New Year, New Voice

Kicking off the second edition of this Stage Presence Central monthly newsletter with a mighty big quote from Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier (1904-1980).

Carpentier is a famous Cuban Novelist, musicologist and much more who was a collaborator with other greats such as Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, Georges Bataille and Antonin Artaud.

“Once more I found myself in the street, dreaming monuments for those people which should be great running bulls covering their cows in masterly manner upon plinths ennobled with turds in the middle of the public squares. I paused before a picture gallery where dead idols were an exhibition, devoid of all meaning for lack of worshippers, in whose enigmatic or terrible faces many contemporary painters were seeking the secret of lost eloquence with that same desire for instinctive energies which made many of the composers of my generation strive for the elemental power of primitive rhymes in the abuse of percussion instruments. For more than twenty years a weary culture had been seeking rejuvenation and new powers in the cult of the irrational. But now I found ridiculous the attempt to use the masks of Bandigara, African ibeyes, fetishes studded with nails, without knowing their meaning, as battering rams against the redoubts of the Discourse on Method. There were looking for barbarism in things that had never been barbarous when fulfilling their ritual function in the setting for which they were designed. By labelling such things ‘barbarous’ the labellers were putting themselves in the thinking, the cartesian, position, the very opposite of the aim they were pursuing. They were trying to bring new life to Western music by imitating rhythms that had never had a musical function for their primitive creators.?

These reflections led me to the conclusion that the jungle with its resolute inhabitants, with its chance encounters, its accidental meetings, its not yet lapsed time, had taught me far more of the essence of my art, of the profound meaning of certain texts, of the ignored grandeur of certain trends, than the reading of so many books that lay dead for ever on the shelves of my library. Because here, amidst the multitude that surrounded me and rushed madly and submissively, I saw many faces and few destinies. And this was because behind these faces, every deep desire, every act of revolt, every impulse was hobbled by fear. Fear of rebuke, of time, of the news, of the collective that multiplied its forms of slavery. There was fear of one’s own body, of the sanction and pointing fingers of publicity, there are the fear of the womb that opens to the seed, fear of the fruits and of the water; fear of the calendar, fear of the law, fear of slogans, fear of mistakes, fear of the sealed envelope, fear of what might happen.

I no longer accepted the condition of Man-Wasp, of No-Man, nor did I admit that the rhythm of my existence could be set by the mallet of the Gallery Master.”?

-The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier (https://amzn.to/1TketCe )

The artistic record of Carpentier is second to none - he lived for a time in Spain and knew the poet Neruda

In his years in Paris he was in the circles of?Paul Eluard, Yves Tanguey, Pablo Picasso, André Breton, Tristan Tzara, Louis Aragon, Garcia Lorca and Giorgio De Chirico

“Lost Steps” is his novel where the protagonist goes on an adventure that is a life-changing search for “the birth of music.”

Carpentier contributed to the iconic avant-garde periodical Bifur founded in Paris in 1929 where he joined collaborators such as Ernest Hemingway, Eugene O'Neill, and Buster Keaton (USA) and Hamish Miles, Caradoc Evans, and James Joyce (Great Britain and Ireland).

The name Bifur came from the railway signal, used to flag up separating tracks. It was considered to convey the overarching idea of diversity and so came to mind as the title of this historic magazine.?

Another contributor to Bifur was the French artist, photographer and writer Claude Cahun (25 October 1894 – 8 December 1954) known for her work which was not only both political and personal, but which often undermined traditional concepts of gender roles.

Carpentier studied music theory at the Lycée Jeanson de Sailly when he lived in Paris for the first time. He went on to study the origins and political nuances of Cuban music becoming one of the first to research and write about Cuban music.?

Because of his strong connection to music it has been said that his readers are more listeners than they are readers.

He makes heavy use of literary rhythms such as alliteration and assonance, and the theme of music within the world of his narratives is ever present.

It's also worth noting that he is also credited with the invention of magic realism in literature and exerted a decisive influence on Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende, among other famous Latin American writers.

Why all this??

So you get that sense that as a speaker you are reaching in, back, through, under, in-between - in other words you are never alone on a stage.?

If you pay as much attention to listening as to speaking then you will sense yourself as part of a whole cycle and a whole legacy.?

Across all cultures there has been something sacred about a stage. In many theatre traditions there are processes to clean or sweep the stage before a performance and this hails back to the ritual origins of theatre and performance.?

There is musicality to tap into when you speak so pay attention to what you are listening to and to how you can extend your palette.

Carpentier talks of the fears that we are filled with.

Even if you have no New's Year Resolutions perhaps a starting point is a determination to get rid of fear for the rest of January.

I've selected "ease and flow" to be my watch words for 2023 and two close colleagues choose "progress" and "intention" which I'm also incorporating.

And "incorporate" is the word - if you come along to my sessions you know that I put a lot of emphasis on physicality and the corporal part of speaking. Why? Because it is the feeling that we convey as speakers that is remembered more than all the words.

You fully being present and relaxed on stage will be what gives you the "leadership presence" that makes you stand out.

"Many faces and few destinies" is the expression Carpentier uses to describe the competitive rush of the city as opposed to the jungle where time lapsed differently.

Again, the reminder is to get out of fear mode so that you can find the subtleties in your message and your speech.

The whole slant of this quote from Carpentier is about the balance between cultural production with all the worries of what people will think, with the energy of the life in the jungle of the Amazon where the sense is of spontaneity and flow.

As a speaker you are constantly balancing preparation and spontaneity, thought and impulse.

Take the month to notice, listen, observe and gather your own sense of communication - your likes and dislikes.

Notice that when you throughly prepare your speech but then let all that work go when you walk on stage so that you are fully present, then the audience reacts differently.

Maybe it's the walk between the rational and the irrational.

Perhaps it's a space between the planned and the playful.

Communication is a magical subject that has fascinated us for centuries.

May you throughly appreciate and enjoy each moment of meaningful exchange that crosses your path this month.

In my lifetime of being in the performing arts I've had the pleasure to spend many hours figuring out what makes good communication and so my hope here is to nudge you forward into polishing your skills.

Deborah Claire Procter

P.S. Take notes of your noticing and feel free to drop me an email [email protected] or a message here.

P.P.S. Reading out loud a text that is un-familiar to you is a great way to add dynamic to your voice and expression. In this sense Carpentier is a great example as he has a very flowery style.

Deborah Claire Procter (UK) has worked as a performer in experimental theatre and opera for the last thirty years. With added training in techniques such as Neuro Linguistic Programming, she regularly helps professionals over-ride stage fright to find their joy in presenting.Regular emails?with additional reflections and?insights?to give value to your?speaking and?networking. You can easily unsubscribe any time. The emails are daily but people usually value the insights and reminders that improve their presentation skills. Plus there are special offers and discount on trainings and private sessions, VIP days, retreats (Buenos Aires / Jamaica planned for 2023/24) https://mailchi.mp/64beca665e02/raising-your-voice-and-reaching-out-free-pdf-deborah-claire-procter

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