Why AT for Performers?
Alexander Technique has completely transformed the way I approach auditions, being on stage, being on set, my preparation process and my success at booking gigs. The AT tools can offer you concrete ways to own your space, own your time and own your choices as an actor in the audition room, on stage or on set. These tools offer you the freedom to change your perception, find resources and scene partners in your surroundings, and combat the urge to narrow your attention onto the people behind the table, the camera, or your self-consciousness. Instead, you can expand your field of attention to the possibilities available to you at every moment. In this way, you start to play with the choices and resources you have available. This process is so much fun!
When you work this way, people take note. Their eyes are drawn to you. Something mysterious is happening… they might not be sure what, but they want in. This practice cultivates ‘presence’, that quality we all seek but few understand and can explain in terms of physics. I can. You become present at the center of your experience. Instead of throwing your energy at the wall behind the Casting Director’s head or out of the frame of the camera, you are at the center of the moment and everyone’s attention is drawn to you.
I have witnessed some powerful and magical transformations and performances by applying this work. I’ve worked with actors, singers, dancers and musicians to own their time and space in performance. Read some testimonials from past clients or sign up for a class!
Why Presence?
Presence has become a buzzword in our health and wellness culture. It’s obviously something we all want and value… but it seems illusive - a quality that only some charismatic, talented people naturally have. What I rarely hear is a concrete structured practice to build more presence into your daily life - making it a habit. So that’s what I’ve designed.
Fusing tools from Alexander Technique, Somatic Experiencing, body awareness perspectives from my yoga training and some exercises from my training as an actor (a field where the primary skills are presence and listening), I have developed a concrete structured way to practice presence, not only in a weekly class, but by incorporating it into all aspects of your daily life, including your auditions and your acting.
Without giving you all the good stuff, here’s a little taste…
I use a Venn diagram as a tool for you to understand the habits of your attention and to create goals around your attention in different spaces in your life.
We look at your habits around the five senses, and what you could tap into more to change your attention habits and bring you more into presence.
We notice what feels safe to you in various spaces of your life and what doesn’t. Sometimes, this will come up with an understanding of how any trauma you have survived (you did it - you are still here!) has impacted your preferences now; other times, the why will be more of a mystery. Either way, we lean more into the sensation in the present moment than the backstory or judgment that the sensation might bring up.
We dive into your body map. Yes, you have a body map, whether you know it or not. But how you navigate this map is often unconscious. This is good. Because it lets you drive a car or ride a bike or roll your wheelchair without thinking about it. But it also means you can develop unconscious habits, patterns and assumptions that creep into your tissues like vines. We learn to play and explore again, challenging the boundaries of the familiar pathways and exploring new pathways (paths untrodden in the forest of your body map). We search for freedom, ease and pleasure, and then build practices to facilitate what we find that we like.
We learn about the nervous system: how it is designed, how to listen to it, how it needs to orient to feel safe, how it needs to discharge excess energy, and we practice concrete tools to help you regulate yours.
Whether you are here for a drop-in yoga or presence practice, a one-on-one self-exploration session or a progressive structured themed group class, welcome.