Integrative Alexander Technique Training for Actors

(This is an article written for actors, but exchange "Actor" for any Stage Professional and it will still apply!)

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You cannot hide; your growth as an artist is not separate from your growth as a human being: 
​all is visible.
-Anne Bogart

In relation to creating roles.
How we do what we do, reveals us. The Alexander Technique teaches you to identify how you do what you do and develops freedom of choice in response to your own patterns of movement and thought so you can consciously decide to wear the the mask of another. 

If an actor takes their own tensions to the stage, the role will be limited to those. Actors who know themselves and can consciously choose how to create the tensions, or the lack of tensions, of a character are actors who can express nuance and diversity.​

​The hallmarks of the Alexander Technique are creativity, spontaneity, and adaptability to change.
- A.R Alexander

In relation to health and self-care.
The ability to make choices that include taking care of yourself, both on and off stage, is vital in relation to all the demands of the profession. This can include sustaining your characters in a way where you are able to leave the created/played tensions behind after the show, deciding whether or not to say yes to a job offer, or making the balancing act of personal and professional life more sustainable and fun.

The Alexander Technique is an ally in all activities when you need one, and is utterly practical and sustainable as you use it while you do what you do and cooperates with who you are and what you want in your life; in movement and change.​​

In relation to whole development.
An actor needs tools which can support and inspire both the artistic and personal development in a whole, integrated and creative way. When you integrate the Alexander Technique in your life you improve the ability to respond to stimuli with conscious choice, with coordination and intention; it's about HOW you carry yourself and your ideas forward; HOW you create your life as you want it, on and off stage.

Simply put, why one person throws their head back to take a drink and another brings their neck forward is a revelation of character differences. 
-Joan Schirle

In relation to acting in the now.
To be able to improvise authentically and have the rehearsed look like it happens in the moment – is an actor's main job.  To be present and communicate here and now, with colleagues, audience, in a world of continuous change. They needs processes that can help create the circumstances needed for it to be possible to act and respond with authentic freedom of choice and movement in each moment. The Alexander Technique cultivates whole relational communication with yourself and the world.

​You still must continue to work on balance, ease,
and good use, not only to improve your voice 
and body as an instrument, but so you can present a character’s tensions on stage, rather than your own;
and, perhaps even more important to your career, to stay sane in a stressful and insane profession. 
- Joan Schirle