Alexander Technique for the Actor I

The Alexander Technique offers a comprehensive set of skills and valuable insights about how we think, move, and breathe. It connects us through our senses to our thoughts, feelings, and actions in ways that transform our awareness. As actors and performing artists, we can use this proven method to invite more ease and freedom into our preparation and performance instead of experiencing stiffness or tension. We can develop confidence in our posture, gestures, voices, and our overall way of being on stage and in life. Alexander Technique proves useful for unloading the habitual patterns and tension we unknowingly carry into acting. An attitude of curiosity and experimentation opens us up, making the resiliency of body and mind more accessible to us. This represents the essential core of Alexander's principles and teachings.

Classwork will address the following key topics:

• Developing sensory awareness and freeing attention from habitual patterns
• Warm-ups and practices designed for mindful and conscious movement
• Practical skills for tension prevention, release, and management
• Coordinating movement and breathing with ease and efficiency
• Body-mapping and practical understanding of breathing anatomy
• Integration of the Alexander Technique with your acting process through simple activities, improvisations, and text work