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Valentina Carlile
Blog
In my daily professional practice, I often talk to colleagues and answer patients' questions on topics relating to the Voice, Osteopathy and Singing.
I realized that these topics generate great interest and deserve to be shared with a wider audience. This is why I decided to open this space in my blog: to make this precious information accessible to everyone, presented in a clear and direct way.
Here you will find articles and reflections that I hope will enrich your knowledge and answer your curiosities in these fascinating and complex fields.
Endurance and Recovery in Musical Theatre: When the Voice Depends on the Nervous System
In musical theatre, the real challenge is not making it through the show. It’s coming back on stage the next day — and doing it with the same level of quality. Many performers think endurance and recovery are matters of strength or breath. In reality, in musical theatre they are primarily matters of the nervous system. Fatigue in musical theatre is physical, vocal, neurological, and emotional. These levels are not separate. When the nervous system is overloaded, motor control
Valentina Carlile DO
1 day ago2 min read
Posture in Motion: Why “Standing Straight” Isn’t Enough in Musical Theatre
In musical theatre, posture is never a fixed position. It is a condition that changes continuously. Yet many performers step on stage with an implicit idea: “If I maintain good posture, my voice will work.” On stage, that idea collapses very quickly. In musical theatre there is no single “correct” posture that works for everything. The body must sing while moving, speak while changing direction, support the voice in flexion, extension and rotation, and react to unpredictable
Valentina Carlile DO
Mar 172 min read
Myofascial chains: the silent engine of performance in musical theatre
In musical theatre, what gets you to the end of a run is not strength. It’s how the body transmits load. Beneath muscles, voice, and movement lies a system that is often overlooked but decisive: the myofascial chains. They connect breath and voice, movement and posture, gesture and sound production, fatigue and recovery. When they function well, the body seems able to “handle everything.” When they don’t, the voice begins to pay the price. In musical theatre, chains matter mo
Valentina Carlile DO
Mar 33 min read
Why is musical theatre the most biomechanically demanding form of performance?
If you work in musical theatre — whether as a lead, swing, or ensemble member — you probably already know this. Musical theatre is not just singing and dancing. It is not a “lighter” version of opera, nor is it dance with a few sung lines added. From a biomechanical perspective, it is the most complex and demanding form of live performance on today’s stages. And yet, most performers are still trained as if voice, movement, and acting were separate compartments. On stage, they
Valentina Carlile DO
Feb 173 min read
Voice and sulcus
A sulcus is a lesion characterized by the disappearance of the lamina propria, which is replaced by scar tissue. Ford describes three types of sulcus: Type I Sulcus: caused by the imprint that the vocal process of the arytenoids produces on the vocal folds when they are apart. Dysphonia may range from variable to normal. It is more evident during deep inspiration and in elderly patients with vocal atrophy. The vocal ligament is normal and Reinke’s space appears intact. Videos
Valentina Carlile DO
Dec 2, 20252 min read
Osteopathy and singing: How to improve vocal range
Improving your vocal range means improving control, flexibility, and expressiveness. Working osteopathically with an Artist to improve range means setting up a shared pathway in which biomechanical monitoring of structures is paired with exercises targeting the three parameters mentioned above. What matters is working on the threshold—both somatic and expressive—without forcing, hoping to achieve immediate results. Start with the execution and manual monitoring of simple glis
Valentina Carlile DO
Oct 21, 20251 min read
Do you know the different characteristics of vocal hyperfunction or hypofunction?
We often hear about phonatory/vocal hyperfunction or hypofunction, but do we really know which acoustic alterations might point us toward...
Valentina Carlile DO
Jun 24, 20251 min read
Vocal fatigue in professionals: from symptom to management
In many cases, the diagnosis of vocal fatigue is based on the individual's reported symptoms, such as increased tension with continued...
Valentina Carlile DO
May 27, 20253 min read
Symptoms of vocal fatigue
The biomechanical mechanisms behind vocal fatigue are not yet fully understood. It is believed that an increase in tissue viscosity may...
Valentina Carlile DO
May 20, 20251 min read
Causes of vocal fatigue
The causes of vocal fatigue are those that lead to a loss of vocal quality, both in speaking and singing, and they can stem from various...
Valentina Carlile DO
May 13, 20252 min read
What is vocal quality and what influences it?
Vocal quality is the quantification of its acoustic characteristics in relation to reference values established in the scientific...
Valentina Carlile DO
Feb 25, 20251 min read
The role of the Osteopath in pitch management
The fundamental frequency (F0) represents the number of times the vocal cords vibrate per second. It reflects the biomechanical...
Valentina Carlile DO
Feb 18, 20251 min read
Osteopathy, Voice, Singing: Voice Acoustics and the Search for Primary Dysfunction in Osteopathy
Acoustics is the branch of physics that studies sound waves in detail, including their production, transmission, storage, perception, and...
Valentina Carlile DO
Feb 4, 20252 min read
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