Archive for March, 2020
Vertical Buoyancy
Photo by Diego Madrigal from Pexels
Sometimes while teaching, a phrase will show up that truly meets the needs of the moment. And sometimes that phrase becomes part of your regular lexicon. I was working with a student who was claiming great length from the inside. I was concerned that he might soon add some effort to his uprightness. That’s when we started talking about balancing the horizontal pulls in life with our sense of verticality. But “vertical buoyancy” seemed most appropriate. Now I am using the term all the time. I love what it implies. Often when I talk about the relationship of our head to the rest of us, I show images of lily pads. Our head rests on the top of our spine as a lily pad rests on water—totally supported and totally movable. It gives us that vertical buoyancy!
What is the Alexander Technique at Boston Conservatory at Berklee?
The Alexander Technique (AT) is an investigation into human reaction. And what makes that exciting is that we investigate OUR OWN reactions—not just the generic ones. We learn to observe ourselves in such a way that we become free to choose responses outside of our habitual network. And that experience can be life changing!
At Boston Conservatory at Berklee, we spend most of our time investigating responses to performance situations—whether a studio class, an audition, or a performance, we explore the best ways to prepare for these events so that we can be the best artist we can be under potentially stressful situations.
In addition to the work we do with musicians, dancers and actors here, we also train AT teachers to carry this work into the world. Having the skills to teach this work can be a perfect complement to a performing career. It keeps your self-awareness honed; it spreads this work to a population that understands and fully appreciates its usefulness; it provides additional income to what can be a financially volatile career.
We are fortunate to have several faculty and staff at Boston Conservatory and Berklee who are trained as AT teachers. Let’s introduce you:
Paul D’Agostino https://bostonconservatory.berklee.edu/directory/paul-dagostino
Bob Lada https://www.berklee.edu/people/bob-lada
Here are our additional teachers on the AT training course
We also have faculty currently in the AT training course who will soon be added to this list.
We hope you will enjoy our posts.
Here’s to the exploration!
Debi Adams, Alexander Technique 