The Embodied Voice
Lab Lisboa
A playspace for voice, movement, and improvisation
Jan-April, 2026
Sing and make music from an embodied, intuitive place…
The Lab Lisboa is a playground - a place to learn by doing, making, playing, experimenting, creating together - all with immense respect for - and celebration of - the moving and singing body.
The Embodied Voice returns to Lisboa with its classic recipe of somatics and creative voice, but this time, we’re inviting guest teachers to add their special spices into the mix. Friends and collaborators of Kate Smith, guest facilitators Rizumik and Filipe Sousa also share a love for bringing together body and voice in their creative practice. Kate is happy to be sharing the stage and spreading the love with these excellent colleagues.
Enjoy 4 different themed offerings from 3 different expert teachers; sign up for a whole theme, or drop-in when it’s convenient. Along the way, you’ll foster a well-rounded, holistic, and diverse toolbox for levelling up your voice and movement skills.
About The Embodied Voice
The Elements
Embodied vocal training
- somatic exercises to cultivate easeful voice function
musicality through movement
- build your skills in melody, harmony, Rhythm & More
collaborative vocal improv
- learn how to create music in the moment - together!
The Embodied Voice
is a practice for living more joyfully in mind and body by bringing together voice, movement, mindful awareness, and improvisation. Balancing science and technique with play and creativity, The Embodied Voice helps us tap into a voice and body that is free, expressive, vital, and present.
The Embodied Voice emerged from Kate's voracious desire to draw connections between practices, searching for fundamental ways of being that transcend genre and dogma. Drawing on a deep commitment to embodied research, Kate likes to question received wisdoms through experimentation and playful curiosity.
As a result, the practice draws on many influences including yoga, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method®, Body-Mind Centering®, mindfulness, contact improv, dance, and theatre. Kate has studied with a variety of leading artists in the voice and movement fields, including Meredith Monk, Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen (BMC), Seke Chimutengwende, Margaret Pikes (Roy Hart Theatre), Grzegorz Braal (Song of the Goat), and more. She studied Feldenkrais-based vocal pedagogy with Robert Sussuma, and is a 200hr Yoga-Alliance certified teacher of Authentic Flow Yoga. She is grateful for the inspiration of her colleagues and mentors, including Jenni Roditi (TIC), Guillermo Rozenthuler, David Eskenazy and more. Kate has also trained in trauma-informed and resilient nervous system facilitation as certified by the Complementary Medical Association (CMA).
Her workshops can therefore run the gamut from sessions of soulful sounding, to technical lessons on voice-body anatomy, to creative games for embodied musicality, to wild and playful movement explorations. What holds all the diversity of approach together is Kate's consistent commitment to holding safe and welcoming spaces that encourage us to reconnect to our essential being.
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Jan 7 - 28 (4 sessions)
Tune up your musical toolkbox through embodied learning. The first hour will focus on voice technique and embodiment. The second hour will focus on building skills in topics such as rhythm, pattern making, harmony, melody and modes. Step up your musical chops and make your improvisations even yummier. -
February 4 - 18 (3 sessions)
Blending improvisation, flow, playfulness, movement, communication, vulnerability and creativity, Rizumik will share exercises drawing on circle singing and beatbox to get us moving, grooving and singing together.
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February 25 - March 18 (4 sessions)
Using only body percussion and voice, Filipe will guide us in writing new music together! Through step by step processes and a carefully facilitated flow, everyone’s ideas and voices will become part of the music we make.
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March 25 - April 29 (6 sessions)
Sing new music for voice and body, composed by The Embodied Voice creator, Kate Smith. This will not be your typical choir! Following a juicy somatic voice/body warmup, we’ll learn songs that involve movement, space, and improv.
The Themes
Meet the Facilitators
Kate Smith
Kate Smith is a vocal acrobat, composer, and facilitator known for her seamless blend of musical precision, free improvisation and physical exploration. As the creator of The Embodied Voice©, a research, performance and teaching practice, Kate’s many-faceted creative endeavors address themes of presence, the body-mind relationship, and human rewilding, through the expressive shaping of voice, movement and improvisation.
Rizumik
RIZUMIK is a freelance award-winning artist known for his rhythmic and improvisational skills through beatbox, singing, percussion, dance, humor and physical theatre. From 2011 to 2024, he has worked with Nessi Gomes, Bobby McFerrin, Mayumana, Cirque du Soleil and The Voca People. He has performed and facilitated around the world and has collaborated with institutions like Berklee College of Music, Noble & Greenough, NYU, Carnegie Hall and UVA, among others. His work represents a sensible approach blending improvisation, flow, playfulness, movement, communication, vulnerability and creativity.
Filipe Sousa
Filipe Sousa is a Portuguese pianist, composer, improviser and music facilitator based between London and Lisbon, known for his collaborative and participatory work with diverse artists, communities, orchestras and institutions including the Barbican Centre and Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB) Lisbon. He holds an MMus in Leadership from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and has led creative workshops, collective music-making projects and creates sound installations around the world while teaching at conservatoires and fostering inclusive musical experiences across social and artistic contexts. He is Artistic Director of Skoola and the Ressoa Project in Lisbon.
About The Embodied Voice Choir and Kate Smith’s music
Kate released an EP Songs from the Body in 2023, with live performances in Lisbon (Voz Unbound) and London (Songs from the Body). Her approach to voice is inspired by artists like Meredith Monk, Caroline Shaw, and the Humanophones. We will be learning new pieces with the potential for further development and performance in Lisbon in 2026.
🎶 Curious? Watch a preview here: Video Link, or listen to Songs from the Body here: Bandcamp Link.
“A gorgeous EP…the whole thing is marvellous.”
— Rick Stuart, Roots & Fusion
Who is it for?
No audition required.
BUT! You should be comfortable holding harmony against other voices and keeping rhythm.
No sight-reading needed—we’ll learn everything by ear.
Details & Booking
Price
Drop in : 15 EUR
3-Session Class Card: 40 EUR
4-Session Class Card: 54 EUR
6-Session Class Card: 80 EUR
The Complete Class Card (17 sessions): 225 EUR
You can use your purchased classes on any of The Embodied Voice Lab Lisboa sessions. After the term ends, any remaining classes left on your balance will be forfeited.
Professional singers: Pay what you can, including free if needed.
(Professional = working artist who performs with voice, whether part-time, full-time, or occasionally.)
You can pay in cash (in person), MBWAY, or bank transfer. Details will be displayed once you’ve completed registration.
Location
Piscina (search “Forum Dança” on Google Maps — we share the space but are not part of Forum Dança).
A Piscina @Espaço da penha
Tv. do Calado 26B, 1170-070 Lisboa
Dates & Timings:
Wednesdays, 19h - 21h
Music Mastery with Kate Smith
January 7, 14, 21, 28
Vocal Improv with Rizumik
February 4, 11, 18
Devised Songwriting with Filipe Sousa
February 25, March 4, 11, 18
The Embodied Voice Choir with Kate Smith
March 25, April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Register
If you would like to join a session of Lab Lisboa, please register in advance! Once you’ve submitted your registration you will receive details on how to pay.