Category Archives: Concentration

Hold on! Let go! Task Positive and Task Negative.

Posted on October 6, 2016 by

I can remember it as if it were yesterday; puberty and that feeling of longing. I had to get a girlfriend. It completely occupied my daytime and nighttime thinking. There was something about this extraordinary, hormone-induced longing which sent out … Continue reading →

Posted in Authenticity, Coaching, Concentration, Congruence, Creativity, Inner Game, Mental Training, Mind-Body, Performance Training, Teaching, Work/Life Balance | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Tool or Crutch? Support, Independence and Integration in Singing.

Posted on January 24, 2016 by

Remember when you learned to ride a bicycle? You either had “training-wheels” or your father ran alongside you, holding the bike steady. How long were these tools necessary before the wheels came off or dad faded smiling in the distance? … Continue reading →

Posted in Anatomie, Authenticity, Coaching, Concentration, Congruence, Creativity, Emotional Intelligence, Gesang, Gesangspädagogik, Kommunikation, Lessons, Music, Musik, Oper, Opera, Pedagogy, Performance, Performance Training, Presence, Teaching, Vocal Pedagogy, Voice | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

LOOKING FORWARD The Virtues of Anticipation

Posted on March 11, 2015 by

Evan Bortnick       http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden I love looking forward to things. There’s something so sweet and grand about somehow being fully in the here and now and, at the same time, tasting a future event fully. There’s something about that … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Authenticity, Communication, Concentration, Congruence, Emotional Intelligence, Fitness | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Performer’s Presence: Congruence, Dissociation and Double-Dissociation

Posted on February 11, 2015 by

Evan Bortnick       http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden A former Zen monk once told me the following story; “Three students stood on a mountain top. The first said: ‘I wish I were a bird. I could fly over the mountains.’ The second said: … Continue reading →

Posted in Authenticity, Concentration, Learning, Presence, Singing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Optimism, Pessimism, the Pursuit of ‘Happiness’ and our own Slice of ‘Reality’

Posted on June 13, 2014 by

Evan Bortnick       http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden I’ve always found Freud’s idea of “The Pleasure Principle” fascinating. When I watch myself and those I know make choices over and over and over again, which by any reasonable standards would be considered antithetical … Continue reading →

Posted in Authenticity, Communication, Concentration, Congruence, Emotional Intelligence, Focus, Harmonie, Intelligence, Mental Training, Self Expression, Stillness | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quick-and-Dirty vs. Slow-and-Detailed

Posted on March 27, 2014 by

Evan Bortnick       http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden As we all know, there are COUNTLESS ways to perceive “Reality”. One thing’s for sure; how we perceive “Reality” determines both how we feel and how we behave. I’m sure you’ve also noticed that it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Concentration, Congruence, Emotional Intelligence, Focus, Inner Game, Intelligence, Mind, Mind-Body, NLP, Presence, Thinking | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Motility and Mobility

Posted on March 11, 2014 by

Evan Bortnick       http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden It’s always been a particular fascination of mine how singers move. The raised shoulders, the furrowed eyebrows, the tensed upper lip, the pelvic wave all have both an emotional expression AND a very specific technical, … Continue reading →

Posted in Authenticity, Breath, Breathing, Communication, Concentration, Congruence, Fitness, Lessons, Mental Training, Mind-Body, Opera, Pedagogy, Performance, Self Expression, Singing, Speaking, Stillness, Voice | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment