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What is the Alexander Technique?

The Alexander Technique is a practical method for both discovering and changing habitual patterns.

Habits can be very helpful -- without them you couldn't walk across the room.  But sometimes after we outgrow the need for them, these habits can get in our way.

Thankfully, we can learn to let go of un-useful  habits and learn more beneficial ones.

F.M. Alexander loved performing Shakespeare, but he kept losing his voice.  Over ten years of study, he realized that some very common habits were interfering with his voice, presence, and movement.  He realized that in order to become more whole, more integrated, he would have to let go of some habitual patterns and allow for something new to arise.  He realized that he would have to let go of what he was doing in order to become more fully himself.

How will the Alexander Technique help my acting?

Have you ever felt emotionally blocked?  Have your physical habits limited your creativity?  After a performance does your voice or body hurt?  Do you feel removed from your sense of play or spontaneity?  You may be misusing yourself.

Many classes -- dance, mine, clown, mask -- ask you to change how you move, but without addressing how you are using yourself while you move, the same habits will produce the same results.  By identifying the ways that an actor misuses himself, and then choosing not to engage those habits, the actor allows the space for a more integrated body, freer breath, an unimpeded vocal instrument, and creative freedom to arise naturally.  Acting becomes more truthful, more idiosyncratic, and more personal.  Oh, and more fun!

Hamlet III.4

That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat,
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this,
That to the use of actions fair and good
He likewise gives a frock or livery,
That aptly is put on. Refrain to-night,
And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence: the next more easy;
For use almost can change the stamp of nature,
And either lodge the devil, or throw him out
With wondrous potency.

The heightened language of classical texts demands a heightened physical, mental, and emotional presence.  Contemporary habits can limit presence.  What happens when you get out of your own way?

The Alexander Technique is an integral component of the elite training programs at Julliard, Yale, NYU, RADA, LAMDA, NIDA, and anywhere that takes a holistic approach to performance training. It is used by film stars, Broadway regulars, and beginners.  It has been helping actors achieve their goals for over a hundred years.  It's still here because it works.

What happens in a lesson?

During a lesson, we'll explore how you use yourself during some simple movements like getting into and out of a chair or walking.  You'll spend some time lying on a massage table while I gently move your body so that it can integrate itself without the stimulus of holding yourself up.  If you'd like, we can also incorporate some acting or you can play an instrument. 

"You are not here to do exercises or learn to do something right, but to meet a stimulus that always puts you wrong, and learn to deal with it differently."
    -  F.M. Alexander

Please wear comfortable clothing that does not impede your movement or breathing and that lets you feel comfortable during physical contact.

Please be sure to have socks.

I teach in the clean, open, well-lit offices of The Shakespeare Forum on at 215 East 99th Street (at 3rd Avenue) in El Barrio's ArtSpace PS 109.

Policy

Lessons must be cancelled 24 hours in advance.
Lessons can be only AT (45 mins) or AT and acting (60 mins).
Lessons can be shared.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

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