Missy Vineyard: Why Doesn't Everyone Love the Alexander Technique

FM’s story reads like a fairytale. I think of it in three parts. First, he grows up in the Tasmanian outback but aspires to be an actor. Against all odds, he moves to the Australian mainland and finds success on the stage. Then he tragically loses his voice, threatening his career. Does he quit? No. He watches himself speaking in a mirror and experiments on himself, recovering his voice.

In part two, Alexander draws on this experience to develop a hands-on method that involves guiding others as they sit down and stand up from a chair, deftly reshaping how they balance and coordinate themselves as he instructs them to “inhibit and direct.” His students recover from a wide array of pains and problems.

In the third act, FM takes a ship to London where he gains professional and financial success, typically teaching over ten students a day, five days a week, for the rest of his long life. He writes four books and develops a 3-year course for training teachers of his method. However, despite the dedication and commitment of the many ensuing generations of AT teachers around the world, few of us can claim his degree of teaching success.

Why aren’t the students banging on our doors? There is no single answer, but in this presentation I will make the case that his work is missing something vital. I will shed light on what I think of as Alexander’s blind side, something he both neglected and warned us against.

The session includes a brief group activity for participants to explore while standing. It will better illustrate how to use the ideas in this talk to develop skills that forge more meaningful connections within yourself, as well as between yourself and your students.

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