truths are destined to influence, sooner or later, the
entire vocal world.

A great truth cannot always be suppressed, and some day someone will
present these truths in a way that will compel their recognition. They are
never doubted now by those who understand them, and they are appreciated by
such to a degree of enthusiasm. I am well aware that when these movements
are spoken of in the presence of the followers of the prevailing rigid or
limp schools, they exclaim, "Why, we do the same thing. We use the body
too." Of course they use the body, but it is by no means the same. Their
use of the body is often abuse, and not only of the body, but of the voice
as well.

The influence on the singing voice of a rightly used or rightly trained
body is almost beyond the ability of man to put in words.

All singing should be rhythmical. These flexible bodily movements develop
rhythm.

All singing should be the result of vitalized energy and never of muscular
effort. These movements arouse energy and make direct effort unnecessary.

Singing should be restful, should be the result of power in repose or under
control. These movements, and these movements alone, make such conditions
possible.

All singing should be idealized, should be the result of self-expression,
of an expression of the emotions. This is impossible except through correct
bodily action. "By nature the expression of man is his voice, and the whole
body through the agency of that invisible force, sound, expresses the
nobility, dignity, and intellectual emotions, from the foot to the head,
when properly produced and balanced. Nothing short of the whole body can
express this force perfectly in man or woman."

These movements develop in a common-sense way the power of natural forces,
of all the forces which Nature has given to man for the production and use
of the voice. Rigid, set muscles, or relaxed, limp muscles dwarf and limit
in every way the powers of the singer, physical, mental, and emotional; the
physical action is wrong, the thought is wrong, and the expression is
wrong. A trained, developed muscle responds to thought, to right thought,
in a free, natural manner. A rigid or limp muscle is, in a certain sense,
for the time being, actually out of use.

An important point to consider in this connection is the fact that there is
no strength properly applied without movement; but when right movements are
not used, the voice is pushed and forced by local ef