Music

Being able to play a musical instrument is a skill set I have always wanted to master. I began learning music when I was five years old. Like most children my first instrument was the recorder.  Not long after I began though, my recorder was confiscated by one of the teachers at my school and I was completely turned off from continuing to learn.  I was not turned off from music, just me learning. I am not alone in this experience. Many of my students have shared similar musical stories about learning with me. Now I enjoy listening to music and continue to appreciate the expertise of others playing.

There are many aspects to learning music and becoming an accomplished player. From becoming familiar with the instrument you have chosen, to mastering the sounds it can make, and everything in between. With this learning we adopt mannerisms of use, that help us initially adapt to playing our chosen instrument. In this process of learning, we may learn about the best ergonomic placement for our bodies in relation to our instrument.  Marvelous, because it helps us to take care of ourselves. 

So how can Alexander work help? The Alexander work is concerned predominately with learning a set of skills that help us to recognize the relationship we have with our self and how we interact with the world around us. As a teacher I may start your learning process by asking you to stand in front of the chair and then work with you to stand and sit. When you develop the ability to recognize how you are working with an object that you use daily throughout your day and make changes as needed, it is an easy transition to working with more complex skills like playing an instrument.

The chair is a really great tool for invoking unconscious habits we have collected over the years.  The action of sitting or standing is something very familiar to us. We have become so adept at sitting and standing that its benal routine eventually means we “don’t have to pay attention” while we make this action. So much so that even the mention or thought of a chair starts an unconscious chain reaction that is barely perceptible to us, between the mind and body. The body begins to implement a sitting or standing response.  Cool right?  We really don’t have to get caught up with “insignificant tasks”. 

It could be cool but the bit where we don’t pay attention, is the bit where we get stuck.  This is the bit where Alexander work excels.  

The wonderful thing about Alexander work is that it is actually intended as a method for prevention. That is to say, you don’t need to have something wrong with you to take lessons.  Many performers use the technique to help prevent injury and to enhance their performance. 

When you are ready, plan on taking at least 10 weekly lessons to start.  This usually gives people enough time to understand the work and begin applying it. 

Between the ages of 12 and 13 I became very interested in the theater. So much so that I started an after school theater club. At the end of  each school day we gathered in the school hall and I gave out tasks for people to do.  The core group stayed with me and we worked on pieces that I had written or choreographed.  It was a blast until one day the deputy head of school put a stop to it all.  In the uproar I managed to negotiate an end of year talent event.  The talent had to include something for everybody in the school year not just those signed on to the theater club. There was a bake off, for all those budding and talented bakers. A sew off, for people interested in dress making. A wood working  showcase. A metal working showcase. And lastly a talent or variety show with anything from singing a song, to dancing, a ventriloquist act to receiting poetry and playing a musical instrument.  All and anything appropriate was allowed.  The teachers were the judges. It was so much fun, our year group was buzzing  as we prepared for the big event.  I won first prize for my cake - a Madeira with a little piece of candied lime on top. Placed somewhere with a skirt I had sewn together (my zipper was very impressive) for the sewing event. I didn’t place anywhere for my metal or woodwork. Some friends and I gave a short musical  “the precocious brats from Vaine” to the music from Fame re written by me. We performed for fun and not competition.

The following year the Oxford Playhouse in Oxford U.K. offered a summer theater program.  My sister and I joined. This time I wrote a whole play about robots taking over human civilization. It used everyone from the group and involved audience interaction.  It was much fun and after, I was asked to participate in a number of theater projects at the Pegasus theater.  This lasted until I began working with Barclays Bank.  The working hours did not allow me to  continue to participate. I did do a couple of shows with the Abington Drama club at the very charming Unicorn Theater. 

Although I can perform, I find the act of performing to be very raw.  When you are on stage there are  hundreds or thousands of eyes searching for authenticity of character, which means you have to be available to, but not taken by, this gaze every single moment of every single performance.  Also during the lead up to the play I found it difficult to stop being in character regardless  of where I was, in the pub, on the street, at the office, I didn’t know how to switch off and be myself. Also part of me thought that if I switched off I might forget my lines. This is where I found the Alexander work to be an invaluable tool.  

Alexander work can assist with so many aspects of acting, which is why Alexander technique is taught as part of many theater and performing arts programs across the world. From injury prevention to performance enhancement the skills learned can help actors  with, vocal production and control, performance anxiety, character development, and presence to name but a few. 

When you are ready, plan on taking at least 6-10 weekly lessons to start.  This usually gives people enough time to get the work and begin applying it. 

There are very many different practices of yoga. In western culture, most of the yogic practices use the asana’s  or poses.  Iyengar, Vinyasa,  Flow or gentle yoga are practices that use asana’s.  The definition  of Yoga is Unity.  It is intended as a practice that units.  By making the choice to practice yoga is part of the process of  doing yoga.  

I was first introduced to Yoga through my dance training.  Many Choreographers used asana sequencing to help increase the ability to move into and out of the floor or to move between the hands and feet.  Genius really.  Because of the way in which it was taught, however, I was constantly trying to ”let go” or ”relax into” the poses rather than being encouraged to find the equilibrium of the yin and yang of the movement and breath coordination. 

Now that I teach Yoga, I have come to learn how time and yin and yang play an integral role in movement coordination and breathing.