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Workshops
These workshops can come to you!
Please contact me for more
information.
The Alexander Technique
The Alexander Technique can apply to any type of activity, I have
given a variety of workshops: for office workers; for musicians of all
types (choral, instrumental, vocal, classical, popular); for dancers
(ballroom and modern); for medical students; and for runners and
other athletes. I have also offered workshops for groups interested
in self-image and self-esteem (women with eating disorders and
women who have suffered physical and sexual abuse).
This Technique figures largely in all the work that I do, so it
appears in the more specialized workshops listed below as well as
on its own.
To introduce the work to large groups, I use a format that typically
consists of a 2-hour interactive lecture and demonstration
attended by the whole group. If further instruction is desired, I can
go more deeply into the work in small group sessions or in
individual lessons. Thus a day-long workshop can provide various
opportunities for learning the work on different levels. As the
workshop time is extended, further reinforcement is provided
through repeated hands-on and verbal instruction and practice
while engaged in the activity of choice.
See more about the Alexander Technique.
"
I drove out to LA (from Atlanta), and let me say, Alexander + 40 hours in a car
= much easier and more relaxing trip! My biggest realization was how much force
/ muscle (fingers, hands, arms, shoulders, abs!) I used to control the steering
wheel when, especially in the middle of nowhere, I could very easily rest my
arms on my lap and gently control the wheel with just a few fingers :) Yay Alexander! "
— Drew S. (college student)
" I have learned so much from you, but then that was NO surprise. You have
always been a consummate teacher and we really reaped the benefits of that [in
the workshop]. Please know that my students were bright-eyed and were taking
notes and we will all pool our thoughts from Thursday and write them up for
future knowledge and study."
— Dr. Thomas King (Professor of Voice, Austin
Peay State University)
The Performer and the Body
This is a workshop which focuses on the needs of performing
artists, including issues of performance anxiety. While the
Alexander Technique figures large in this class, all I know about life
and the performing arts comes into play. I have worked with actors,
dancers, singers, and players of all types of orchestral and popular
instruments.
Group instruction gives you an audience on which to practice your
skills even as you learn together.
This workshop can be presented as a master class (working with a
few performers before a larger group) or as a group lesson (2–6
students).
" This day was just marvelous for all concerned.
You gave the students a day they will not soon forget. There was such a marked
change in every one you worked with and your presentation was just excellent
in every respect."
— Dr. Sharon
Mabry (Professor of Voice, Austin Peay State University)
" Not only did I learn how to give direction while playing the flute resulting in less
pain, giving direction helped me in so many other ways. This includes sitting,
standing, writing, reading, doing the computer, and everything else. I feel calm,
relaxed, comfortable, happy and pain free! It’s weird to think that what I thought
was right and telling my body to do was wrong and just making the matter worse.
When I would breathe while playing the flute, it would be loud breaths. When I
tried to breathe more softly I would tighten. This didn’t allow me to get a full
breath and still sounded loud. But when I gave direction I relaxed and was able
to breathe so freely. Thanks again!!!! "
— Abi C. (musician/college student)
The Singing Body: Awakening the Music Within
This is a workshop for a choral group and conductor. Instruction in
bodymapping and principles of the Alexander Technique is
combined with my decades-long experience teaching and
performing music written for the voice. In addition to working with
the choral group and the conductor separately, emphasis is placed
on how the two can work as one.
" From our perspective, [the workshop] was
most helpful to our students in the following ways: 1) It helped them understand
how the whole body effects singing; 2) It helped them understand the negative
results of tension; 3) It gave them one more affirmation that they function as
a whole made up of individual contributions; and 4) It focused their observation
of my conducting on how my posture and gesture communicates much more than meets
the eye. "
— Dr. Russ
Shelley (Elma Stine Heckler Professor of Music/Chair,
Music Department,
Juniata College/conductor of the Juniata Concert Choir)
AT for Equestrians
In this workshop, I focus on the rider, not the horse, on the
premise that “as the rider goes, so goes the horse”— if the rider is
stiff, the horse will move stiffly, and communication between horse
and rider gets more difficult, less clear. This workshop typically
includes group lessons (on the horse and off) and some individual
lesson time on the horse.
Design Your Own Workshop
Are you in a group who is engaged in a particular activity — sports,
arts, fitness, martial arts or whatever — who would like to
experience greater ease and freedom in this activity, and perhaps
move it to the next level of mastery?
Contact me and
let’s see
what we can come up with!
" I used the Alexander Technique a lot during the
break and it helped with some golf as well as running. "
— Mike S. (college student)
" I have really enjoyed this class . . . It
is amazing how I have been able to apply the concepts to all aspects of my life
(anything from walking, sitting to studying, etc.) . . . I really appreciate
the time that you spend to recognize our own personal needs/improvement areas.
I think it is wonderful that [this class] is taught here. "
— Laura S. (college student)
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