Events

Please, click here to find the outcome of our training - listen to ICAN Club participants reciting a poem

This painting by the Russian artist Fyodor Bronnikov depicts Horace, the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian) reciting his poems to Maecenas, Octavian's right-hand man in civil affairs. Due to his outstanding verbal skills Horace became a spokesman for the new regime.

The art of expressive reciting has been appreciated in all human civilizations. The individuals, who demonstrate this, are awarded and promoted, and live in people's memory long after their physical death. For instance, people we still remember such brilliant orators as Aristogeiton, Demosthenes, Cicero, Julius Caesar  and others from the ancient times.

Making words work, get into the hearts and minds of people might look an exceptional gift, while, in fact, everyone can and should develop this important skill. There are two key issues to deal with: (1) clear articulation and voice quality and (2) personal interpretation of the text one is going to recite. Placing emphasis on different words can utterly change the meaning. You can watch this video to see, how the familiar Shakespear's soliloquy "To be, or not to be: that is the question" can acquire different meanings due to pauses and logical stress.

Now, listen to this young genius and think what makes her reciting so brilliant. Is it because she articulates? Or because she speaks slowly and makes pauses? Or the feelings the girl puts into words?

And in these videos below you can find more examples of remarkable reciting:

If By Rudyard Kipling read by JAYME LOUIS LIARDI and by from Poetry Animate YouTube Channel

And here are 30 more poems everyone should know. 

This was the preparation. Now about the event.

In the Club we did some training:
- articulation exercises to remember the correct position of the tongue and lips for   English sounds;
- dramatized tongue twisters, pretending that they have a deep philosophical  meaning - it was fun;
- watched and analyse some of the above videos;
- discussed the target poem and learned to pronounce the words correctly.