Re-Voicing the Text. A Collective Practice of Vocal Improvisation
In this collaborative performance, participants will sing and improvise together extrapolating and juxtaposing words from a text, thus attempting to unveil new meanings within a performance. This practice is part of the research processes of my ongoing project, which consists in the conduction of collective improvisations and vocal labs with both musicians and non-musicians, and consequent individual analysis of the carried-out performances. Through these methods, I intend to address the following research question: when we sing together improvising, how do we use language and what kind of meanings do we produce? And how can a different use of language in a community of singers innovate our musical practice? While the relationship between voice and language has been extensively discussed, processes of meaning-making through singing remain opaque to our understanding. Moreover, drawing upon theories that underline the communal element of language, this research aims to reconsider vocal improvisation as a social activity, thus challenging the idea of professionalism as the main way to be musicking, and encouraging a laboratorial dimension of performing. In «Re-voicing the text», we will try to understand what happens to meaning when we gradually shift from reading to singing. Where is the line between these two activities? How do we musically engage with the linguistic material of the text? What role does the collective element of the improvisation have on this process of meaning production? Conceived as a vocal lab rather than a presentation, during this practice participants will have the chance to share their insights and reflect upon topics such as: the ephemerality of musical performances as a potential methodological problem; the interplay between moments of collaboration and individual work in artistic research practices; the art of listening-while-playing in vocal improvisation.