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Voice Coach - Hypermobility Specialist - Citizen Artist

Hello and welcome!

I am a voice coach working across the UK in Theatre, Film and Television.

Additionally I work with private clients to find deeper connections to their voice and breath.
I specialise in voice and breath work for chronic conditions:

Hypermobility (hEDS)

EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome)

Nervous system dysfunction (Dysautonomia)

MCAS (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome)

Long Covid

PoTS

Chronic Anxiety and Panic

and other autoimmune and chronic pain issues.

What is a citizen artist?

"Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable" - Cesar A. Cruz

While performance training has traditionally been reserved for a small percentage of the population, I believe the power of the voice, story and expression should be for everybody...and EVERY BODY.

Informed by a lifetime in my own chronically pained body, I specialise in voice and the nervous system: Our body's stress reactor and first response. Embarking on the first research into expressive voice and breathwork as an accessible tool for patients with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome in 2020, presenting my research to EDS Support UK in a 2023 webinar.

A lifelong performer, I began voice training from a very young age as a classical singer. My actor training began at Royal Central School of Speech & Drama before studying Shakespeare & classical language with voice legend Kristin Linklater at KLVC in the wilds of Orkney, Scotland in 2014. In 2015 I moved to New York to study at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in Manhattan, training intensively in voice and speech, Adler technique and movement under top industry professionals. In 2020, back in London and foreseeing another respiratory condition piling onto NHS waiting lists, I returned to Central School of Speech and Drama to complete a Masters degree in Voice, both the research and degree were awarded distinction.

Over the past decade I have taught in as many places as possible, both in and outside of society:

I've taught extensively in jails and prisons in London and NYC bringing acting, voice and writing workshops to uplift and amplify voices who are often disregarded and spoken for. Collaborations include Drama Club NYC, New York Dept of Correction Fine Arts Division, Rikers Island, Stella Adler Outreach, HMP Holloway, HMP Wandsworth.

I have taught at some of the top training programs and institutions such as: Central's MA Advanced Theatre Practice course, Trinity Laban Musical Theatre BA, Synergy Theatre Company, London Studio Centre Musical Theatre BA and co-led London's Park Theatre's Act and Play Youth Company. In 2022 I coached New Old Friends Theatre Company's break-neck farce "Crimes on Centre Court" and guest tutored on Mountview's Acting and Musical Theatre MA courses. In Cornwall, I am part of the iconic Minack Theatre's Education Team, co-leading the 2024 Shakespeare Festival and working on vital community outreach projects with a trauma-informed approach.

I live in Penzance with my partner and work part-time to manage my health.

I deliver voice workshops tailored to any level, both in person and remotely and travel for work (with a bit of notice!)

Click here for Voice CV

Click here for Actor CV

Voice Coaching

A VASTA (Voice and Speech Trainers Association) member and graduate of Central's celebrated Voice MA (MAVS), I work with individual clients to meet their voice and breath goals:

Corporate Clients:

- Finding confidence and connection through your voice

- Public speaking toolkit

- Communication skills and finding presence

- Working towards promotion

Actors

- Audition prep

- Embodying text

- Accent coaching

- Drama School Audition Preparation (students have won places to Central, LAMDA and more.)

Therapeutic / Restorative Work

I am lucky enough to work with many people with chronic illnesses, chronic pain and chronic voice dysfunction.

Including Hypermobility, JHS, EDS, Long Covid, PoTS, anxiety and panic, re-finding the voice after loss, pre-natal/post natal breath + voice (preparing for labour) and more.

My teaching is kind and supportive and my pedagogical approach is always based in physiology and helping to de-mystify what is happening inside the body. I help clients to unearth their voice and re-connect to their body through breath and sound.

If you are interested or have questions please fill out the contact form or email imogen@imogenroux.com, concession rates are available.

Client testimonials below.

What Clients Say

"I have had a fear of public speaking since I was a girl - and now have a job where I use my voice to speak to the public.
Imogen was able to help teach me how to be confident through the power of voice. I have learnt the importance of breathing - and have used the techniques in my everyday life to help me with stressful situations as well as my day to day job.
The sessions were both incredibly relaxing and uplifting - and I felt five inches taller after! Imogen is a very patient, understanding and knowledgable teacher - who makes the experience incredibly comfortable. I very much look forward to the next sessions post-lockdown!"

N.C

"Following some respiratory problems, I have been working with Imogen on regaining my voice.

She is knowledgeable, mindful of what I can and can’t do, but at the same time astute and challenging, which is just what I need."

A.J

"Imogen is an incredibly insightful and empathetic tutor who taught me new ways of approaching Shakespeare as well as contemporary text. Both technical, and intuitive.
She helped me awaken my body and explore my performance using embodied and voice reflexes, some of which I didn't even know existed.
She never hesitated to encourage me to grow in my acting, but also treat mty cultural diversity as an asset rather than a handicap in performance.
This experience was so much more than coaching!"

A.S

News and Updates

Chronic Pain x Voice: NOT Saint Hildegard

So thrilled to be working with the Bound By Theatre Company as vocal coach and chronic pain consultant for their upcoming performance of "Not Saint Hildegard", showing March 20+21st at the Playground Theatre in London. Check em out...https://www.theplaygroundtheatre.org.uk/projects/not-saint-hildegard

ANNOUNCED: Practical session for Hypermobile bodies with EDS Support UK...

The time has come! Sign up on the link below for Voice and breath for Hypermobile bodies:

https://shop.ehlers-danlos.org/product/imogen-roux-vocal-coach-with-eds/

Presenting The Hypermobile Voice to EDS Support UK

I was thrilled to share my research into how Hypermobility affects the breath and voice to finish off 2023. https://www.ehlers-danlos.org/information/voice-breath-and-ehlers-danlos-syndrome/

A gentle comeback

Last December I graduated from Central's Voice MA course.

With my research area focused on "misfitting" in the space as a body with a chronic illness, I knew that unlike my classmates, the course would take a physical toll on me. I'm still starting up again after nearly nine months but the thing about hEDS is....it's always another thing!

Keeping students safe is something I care deeply about, particularly in drama school settings where we are told there is "one way" far too often. Now that drama schools are encouraging more diverse student populations, we must include guidance and support to ensure that the students can access the work once they have been allowed into the room.

I will be offering pedagogical workshops about disability and actor/voice training. If you are interested in a workshop for your school or self or would be interested in collaborating around access for disabled bodyminds in drama schools and the industry, get in touch at imogen@imogenroux.com.

Research: Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Voice

DO YOU have Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome?

DO YOU know anybody with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS)?

I’m researching Voice, Breath, Storytelling and Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and looking for participants to answer a questionnaire.

This is my dissertation research for my Voice masters at Central and a subject that couldn't be closer to my heart.

Voice and breath work is something which helps me manage my EDS: the slips, trips, faints, bad sleep, gastroparesis, dizziness, MCAS attacks, isolation...I could go on…

This research is currently only open to people with Hypermobile EDS as even within this one subtype of EDS there is so much variability and frankly I’m very tired. You can fill out the form below (5-10 mins) and not participate in any workshop, or do both, it’s up to you.

PLEASE share as much as you feel comfortable and take this invitation to share your story!

FORM:

https://forms.gle/x7oAG3ZikYfie1AY7

IMPORTANT

If you have a JHS diagnosis and/or suspect strongly that you have hEDS please do feel free to participate. It takes us an average of 14 years to get diagnosed and I trust that you know your body even if you can't get to the right specialist and/or get them to listen etc.

*Please feel free to share*

Responses will of course be anonymous. Thank you very much, Imogen

New Music Alert!
Check out When You're With Me: by the wonderfully talented Inside Origin

In between lockdowns I had the pleasure of working on Inside Origin's song When You're With Me.

Have a listen at https://soundcloud.com/insideorigin/when-youre-with-me or click the image above.

The Birthday Cut WINS Best Drama at NYSIFF

The Birthday Cut took the prize for Best Drama at the New York Shorts International Film Festival.
Huge congratulations to all involved!

The Birthday Cut has been officially selected for the New York Shorts International Festival

Watch 'The Birthday Cut', a beautiful short film directed and written by Eva Midgley as part of New York Shorts Festival.
On his sixth birthday, a timid boy watches as his diametrically opposed grandmothers clash, his father bends to their will, and his fed-up mother lashes out with a long-held family secret...
https://www.nyshorts.net/film-program-10

Lockdown Letters: School to Prison Pipeline

During lockdown prison visits and programs have been cancelled indefinitely. I've tracked down my former students to continue our community through writing. We write freely, we catch up and sometimes a theme comes along. We've been talking about the School to Prison Pipeline.

The Show Must Go On...The Radio!

The Spark is a new radio show I have developed for the men of HMP Wandsworth, London's largest prison.

With Covid ongoing, I've been busy configuring an interactive radio show with HMP Wandsworth where we use a different piece of writing each week to spark conversation and inspire writing.

Thrilled to be coaching for the Remote Acting Forum

Remote Acting Forum is a professional acting coaching workshop happening every Saturday on zoom with international coaches (John Stocks, Cato Crumbley, Adam Martin, Lucas Brahme, Imogen Roux)

The RAF mission is to keep our community alive while the theatres remain shut.
Please see Remote Acting Forum on Facebook for this week's zoom link.
PT: 9am
EST: 12pm

GMT: 5pm

A poem for Rikers

A teaching poem about breath I wrote for the men and women currently on Rikers Island.
I always incorporate voice and breath work in my teaching and students tell me it becomes a vital part of their day.
This piece was part of a series of NY Dept of Correction teaching artists asked to deliver work remotely during the pandemic.
All rights reserved.