Marie Ramirez Downing
Assistant Professor, Department of Theatre Arts and Dance
“In many programs you see separate courses in voice, movement, and acting, when in actuality voice is an acting class. In my view, voice work is acting. It is essential in being a good actor.”
Department: Theatre Arts and Dance
School: Arts and Humanities
What courses do you teach at SSU?
Intro to Acting; Race, Gender and Performance; Devised Theatre project; World Theatre; Voice for The Actor; Movement for The Actor; Scene Study; Movement for The Actor; Approaches to Anti-Realism
What is your approach to teaching Race, Gender and Performance?
What we are looking at are performers who want to express one piece of their identities, race, gender, sexuality through the piece that they are performing in. To do this, we look to topics such as queer theory, identity politics, and Kimberlé Crenshaw’s work on intersectionality. We begin with identity politics with the assumption that some identities are oppressed. So when they see a minority performance, we are seeing identity politics that the performer is giving voice and the communities they are representing. We watch performances and read about people who are doing this work such as Anna Deveaure Smith, E Patrick Johnson, Lin Manuel Miranda, and lesser known artists such as Julia Cho.
How does this material impact the students?
I taught this material at CSU Chico for many years, so I have learned that it can be hard for students to talk about race and identity. They may be afraid of saying the wrong things or of offending others. So I do a lot of “Think, Pair, Share” to get them talking to each other before I even begin teaching. I introduce multiple ways for them to communicate. For example, in the Discussion Board they can present an image, video, or memory of something that the readings inspired.
To break through the jargon of these dense academic articles, I give them name tags in class – names such as marginalization, sexism, intersectionality, stereotypes, power -all the jargon terms and tell them to pretend that they are at a mixer and to talk to each other in terms of the name tags they are wearing. So you see them saying things like “Oh hi power, have you met sexism? You probably have a lot in common!” The result of this exercise is that all of the levels of understanding come out in the space, and the students teach and learn from each other.
You were trained in the Linklater Technique of voice training. Can you tell us about that and how you use it in your teaching?
In many programs you see separate courses in voice, movement, and acting, when in actuality voice is an acting class. In my view, voice work is acting. It is essential in being a good actor.
The Linklater method is a progression of exercises in a particular order. It begins with physical awareness. where your body is right now, based on the life experiences you have had. Then it is breath awareness. We don’t believe that you control your breath-it must be free and you must be acquainted with your everyday breathing rhythm and be able to observe it without controlling it. Next is freeing, multiplying, and amplifying your vibrations all through the body. Vibration is your voice! Once your body/muscles are released, your bones can take over and support you without too much muscular help-your voice can go where it wants and needs to go.
When you are speaking large pieces of text you need physical awareness to speak with economy and vocal power. The amount of breath you use must match the largeness of what you are communicating but too much breath for a small thought, say, “I wonder what’s for lunch?”, only requires a small amount of breath and a large thought, “To Be, Or Not To be!” requires more breath- to little breath for this thought can cause pushing and sometimes an actor can lose their voice. A relaxed but energized body also makes it easier to access emotion that actors sometimes lock away in their held belly muscles, shoulders, jaw, tongue, etc. Releasing the breath = releases the voice. And you need a certain amount of breath to fuel the thought.
Tell us about a project or production that you are proud of.
Some of my work on representation and inclusion is supported by the Koret Scholars Program offered through the Office for Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP). This work is centered around representation and inclusion, and questioning what we usually do, such as the impact of eurocentric voice methods on bipoc (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) actors. For example, we brought in voice instructors who teach these methods, and the students assessed how work resonated with them. One of my Mexican students said “I want to learn the voice techniques as they were originally conceived. I don't want them modified simply because I am different. I want to get it the way it was taught, and I’ll then apply it to my own lens.”
What do you think it means for SSU to be a Hispanic Serving Institution?
I think it depends on who you ask. For me, I think about my own time in high school in Fresno, and then college at Fresno State, and the barriers I faced. I was the first in my family to go to college, then I went on to grad school. I felt a lot of pressure throughout this time, I initially left grad school for a little while. But l was determined to go back, and I did. And I think about the students now, and the additional barriers they have that I did not face. So there is a lot of fight in me to make it better for them.