Alma del core

Renée Salewski (she/they) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist who is active as a director, performer (singer/actor/voice-over artist), teaching artist, writer, voice teacher, and role coach. Creative opportunities in these many areas have taken Renée all over Europe, to London’s West End, Korea, Russia, Canada, and a great many other inspiring places.

Who are you and what do you do?
You don’t wanna know! It’s personal!

I’m still figuring it out. I direct, coach, perform and parent and breathe. I do a lot of things. I just tend to say yes, give it a go and it often works out.

How did you get here?
With mindfulness and paying attention, hard work, and lots of heart. And…by not giving up.

How has the journey of your art/career engaged your voice – personally, artistically, politically?
My journey has engaged my voice as an instrument – as something to express myself with – in so many ways I didn’t expect. My voice has been constantly engaged, whether I was on stage singing or, mostly, helping other people to find their voices. Politically, my children have helped me find a voice that I didn’t think I would have, in terms of being an advocate for them and their future.

We can think that we’re not using our voices, that we’re not being heard, that we’re small, that nothing we do or say is going to make a dent in anything… but I’ve discovered that’s simply not true. Everyone who engages and takes the time to choose their words, rather than blurting them out, realise how impactful those voices and words can be.

What is the voice that you found while finding your voice?
In early training, for Western Art Music, certain sounds are considered unhealthy or that they shouldn’t be used. But in real-time, these are emotional sounds. There’s no such thing as a perfect sound.

We all have so much scope [with our voices]. To specialise is a beautiful thing, but for me, scope is better.