BRINGING VOICE & MOVEMENT TOGETHER

5 IDEAS TO MAKE 2023 A CRACKER YEAR

story shirley le guern picture alistair mulder

At the peaceful home-based studio which she set up in Hillcrest three years ago, Gina explains: “When I am working with a client, I look at how they are holding themselves, where there is tension. I listen to their voice because it is the mirror of the psyche and tells me all sorts of things.”

Whether she is working with a CEO, a professional performer or a child, therapy is never a “once size fi ts all”. Gina’s work is highly intuitive, combining signifi cant theoretical knowledge with imagination as she engages with each person.

“I create a safe place where they can explore different aspects of themselves. They can test and rehearse different responses. I give them an opportunity to identify and understand various patterns in their lives and to realise that they have choices and can use other ways of expression,” she says.

“Our identity is our sense of self and our sense of self is in our body – how our body feels and the way that our body expresses that sense of self in the world. Our identities are developed that way. So when you are a tiny baby, the way that you start to understand who you are in the world is how your mother holds you or doesn’t hold you. The way that I work really taps into our instinctual way of being in the world from a very early age,” she continues.

Gina believes the voice is the bridge between the inside and the outside world.

“Someone who is very depressed has a specifi c way of being in their body. Their body might be contracted. The energy’s down and their voice will have a specifi c tonality which communicates that all is not right. Someone who is totally empowered, who is thriving, will carry themselves differently. Their movement and vocal patterns will mirror that,” she explains.

Gina says this goes further. What has been suspected for some time, that physical ailments and mental well-being are closely linked, is now being confi rmed by research.

bringing voice and movement TOGETHER

THE AGE-OLD SAYING THAT IT IS NOT WHAT YOU SAY BUT HOW YOU SAY IT THAT IS IMPORTANT STILL HOLDS TRUE FOR GINA HOLLOWAY MULDER, KZN’S ONLY VOICE MOVEMENT THERAPY (VMT) PRACTITIONER

“The voice is a key aspect. There is an intricate link between trauma and pain that we don’t express fully. It lands up sitting in our bodies, making us unhappy, causing depression, making us ill,” she explains.

Breathwork plays an integral part in breaking destructive life patterns and helping people to express themselves.

“Our emotions are held in different parts of our bodies. If you have a lot of tension in the abdominal space or the solar plexus, you aren’t going to be able to fi nd a deep breath. Breathing deeply allows you to be centred, to ground yourself. You can come back into the moment. When people fi nd themselves in diffi cult situations, they lose their centre and come forward to defend or go backward in retreat. Empowerment is found in what we call the vertical – a feeling that I can breathe. I can think about my response. I can make a decision to either engage or walk away.”

Gina admits that although much of what she teaches is known subliminally, people are not using this to thrive. “So, we become more and more isolated and feel more and more alone.”

She continues that people don’t only want to be heard, but also to be seen,

which is where she comes in. “If you just want to come here and scream, I am going to see you and be with you and give you permission to do that. Then, we are going to explore what the scream is about,” she says.

Gina believes that her work is a calling which began during her school years doing speech and drama. “I enjoyed the performance, but it wasn’t just about that. It was about the process and the expression and understanding that this is a whole body thing.”

She went on to study dramatic art at university where she majored in movement, choreography and fi lm. She worked in television, fi lm and advertising, but came back to movement when she worked at a psychiatric rehabilitation centre where she took patients through a fi ve-month process which culminated in a production at Johannesburg’s Dance Factory.

It was then that she began to realise the importance of the voice in healing and telling life stories.

Her own career transformation came with bringing voice and movement together and studying VMT in America. She returned to South Africa as the country’s fi rst VMT practitioner. Shortly afterwards, she embarked on a master’s degree to further her research in integrating VMT and performance.

She continues to share her wisdom through therapy and through her books. *