Beyond Alexander: From the Antechamber to the Palace
A free, informal discussion group for teachers of the Alexander Technique
Suggestions, questions, requests? Please email me.
Thursday, May 21 at 8 PM Paris
Thursday, June 11 at 8 PM Paris
Tuesday, June 30 at 8 PM Paris
(8 PM Paris is 7 PM London, 2 PM New York, 1 PM Chicago, 11 AM Los Angeles)
I was certified as a teacher of the Alexander Technique in 1986. In 1997, my first book Indirect Procedures: A Musician’s Guide to the Alexander Technique was published by Oxford University Press, creating opportunities for me to travel and teach all over the world—opportunities for which I’ll be forever grateful. Indirect Procedures was translated into French, German, and Japanese. In recent years I completely rewrote it, and this new edition has since been translated into Chinese (simplified characters).
I also wrote a book for the general public: The Alexander Technique: A Skill for Life (Crowood Press). In addition, I wrote its French version, and I revised it for translations into Japanese and Estonian. I’m currently revising the English original for a new edition, to be published by Crowood Press if the post-pandemic economic realities allow us to proceed with it.
It may come as a surprise to some of you, as a shock to others, and as an indifferent fact to others still . . . but I don’t think of myself as an Alexander teacher, and I don’t call myself an Alexander teacher, and to the public I don’t offer services as an Alexander teacher. In an average work week, I make few references to Alexander, his writings, his vocabulary, or the procedures he met in place.
Instead, I call my own work INTEGRATED PRACTICE.
It’s an ever-evolving synthesis of all that I have learned over the decades. Besides the Alexander Technique, my synthesis includes music, improvisational theater, etymology, Jungian psychology, storytelling, metaphysics, a few dimensions of Japanese culture (in particular my admittedly shallow understanding of Zen and of aikido), energy healing, and other influences still.
I think of my training in the Alexander Technique as the antechamber, and of the universe of INTEGRATED PRACTICE as the palace. The antechamber is beautifully appointed and very welcoming. And yet, the palace adjoining it is infinitely larger and richer, with possibilities that the antechamber can’t hint at.
Curious? Come and talk. It’s free. Limited to 12 participants. You can participate in more than one session.
Thursday, May 21 at 8 PM Paris
Thursday, June 11 at 10 AM Paris
Tuesday, June 30 at 8 PM Paris
