I have integrated the wordpress blog with my website.
From now on old and new blogposts (and much more) can be found on http://www.fusica.nl.
No new blogposts will be added to this blog anymore.
Thanks for visiting and see you there!
Mark van Tongeren
What is Voice Yoga?
Voice Yoga consists of a series of exercises that gives pride of place to the voice as a central, creative force in our lifes. Our existence depends in important ways on our speaking, listening, sounding and singing abilities. The class promotes awareness of the many roles of the voice in our daily lives. It expands our creative vocabulary, without necessarily talking about music, the singing voice or any musical style. The point is not so much to learn any specific new technique: we play with the voice in a lot of different ways and listen with fresh ears to the hidden potential of our voices.
In Voice Yoga, sound, silence and resonance become a mirror for the self. The sounds produced by ourselves, allows us to ‘see’ ourselves more clearly, to hear what’s living deep inside us. In ever-growing cycles of creating and perceiving we learn about music and sound, about ourselves and about the environment.
Structure of the classes
We usually start with silence, breath and body movements to turn away from our busy mind into the body and to the sensations we actually experience. We let the voice come out of a natural breath flow. We listen to and follow its natural resonances. We do not try to sing in an artful way, but to experience how body-mind-voice are intimately connected, and how voice and resonance can serve as a bridge to overcome the dualistic notion of body <> mind. From then on, all kinds of styles and genres of vocalising and musicking may happen, some structured, some wild, some giving insight in your voice, some therapeutic. Exercises are based on yoga, musical and theatrical techniques, vipassana meditation and our innate love to play like children.
The idea behind Voice Yoga is comparable to yoga and tai-chi: the effect of the exercises is gradual. We believe that only with repeated classes you can really learn to connect the energies of voice & sound with the whole of your body and mind. You slowly become more and more familiar with your voice and its powers; you will begin to hear and feel things you did not hear and feel before. That’s why we suggest you to sign up for four classes a time after your trial class.
The teacher
Voice Yoga is designed and taught by Mark van Tongeren, who brings with him 25 years of experience in working with sound, music and theatre and many different cultures.
In my Voice Yoga Review of 2014 you can read about some recent experiences:
https://fusica.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/voice-yoga-2014-re-view/
For whom
For those seeking to enrich their voices, let off steam and unlock their hidden creative potential. For singers and those who are afraid to sing. For actors, musicians and other artists and professionals who work with sound. Perhaps more than anyone else, people who want to experience and learn about the therapeutical effects of sound seem to benefit from Voice Yoga. The human voice is a tool that assists human beings to produce a mirror-like reflection of the world around them in their minds. By gaining a deeper understanding and experience of the mechanisms of making sounds, words and music, and of listening, we gradually deepen the connections within ourselves (our body-minds) and with others and the world around us.
Dates and time
please look here for current dates and times (voice yoga dates 2015).
Prices
Every class lasts two hours. The price is 400 NT$ for a single class, and 1500 NT$ for four classes (375 NT$ per class). You do not have to attend four classes in a row; we’ll just tick off your presence four times and then you can sign up again for four times. Students and others with limited financial resources can get a reduced price: just send a message.
How to register
Feel free to join the Voice Yoga class any time. It is best to send a message every time you want to come, then we prepare a place for you. Write to mark at fusica dot nl or send a text-message to 09 10 38 27 49.
Place
Canjune Training Centre, 4th Floor, number 3 , Lane 151, Fuxing South Road, Section 2, (this is about 20 meters from the corner of FuXing South Road, go up the stairs to the hairdresser and take the elevator to 4F; if you’re early the streetdoor may be closed). Nearest MRT: Technology Building (10 min. walk). Telephone training centre: 02 – 27 00 72 91.
2014 was a great year for the Voice Yoga class. Some old students came back, and many new enthusiastic students joined for a first time, some of them also coming back.
The outline of the formula was the same: start with silence, breath and ‘body-work’ (which is always also mind-work). Then a first exploration of our unused potential to make sound, with simple, and sometimes primitive, raw sounds and movements. Then a structured part with more warming-up of ‘body-speech-mind’ (to use the Buddhist three-fold scheme of the human being), the ‘vowel triad‘ and the ‘ocean exercise’. Depending on the particular dynamic of the day (and the duration of the preceding parts), I add two or three of a large pool of rotating exercises that let us listen, feel and (re)sound in different ways. In the end, I often sing with the sruti-box, and students lie down on the mats in the Canjune Training Center.
Some of the new students of this year got really hooked on our weekly session, saying they missed it a lot when I was travelling, for example. Every student’s input changes the way things turn out, and the recent sessions have become true adventures of body, mind and sound. One time, right after a particularly powerful session of vocal noises, chants, screams, rhythms, I asked each student what (s)he had just experienced. I had decided not to interrupt the sound-making, and it had lasted longer than ever, about 45 minutes without a break. It was amazing to hear their deeply personal, moving accounts. Every student had gone through powerful experiences. One re-lived her pain from the past by letting the sounds follow the beating of her foot, which felt like a great relief. Another mainly listened, which worried me a little; but she was extremely grateful to what she heard and was crying at some point. A therapist told us she used her lessons from Voice Yoga to help others relief their pain, by adding sounds to the massage treatment and inviting her client to make sounds too. Another could hardly find the words to describe her feelings, but said she felt completely enveloped by the other voices and also merged them, while singing or just listening. One student’s first response, after we had just stopped our sound-making, was: ‘Ahh, this is better than sex!’
I usually try to limit my own talking and do not ask students to talk about their experience either. So I was amazed to learn about their feelings and impressions, and felt encouraged to develop this path further. I thank all those who have attended the Voice Yoga class in the last two years, whether it is one or ten or twenty times, for their courage, their input, their creativity. This class is so interesting because of you all! And I thank Canjune for the wonderful and inspiring space, which was renovated early 2014.
Want to join? The dates for 2015 you can find here.
Here follow the dates of the Voice Yoga classes for the New Year. Changes may still occur: new dates or times will be replaced on this same page. If you plan to come, send an email to Mark van Tongeren (info at fusica dot nl) or a text message (09 10 38 27 49) half a day earlier (Thursday morning/Monday afternoon). You can always check this page if you are uncertain if there will be a class.
DATES FOR 2015
Afternoon class: Thursdays 2-4 PM
January 29
February 5, 12, 26
March 5, 12, 19, 26
April 2, 23 no classes on 9th and 16th due to Tuvans’ concerts and workshop.
May 7, 14, 21, 28
Summer break till August. Later dates t.b.a.
Evening class: Monday 7:30-9:30 PM
March 9, 16, 23, 30
April 6, 20, 27 no class on 30th due to workshop in Hong Kong
May 11, 18, 25 no class on 4th due to workshop in Hong Kong
June 1, 8
Summer break till August. Later dates t.b.a.
PLACE
Canjune Training Centre, 4th Floor, number 3 , Lane 151, Fuxing South Road, Section 2, (this is about 20 meters from the corner of FuXing South Road, go up the stairs to the hairdresser and take the elevator to 4F; if you’re early the streetdoor may be closed).
Nearest MRT: Technology Building (10 min. walk).
Telephone training centre: 02 – 27 00 72 91.
RESERVATION
Please notify Mark of your intention to join the class, by sending a text-message (SMS) with your name to 09 – 10 38 27 49 or an email to info at fusica dot nl.
For those unfamiliar with Voice Yoga, you can read more about it in this Fusica blog post.
VOICE YOGA
In this class we use the voice in its immense richness, not only as a musical instrument, but as our primary tool to communicate and exist through/with/for/from sound. In Voice Yoga, sound, silence and resonance become a mirror for the self. The sounds produced by ourselves, allows us to ‘see’ ourselves more clearly, to hear what’s living deep inside us. In ever-growing cycles of creating and perceiving we learn about music and sound, about ourselves and about the environment. A ‘quintessence of science, sound and self’ as I called it in my book Overtone Singing.
DATES AND TIME FOR 2014.
EVERY THURSDAY, 10-12 AM
JANUARY 9, 16, 23, 28
FEBRUARY 13, 20, 27
MARCH 6, 13, 27
APRIL 3, 10, 17, 24
MAY 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
JUNE 5, 12, 19
AUGUST 21, 28
SEPTEMBER 4, 11, 18, 25
OCTOBER 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
NOVEMBER 6, 13, 27 [no class on November 20]
DECEMBER 4, 11, 18, 25
PLACE
Canjune Training Centre, 4th Floor, number 3 , Lane 151, Fuxing South Road, Section 2, (this is about 20 meters from the corner of FuXing South Road, go up the stairs to the hairdresser and take the elevator to 4F; if you’re early the streetdoor may be closed). Nearest MRT: Technology Building (10 min. walk). Telephone training centre: 02 – 27 00 72 91.
RESERVATION
Please notify us of your intention to join the class, by sending a text-message (SMS) with your name to 09-10 38 27 49.
For those unfamiliar with Voice Yoga, the information about Voice of Dao posted earlier still stands.
Thursday evening Voice Yoga class
Would you like to join the Voice Yoga class, but are you busy during the morning? Then from this week on you can enjoy a refreshing Voice Yoga class every Thursday evening. Starting time is 19 PM, we finish at 21 PM. Because the Canjune staff prepares the training centre for closing after 21 PM, we will wind down and take a 10 minute rest before 21 PM (in the morning session we usually do this after the class). So you can enjoy a full two hours of energising voice work. Prices remain the same: 400 NT$ for a single class, 1500 NT$ for four classes.
For the early birds: the Thursday morning class will still take place! So there will be two classes every Thursday.
From now on, please inform me that you wish to join the class: send an email to info-at-fusica-dot-nl or a text message to 09-10-38-27-49. Include the time you wish to come (10 AM or 19 PM).
Because of International Labor Day the schedule is as follows:
Thursday morning (10-12 AM) + Thursday evening (19-21 PM)
April 24
May 8, 15, 22, 29
June 5, 12, 19
June 20 starts my Summer break, first with an aroma tour I organised for Canjune in the wonderful island of Corsica, where we will immerse ourselves in the smells and sounds of this exquisite small island in the Mediterranean.
Voice Yoga classes will start again some time in the second half of August.
More details about Voice Yoga can be found here.
Weekly Voice Yoga Returns to Canjune Training Centre
March 15: Underground Trip (performance)
March 29: Lacking Sound Festival (performance)
Voice workshop for spring 2014: coming up soon
This week Voice Yoga returns to Canjune’s Training Centre. Everyone is welcome to try out Voice Yoga on Thursdays between 10 and twelve. No registration necessary, but please be on time. Next week (March 20) the class will shift to the afternoon, between 14 and 16. Read the details about Voice Yoga in this blogpost.
Saturday March 15 you are invited to the performance Underground Trip with Serge Onnen, Erika Sprey (visuals), Tung Chao-Ming and myself (sounds) at Taipei Artist Village. There are two shows, at 19:30 and 21:30, please find the details in my previous blogpost.
Saturday March 29 I am invited to perform at the Lacking Sound Festival, which is one of the more interesting on-going sound events in Taipei. Serge Onnen will join me to provide visuals, and we will explore the theme of mirrors. More details in this post.
Soon I will announce some workshops for this spring season. Come check back here or subscribe to this blog. If you prefer to receive emails write to < info at fusica dot nl> and you will receive updates every once in a while.
VOICE YOGA
will be the name for what was called Voice of Dao for a little more than one year. Somehow ‘Voice of Dao’ never fully resonated. And yoga is part of our practice, more than any kind of daoist practice.
For those unfamiliar with Voice Yoga, the information about Voice of Dao posted earlier still stands. We continue to use the voice in its immense richness, not only as a musical instrument, but as our primary tool to communicate and exist through/with/for/from sound . In Voice Yoga, sound, silence and resonance become a mirror for the self. The sounds produced by ourselves, allows us to ‘see’ ourselves more clearly, to hear what’s living deep inside us. In ever-growing cycles of creating and perceiving we learn about music and sound, about ourselves and about the environment. A ‘quintessence of science, sound and self’ as I called it in my book Overtone Singing.
Here are the new dates for 2014.
EVERY THURSDAY, 10-12 AM
JANUARY 9, 16, 23, 28 (note: 28 is a tuesday)
FEBRUARY (6 = holiday), 13, 20, 27
MARCH 6, 13, 27
On the 20th the class will be in the afternoon, from 14-16 ‘o clock.
APRIL 3, 10, 17, 24.
The last class of April (on the 24th) and the first class of May (1st) will be changed to another date.
MAY 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
JUNE 5, 12, 19
AUGUST 21, 28
SEPTEMBER 4, 11, 18, 25
OCTOBER 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
NOVEMBER 6, 13, 20, 27
DECEMBER 4, 11, 18, 25
Place: Canjune Training Centre, 4th Floor, number 3 , Lane 151, Fuxing South Road, Section 2, (this is about 20 meters from the corner of FuXing South Road, go up the stairs to the hairdresser and take the elevator to 4F; if you’re early the streetdoor may be closed). Nearest MRT: Technology Building (10 min. walk). Telephone training centre: 02 – 27 00 72 91.
For FEBRUARY please take note! the training centre is not available this month. Weather permitting, we do our class in Da’an park. Meeting point is the park, opposite the Taipei Public Library, halfway Heping and XinYi.
For those seeking to enrich their voices, let off steam and unlock their hidden creative potential, I organise a bi-weekly (as of 2014: weekly) voice session called Voice of Dao at the training centre of Canjune in Daan district, Taipei. We usually start with silence, breath and body movements to turn away from our busy mind into the body and to the sensations we actually experience. We let the voice come out of a natural breath flow. We listen to and follow its natural resonances. We do not try to sing in an artful way, but to experience how body-mind-voice are intimately connected, and how voice and resonance can serve as a bridge to overcome the dualistic notion of body <> mind. From then on, all kinds of styles and genres of vocalising and musicking may happen, some structured, some wild, some giving insight in your voice, some therapeutic. Exercises are based on yoga, musical and theatrical techniques, and vipassana meditation.
The human voice is a tool that assists human beings to produce a mirror-like reflection of the world around them in their minds. By gaining a deeper understanding and experience of the mechanisms of making sounds, words and music, and of listening, we gradually deepen the connections within ourselves (our body-minds) and with others and the world around us.
When and where:
The normal schedule for Voice of Dao is every two weeks on Thursday, but 10/10 will be changed to 10/9 and 12/26 to 12/24 (2013).
So these are all the dates for the Voice of Dao classes in Taipei up to Januari 2014:
October: Wednesday 9, Tuesday 22. (NOTE: CHANGED FROM THURSDAY 24: that day there will be no class).
November: Thursdays 7, 14.
(November 28 there will be NO class, despite earlier announcement).
December: Thursday 12 and Tuesday 24.
The Training Centre of Canjune is at 4F, number 3 , Lane 151, Fuxing South Road, Section 2, just 20 meters from the corner of FuXing South Road. The nearest MRT station is Technology Building. We start at 10. If you cannot find it, call the training centre: 02 – 27 00 72 91.
Get more details here.
Last week my new Voice of Dao class took off in a festive mood and with enthusiastic responses. This week was the second time students came to try out this new vocal practice, which is open to anyone, and can be joined anytime. Voice of Dao consists of a series of exercises that gives pride of place to the voice as a central, creative force in our existence as speaking, listening, sounding and singing human beings. It promotes awareness of the many roles of the voice in our daily lives. It expands our creative vocabulary, without necessarily talking about music, the singing voice or any musical style. The point is not so much to learn any specific new technique, but to listen with fresh ears to the hidden potential of your voice. Taken together, Voice of Dao is a practice that lets your voice, ears and awareness tap into the abundant sources of creative imagination, which lies at the root of human existence.
Now, the news:
After two classes it became clear that one hour of exercises and 15 minutes of rest is too short, and so from next week on the class will be from 10 till 12, every Monday morning.
Until Chinese New Year the dates are:
Monday December 24
December 31 no class
Monday January 7
Monday January 14
Monday January 21
Monday January 28 to be confirmed
Monday February 4
On Saturday February 2 we are considering having a one-day workshop Overtone Singing again.
Feel free to join the Voice of Dao class any time. The idea behind Voice of Dao is comparable to yoga and tai-chi: the effect of the exercises is gradual. We believe that only with repeated classes you can really learn to connect the energies of voice & sound with the whole of your body and mind. That’s why we ask you to sign up for four classes a time after your trial class.
The price for the new, longer format of the class is 400 NT$ for the first class. After that, you sign up for four classes a time, paying 375 NT$ per class, that is, 1500 NT$ at once. You do not have to attend four classes in a row; we’ll just tick off your presence four times and then you can sign up again for four times.
Please go to Hans & Una’s blog to get the details and sign up.
Thresholds of the Audible 