| Description: |
Combining analytical commentary, historical contextualisation, and oral history, chapter 3 explores the diverse journeys that have led individual practitioners to the natural voice fold. First, the reader is acquainted with the different experiences and insights that have fed into Frankie Armstrong’s distinctive brand of voice work. Further reference to the musical and professional backgrounds of a representative selection of practitioners based in the United Kingdom reveals how the movement has incorporated perspectives and values from a variety of musical worlds while also being influenced by the sociopolitical currents with which some of its more established members were associated in the 1970s and 1980s. Here, brief forays are made into the realms of folk revival, experimental theatre, community music, social work, the women’s movement, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, circle dance, summer camps, and alternative therapies. The Natural Voice Practitioners’ Network emerges as a contemporary community of practice. |