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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WORK |
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Since the early 1930s, Arthur Lessac has been
investigating how the human body and voice function naturally and
instinctively. As a scholarship student of voice at the Eastman School of
Music (1932-36) and of voice and speech education at New York University
(B.A., `41), he began to be aware of the shortcomings of traditional voice
training, and to experiment with new techniques for putting kinesensic and
organic perception to work.
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He taught privately, incorporating his explorations into
his private teaching, and applying them to his work as a vocal coach and
dialogue director for several New York productions, beginning with Pins and
Needles in 1937. His work with a cast of immigrants (few of whom spoke any
English) on the Broadway show "From Vienna" brought him praise from the
press and colleagues alike. He also acted and directed several productions
during this time.
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In 1945, he founded the National Academy of Vocal Arts,
and was its director until 1950, when he turned to private teaching. The
five years of working with this school and staff of 21 teachers provided a
valuable laboratory for the further development of the ideas that would
become Lessac Kinesensic Training. In 1951, he became the voice and speech teacher at
the Stella Adler Theater Studio and began teaching at the Jewish Theological
Seminary, an association which would last for nearly 20 years.
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In 1952 he became a student at NYU again. He received his
masters degree the next year, and continued his doctoral work throughout the
rest of the decade. In addition to further study in speech and voice
education, he investigated clinical therapy extensively, in such subjects as
speech pathology, physiology, and psychology. He studied anatomy and
neurology at Bellevue Hospital and did a clinical internship at St.
Vincent's, as well as taking a year of courses at a psychoanalytical
institute.
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As he worked on his own ideas, he found that they were
beginning to shape into a unified and systematic method of training. He was
gaining insight into the use of the voice and the body, a philosophy of
total communication that grew naturally out of his concept of speech and
voice as an inner physical action. In order to explore the implications of
this work further, he established the Lessac Institute for Voice and Speech in 1965, and
began writing his ideas for a teaching text. |
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The 1st edition of The Use and Training of the Human
Voice. was privately published by Lessac in a printing of 600 for the use of
his students. Demand grew with four additional printings in the next six
years, with extensive revisions in 1964 and 1965 (nearly 4000 copies of the
1st edition were sold). The response was immediate from a number of
different fields. From physicians, psychologists, professors of physics,
physiologists, psychiatrists, as well as theater professionals and trainers
came praise and encouragement. The 2nd edition (greatly expanded and
completely rewritten) was published in 1967 by Drama Book Publishers. |
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With the first printing, Lessac Training began to spread.
In 1960, Professor Sue Ann Park began to use Kinesensics at
the Goodman Theater and School of Drama in Chicago. She was among the first
of a growing number of top-grade professionals to recognize the importance
of this training in their work. Within ten years, despite the resistance
of traditionalists in voice and speech instruction, the Lessac Kinesensic
Training had
been adopted in over sixty universities and colleges in the U.S. and abroad.
Its use was also begun in business and secretarial schools and in work with
children. |
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When the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater was established
in 1962, the directors, Elia Kazan and Robert Whitehead, appointed Lessac to
create the program in voice, speech and singing for the professional
company. In 1970, he was appointed full professor of theater (with immediate
tenure) at the State University of New York-Binghamton, with a mandate to
reorganize the acting program. He remained there for twelve years, helping
to design and develop the MFA program and directing the certificate program
in Lessac Training, retiring as an Emeritus Professor. |
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In 1978, his second book, Body Wisdom: The Use and
Training of the Human Body, was published by Drama Book Publishers. This
book completes a full statement of the Lessac research, training and
development. But more importantly, it is the larger half of the statement,
in as much as it incorporates the voice and speech book as an integral part
of body training and body wisdom. |
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Since 1961, when Lessac appeared at a two day workshop at
the Goodman School of Drama, there have been a myriad number of workshops,
presentations and demonstrations of Lessac Kinesensics before drama, voice
and speech professional and academic audiences. The training has also been
recognized as an effective resource by broadcasters, industry leaders, the
military and therapists. |
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More than 35 four-, six- to eight-week intensive workshops for
theater professionals, trainer, teachers, students and researchers have been
offered since 1960. They have been held at college campuses throughout the
United States, Germany, Yugoslavia, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico. Over
1000 people have taken these workshops, including attendees from Australia,
South Africa, Ghana, Chile, Brazil, Israel, Lebanon, Iran and Nigeria.
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And the work continues. In 1992, Lessac conducted a
semester long Lessac Master Training program as a Distinguished Visiting
Professor at the University of Virginia-Charlottesville. In 1994, at the age
of 85, he conducted three master workshop programs at the Texas TheaterFest
`94 in Dallas. In 1995, he led and participated in a full day pre-Conference
Workshop at the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
Conference in Long Beach. In 1996, he led a five-week intensive workshop at
Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, VA., and in 1997, a six-week intensive
workshop at Ball State University in Muncie, IN. An extensive revision of
The Use and Training of the Human Voice: A Bio-dynamic Approach to Vocal
Life was published in 1997 by Mayfield Publishing Company (now published by
McGraw-Hill publishing). Since the original publication of this site: Lessac
has also led two workshops at SUNY-Fredonia and Mercersburg Academy. He has
now turned the reins of Workshop Leadership over to Sue Ann Park, Senior
Master Teacher, Director of Workshops and Nancy Krebs and Deborah Kinghorn, Master Teachers, but he still does guest teach at the
four-week workshops occasionally. In 2002, at 93 years of age, he led guest
teaching workshops at Baylor University, University of Virginia Commonwealth
and a special 6-hour presentation for the ATHE conference in San Diego. Not
to mention, regular 4 month soirees into South Africa for vigorous
workshopping & master teaching there! His main focus now includes additional
research in extending and expanding the open-ended nature of this body of
training. |
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In the summer, of 1998, Lessac invited a group of
certified Lessac teachers to meet for the purpose of discussing the future
of Lessac's work. Out of that meeting, held at Swarthmore College and
organized by Nancy Krebs and Fred Nelson, several important things happened.
A new kind of certification program began and along with it, a mentoring
program was established for new teachers of the work. This
certification program has continued to adapt and grow in the intervening
years. In 2004, another meeting was held at White Horse Village,
courtesy of Sue Ann Park. This meeting was also significant in that
the basis for the Institute as we know it today was established, and a Board
of Directors was elected by the group. This Board was charged by the
group with establishing a viable working Institute which could realize the
hopes of all those represented at the meeting. In 2006, the Institute
presented the Inaugural Lessac Conference, co-sponsored with the University
of Denver at Colorado, on January 12-14 in the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Denver. The Institute is developing
further plans for teacher certification, expanded training opportunities, and
documentation of the Lessac philosophy and work. Future goals include training and
certifying more Lessac teachers and expanding teaching opportunities for
trainers, creating a wider variety of short, intermediate, and intensive
opportunities to learn the work, and locating a repository (at a
university) for Lessac's papers, books, research and ongoing activities. |
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