If
one makes a gesture expressive of directness, the tone of the voice, if
given with the simultaneous impulse, will express that characteristic. If
subtlety or sinuousness of meaning is desired, the body and the gesture of
the hand may be powerful aids in inciting vital expression in the voice.
In order to test this, take a certain tone like _ah_ or _o_ and
hold it while taking vital dramatic attitudes differing widely in
significance.
This may also be done in the practice of single words or short sentences.
Take some such word as "come" or "go," "forward" or "away," practising
with different attitudes, and it will be seen at once that it is almost
impossible to make tone and dramatic action contradict each other.
Fine descriptive shades may be attained by taking such selections as
Byron's "The Ocean," Bryant's "Thanatopsis," Shelley's "The Cloud" and
"Ode to West Wind," accentuating with gestures of the arm and hand every
sweep or impulse of the word-painting, letting the curve of the figure
described in the air by the hand correspond with what is wanted in the
mind by the picture. Then, if the vital center of dramatic action is
aroused and the tone support is good, the voice alone--all gestures
withheld--can reproduce the same impressions.
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