Voicing Journeys Through Grief:

A musician's study of confronting loss through expressive arts practices

Rushton, Andrea ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7366-0544 (2025) Voicing Journeys Through Grief:. Dance Movement and Spiritualities: Voice as Movement and a Spiritual "In-between", 10. pp. 151-178. ISSN 2051-7068

Text (Article with original photographs, drawings and links to original audio.) RUSHTON_EditELB-MDP[80] Edits Footnotes restored October 14 24 Repository 6_25.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 May 2026. Available under License All Rights Reserved (Under Embargo). Download (2MB) | Request a copy

Abstract / Summary

This article confronts grief, trauma and dysphonia through transformative techniques of expressive arts therapy. It discusses strategies for easing dysphonia and freeing the singing voice whilst exploring lamentation, incantation and spell casting as vocalizations of grief. Concepts of internalizing and externalizing and the role of the imagination are explored. Selections from the author’s project are presented. These document the process of accessing the pain of loss through recording improvised music and vocalizations, writing, drawing and photography. The approach was methodologically loose and experimental. Seeking recovery and a return to functioning in society, mind, body and voice were allowed to move freely in creative practices whilst being present with memory, soul searching and the experience of loss. The ‘journey’ led from personal to collective grief and rage centred on climate breakdown. The research seeks to draw attention to concepts of intermodality, interconnectedness, the role of music in the grieving process,
vocal rehabilitation and the value of expressive arts as tools for transformation. Photographs, drawings, music and voice recordings are included.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.1386/dmas_00057_1
Additional Information:	© [Andrea Jayne Rushton, 2025]. The definitive, peer reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Dance Movement & Spiritualities, volume 10, issue: Voice as Movement and a Spiritual "In-between", pages 151-178, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1386/dmas_00057_1.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Voice, practice-based research, vocal pedagogy, dysphonia, lament, spell casting, arts and ecology, transformative music practice, song and bereavement
ISSN:	2051-7068
eISSN:	2051-7076
Subjects:	Health > Mental Health Performing Arts > Music & Sound Philosophy & Psychology Sustainability & Environment
Department:	Academy of Music & Theatre Arts
Depositing User:	Andrea Rushton
Date Deposited:	26 Jun 2025 12:49
Last Modified:	26 Jun 2025 12:49
URI:	https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/6072

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