On Voice Movement Integration (VMI) practice by Patricia Bardi: Awakening resonance in the moving body

This interviewing chapter aims at offering an overview on Patricia Bardi’s Voice Movement Integration (VMI) practice. The interview unfolds in five parts starting from the practitioner’s background and moving on to the shaping of the different strands of the VMI training. The development of the dialogue on the various components of Bardi’s innovative contribution to somatic and voice studies unfolds in relation to a workshop offered by the practitioner at East 15 Acting School in London (17 November 2018). Within the scope of the workshop the chapter draws on vocal attention and expression through the somatic awareness of organs and Bardi’s well-established Vocal Dance. The reading of the interview is also complemented with videos from the workshop. Throughout the development of the chapter’s dynamic narrative, Bardi offers valuable insights not only on the practical nature but also the underlying ideology of her approach to voice movement integration. The final part of the interview focuses on bringing forth the multidisciplinary nature of VMI practice along with the broader potentialities of the work in relation to the vocal identity of the modern dancer and the female vocal soma.