ABSTRACT
This chapter can be regarded as a launching pad to project a stage performer into his/her own future. One of the first steps is to make sure that the performer has collected everything of value from his/her past. In addition to the existing vocal systems the performer can study, it is possible for him/her to devise an independent, original lifelong program. Being imitated in depth and imitating someone else one last time is a valuable way to end class and begin solo work. Each of the eight stages of growth (owning, healing, mastering, expanding, expressing, refining, releasing, and selecting) offers more possible ways to continue to expand. What the performer chooses is much less important than that he/she chooses and that he/she is always pursuing voice growth in some fashion. While the performer's vocal work will probably never end, neither will his/her sense of enjoyment and discovery.
