A Gender-Affirming Voice & Alexander Technique Workshop

Do you want to learn how to shift your voice to match your gender identity and experience? and feel more grounded in your voice, breath and body?

This workshop covers the basics of trans voice work and alexander technique (AT) to help you get started or deepen your practice. You'll learn a handful of techniques and exercises you can do at home, get a chance to connect with queer & trans community, and leave the workshop with handouts and practice tips!

What to expect: In a small, supportive group we’ll build foundations for gender-affirming voice work, vocal health, nervous system resilience, and make some weird sounds together. Through experiential movement and vocalization, we’ll gently explore our habits of speaking, sitting, standing, and walking in the real life context of our social habits. Using the AT process we’ll improve our observation skills, so that we can notice the habits we’ve come to rely on, while playfully supporting and opening up different ways of being, moving and sounding.

This workshop is for you is for you, if you:

• have been wanting to feel more at home in your body as a trans/queer person
• have done some gender-affirming voice self-study or lessons but are looking to expand and deepen your knowledge
• want a clear and accessible road-map for starting to shift your voice and body towards something that feels more like you
• are seeking support to explore a more embodied expression of your gender experience
• are curious about discovering new and different ways of expressing your gender through speech and movement

What is alexander technique? Alexander Technique (AT) is the gentle process of noticing what you do, how you respond (habits/patterns), and cultivating the space and skills to stop and choose something different. Subtle hands-on support (optional) allows habitual tension to release, supporting you as you explore and come home to your embodied gender expression with self-compassion, ease and agency.

What is gender-affirming voice work? Gender-affirming voice work is about building a foundation of skills for controlling resonace, vocal weight, pitch and inflection, and then using these tools to find and fine tune a voice that feels and sounds like you. It's not a linear process and does take consistent practice but it can be extremely validating, empowering and euphoric to find new ways of expressing your gender through speech and singing.

Pricing: $120. We have a few sliding scale/lower cost options. Please reach out to [email protected] if finances are a barrier.

What to bring: water, notebook and pencil,, snacks, and an attitude of self-compassion and curiousity.

Special offer for participants: you'll get a 25% discount for private coaching packages from Em and/or Charlotte to continue exploring what we introduce in this workshop.

Accessibility info: What Lab is located at 1814 Pandora Street. There is no dedicated parking, only street parking. The venue is located on the second floor up one flight of stairs, but there is a ground level accessible entrance through the back of the building. Seating is typically informal, and will include some combination of chairs, floor seating, couches, and cushions. There is one single-occupancy, gender-inclusive washroom. The washroom is not big enough for larger style wheelchairs to completely turn around in while the door is open. We are a trans-inclusive space. Visit this link for a visual map

https://whatlab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/What-Lab-Visual-Guide_FINAL.pdf

Health policy: Please do not come if you're sick! Immunocompromised folks matter and we want to reduce risk for them as much as possible. We will have air purifiers running, and masks are welcome.

Your facilitators:

Em Postl is a queer, non-binary voice teacher, vocalist and herbalist. They graduated from Capilano University with a degree in Jazz Voice Performance in 2014 and have a decade worth of diverse teaching experience. Committed to ongoing learning, they love to study voice methodologies such as Estill and Fitzmaurice, and in 2023 completed a gender-affirming voice course led by Renee Yoxon. Em's teaching stands out for its emphasis on curiosity, body awareness, and self-compassion while creating an environment that encourages growth and creativity. Specializing in coaching adults new to singing, assisting seasoned vocalists facing specific challenges, and providing gender-affirming voice coaching for trans and non-binary individuals, Em brings a wealth of expertise and sensitivity to their work. Find them at sweetflagvoicestudio.com or on insta for more info!

Charlotte Herst is a non-binary British-Canadian soprano and voice, movement and STAT-certified Alexander Technique (AT) teacher. Their approach is inspired and informed by over two decades studying vocal pedagogy for theatre and classical voice, anatomy, somatic practices, and the challenge of working with disability. Charlotte and Em’s gender-affirming voice and AT collaboration is inspired by the need within the queer and trans community to have more support for the body and nervous system, unmasking patterns of effort with self-compassion, while shifting voice and movement to match our gender experience. She runs the Voice and Alexander Technique Studio in east van and online, and leads group workshops such as Voice and Alexander Technique for the Actor at Bard Studio, Singing into Being with Rosalie Warner at AT Congress Dublin and upcoming workshops at PODIUM, Canada’s Choral Conference. Charlotte has taught in London UK at the Royal College of Music and is dedicated to developing accessible and affordable resources for performers such as Folder Shoulder™, a course for choristers, 5 Supportive Shapes, a movement resource for singers, and their substack community: The Process Rooms. More info at charlotteherst.com and on instagram.

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