Meet Alli Mae Carnes of Raleigh

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alli Mae Carnes

Hi Alli Mae, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started The Alli Mae Carnes Studio (AMCS) in 2020 when the world shut down. I was a professional actor who lost all of my jobs almost overnight. Having no idea what would happen, I developed a curriculum and a musical theatre course for students to take online. By the end of 2020, I had taught hundreds of students in group classes all over the world via Zoom. I never thought to privately teach until a student from one of my classes said, “I don’t want to stop learning from you! Can I take private lessons?” And I said, “Absolutely!”
Before this, my primary training was in dance. I began to take vocal pedagogy classes and the people in my life mentioned that they had never seen me so happy and fulfilled. I was reading books about voice and vocal pedagogy in my free time, and taking every professional development class I could. I could not get enough!
Since then, the AMCS community has grown immensely.
I had a growing waitlist and was tired of turning people away. So, in January 2023, I hired my first associate coach, Micaela Bundy. She and I worked together on past projects, and she contained all of the qualities I was looking for in someone to emulate AMCS’s values. She was able to leave her full-time job within 6 months. Fast forward to now, July 2024: In addition to Micaela, AMCS now has 8 other instructors: Matthew Hager, Mairym Azcona, Dyl Renken, Kamilah Lay, Collin Yates, Estelle Avbuere, Crystal Bacon, and Anna Sledge. We also have a wonderful administration assistant, Abi Mowbray. Our team offers lessons in voice, acting, dance, piano, violin, and guitar for artists of all ages. We also offer lessons in English and Spanish.

Besides lessons, AMCS produces multiple shows year-round following the camp model, with students being given the opportunity to grow as an actor, singer, and dancer while creating lasting friendships with their peers. Just this summer in June 2024, AMCS produced James and the Giant Peach Jr., and A Man of No Importance in collaboration with Aggregate Theatre Company. In the upcoming school year, AMCS will produce Alice in Wonderland, Jr. and Into the Woods, Jr., both in partnership with Aggregate Theatre Company.

AMCS believes in arts access for all and pushing the boundaries of the performing arts as it currently stands, providing a safe, neurodiversity affirming place for students to feel “at home.” We also believe in accessibility in the arts and provide thousands of dollars in scholarships to students every year. We have never turned away a student seeking financial assistance for lessons or classes, and that is something I am very proud of.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely not! When I first started AMCS, I was also working at other theatres around Raleigh. Freelance life is super hectic and it’s hard to juggle all the schedules. Additionally, working during COVID times was very difficult. Between the different variants, masking, and trying to keep everyone safe, I did only virtual lessons for some time, which of course, was a learning curve!

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Before I started AMCS and performing, I was working in the mental health field. With my background as an ABA therapist, I love implementing mental health practices into performance techniques with my students.
This field can be brutal; rejection is all around and there are a lot of instructors who use the “tear them down to build them back up again” approach. We try to be different than that because there is another way….a better way.
As a certified Trauma Informed Voice Practitioner, I implement performance anxiety techniques into my coaching, as well as ideas from Acceptance Commitment Therapy.
So much of performing is a mind game, and I try to set my students up for success by giving them tools to work through the anxiety and changing their mindset around it.
It is worth noting: I am not a therapist anymore. I tell my students that while this work can be therapeutic and bring up some feelings, the minute it starts to feel like therapy is when we must involve other professionals. However, I am thankful for my background and how I use it every day in my teaching. I am a firm believer that the mind has so much to do with our voices and performances as a result, so I will always operate my pedagogy from that lens.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
PERSONAL

Podcasts:
We Can Do Hard Things – I have never missed an episode 🙂
Binchtopia
The Mel Robbins Podcast
You’re Wrong About
Hidden Brain

Books:
Untamed – Glennon Doyle
Breath – James Nestor
Atomic Habits – James Clear
The 5 Second Rule – Mel Robbins
Love Does – Bob Goff

WORK-RELATED:
Books:
The Actor and the Target – Declan Donnellan
Freeing the Natural Voice – Kristin Linklater
Second Circle – Patsy Rodenburg
The Musician’s Mind – Lynn Helding
The Artist’s Way – Julia Cameron

Contact Info:

• Website: https://allimaecarnes.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/theallimaecarnesstudio
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theallimaecarnesstudio
• Other: https://tiktok.com/allimaecarnes