMI GRANT, Voice/Speech Teacher and Dialect Coach
Sammi Grant (she/her) is a blind voice/speech teacher and dialect/vocal coach. Currently, she is an adjunct professor for the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where she teaches voice, speech, and dialects to Acting majors, as well as Acting for Non-Majors. She is also an adjunct professor for Illinois Wesleyan University, where she teaches voice, speech, dialects, and heightened text to Acting, Musical Theatre, and Theatre Arts majors. In the fall of 2020, Sammi taught a voice class for Access Acting Academy, a training program for blind and low vision actors.
In 2020, Sammi finished her MFA in Voice Studies from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and graduated with a mark of Distinction. The title of her masters dissertation was "The Cultural Implications of Intelligibility for Actors on American Stages and the Need for Anti-Racist Practices for Vocal Coaches." Last year, she also co-authored an article for the Voice and Speech Review entitled "Depictions of a Voice and Speech Trainer: Current Trends in the VASTA Community." Sammi is currently serving her second year as a Junior Board Member for VASTA. http://www.sammigrant.com/
Perspective – excerpts from “Integrative Links,” by Joan Melton
Voice & Speech Review 2013
Even in integrated programs, there is seldom the opportunity or incentive to really listen to experts outside our own respective field(s). The only people who must listen across disciplines are our students, who regularly take classes in dance (e.g., ballet, tap, modern, jazz), voice/movement for the actor, singing (e.g., classical, musical theatre, jazz, pop, rock) and acting. And the potential for conflict in all of that is enormous!
At the most basic level, what seems to separate us clearly in the training process is our concept of anatomy and physiology…Acting curricula probably come nearer to putting it all together than either singing or dance. Yet, even from actor training, students more often than not emerge thinking the diaphragm is something in their belly that they’re supposed to use—consciously—somehow.
Jennie Morton said, “A better anatomical understanding amongst both performers and teachers can ultimately give them better tools to work with…”
In addition, it takes getting out of our own little corner to see the links from one discipline to another. Long-held views can change—and that’s scary—and what is “true” today may be only partly true or transformed tomorrow. So we must be daring. We must actually listen to colleagues, address the information gaps, and follow threads we never before considered—because staying put is simply not an option.
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