Occupying space is a big theme in singing. It’s interesting how, as vocalists, even though we are performing artists to greater or lesser degrees, we seem to shy away from taking up and using the space that is available to us. Whether that is physical: the endlessly outstretched arms, the allowing of our bodies to expand; or whether it’s vocal: taking time to form our thought and breath intention, singing with wild abandon and voluminous sound; we are reluctant to truly inhabit the space around us.
Sometimes those born in female bodies have greater difficulty with this. There are so many messages from our cultures and societies to be modest, to be nice, to not overstep, to rein it in. We are taught to keep our bodies taut and held in, our voices gentle, soft and soothing. We feel apologetic the second we sense a boundary has been breached.
But I will say that I have worked with many a human who was assigned male at birth who struggled with this issue of “largeness” in body and sound too. Voice is so intertwined with identity, and we so deeply want to be accepted and liked, to BELONG. We intuit that to truly occupy space is an imposition. We fear that if we risk to bloom and bloom too largely, we will be smacked back into line. Over time we create artificial lines for ourselves that we are very careful not to cross. We practice not crossing them so well that we never even get close to challenging our perceived limitations.
I’m here to give you all permission (not that it’s really in my power to do, but let’s pretend for a minute). Permission to wait for your breath to command you to take it. Permission to sing that beautiful note louder and longer. Permission to fill that rest, that pause with all the feeling you can muster. Permission to sing as expressively as you want. Permission to make a large, daring, ridiculous gesture that embodies what you mean. Permission to interpret the music as it moves you. Take up space. Own the space. Be brave. When you do that, you give the rest of us permission to dream we might do the same. And you will thrill us.