voice lessons...
Location: Rehearsal Studios in Flatiron District or Midtown Manhattan; I can come to your house if you live in Manhattan and have a piano.
Rates: $60/hr, $35/half hr in Manhattan, plus $12 studio rental fee, if applicable.
This is the structure of each voice lesson:
For the first 5 minutes, we do a physical wake-up session (stretching out the face, jaw and spine, warming up the body to get out of everyday mode and into singing mode).
For the following 25 minutes, we do vocal exercises and warm ups to increase range, voice strength, and the student's understanding of the mechanisms of singing as they apply to their own voices (breath support, relaxation, focus, resonance, projection, etc).
For the last half hour, we work through a song that the student wants or needs to sing, whether it be for auditions, choir, school, fun, etc. We get the song to a place where it feels easy, it's not strained or out of their range, and the student is ready to perform it (with acting choices) in front of auditioners or audiences.
More info:
I ask that students bring a bottle of water, and if they want, some sort of recording device so they can practice at home. I do not require regular students to practice outside of lessons unless they want to. Singing has to come from the desire to sing, not from force; if you force the voice, you injure the voice. I also require that the students bring sheet music that they want to work on every week. I can help with titles and song choices, but it's up to the students to get the sheet music.
After a few months of weekly lessons with me, a student will have an audition book (if their goal is auditioning) of songs in their range and they will feel comfortable going to auditions and singing a 32, 16, or 8 bar cut. If the goal is fun and exploration, they will have an understanding of their instrument and be able to feel comfortable singing solo or speaking in front of other people. And, for the more advanced students, they will feel able to properly act or interpret a song with sound quality and physical choices that match acting intention. Singing lessons with me are an opening up of the body and voice to be better equipped to perform the way you know you can perform!
Performance Opportunities:
As a member of In The Pocket, I am able to offer my regular students the opportunity to perform their songs in recitals that are held three times a year at Steinway Hall in Manhattan. If you are interested in performing your material outside the confines and pressures of the audition room, let me know (this is available to regular students that take lessons at least twice a month for a minimum of four months prior to the recital). Check out the recital page on In The Pocket for more: http://www.inthepocketnyc.com/events/student-recitals
private ballet classes...
Location: Midtown or Upper West Side in Manhattan.
Rates: $60/hr, $80/hour and a half, plus the $25 studio rental fee.
This is the structure of each private ballet class:
For the first half of the session, we do a ballet barre, focusing on building core strength, finding proper alignment, and perfecting the details within the ballet vocabulary that make a solid technique. We focus on the areas of the student's skills that are lacking, or areas where the student feels insecure (extention, footwork, epaulment, etc.).
For the final half of the session, we move to the center to work on applying the detailed, technical work we did at the barre to performance level ballet. We can work on specific skills (stretching, pirouettes, jumps, artistry, etc.), or specific steps the dancer needs to prepare for a performance.
More info:
Private ballet classes are not meant to replace group ballet classes (students need the competitive environment of the classroom to properly hone their skills), but they can help accelerate the student's growth as a dancer so that they can reach their full potential at their home studios.
Ballet is the basis for almost all forms of modern dance, so a better understanding of ballet will improve a student's understanding of almost every other type of dance they might be asked to do in performance, from musical theatre to hip hop. Also, studying ballet makes every performer much more aware of their own bodies as they move through space, as they relate to others, and as they appear in front of an audience. Ballet can help you no matter if you're an aspiring ballerina or a character actor.
private speech lessons...
Location: Rehearsal Studios in Flatiron District or Midtown Manhattan; I can come to your house if you live in Manhattan and have a piano.
Rates: $60/hr, $35/half hr in Manhattan, plus $12 studio rental fee, if applicable.
This is the structure of each private speech lesson:
For the first 5 minutes, we do a physical wake-up session (stretching out the face, jaw and spine, warming up the body to get out of everyday mode and into performing mode).
For the next 30 minutes, we work on vocal warm-ups and strengthening exercises, concentrating on breath support, proper alignment, and relaxation so the voice can be open and ready to work.
For the final 25 minutes, we work on the specific speech problem the student has, or the specific accent the student needs to prepare. I use a combination of physical exercises, IPA analysis, and ear training to eradicate or create new accents, then work on applying the accent to pieces of text.
