Alexander Technique And Actors
“With good humor, specificity, and charm, Mark makes a challenging technique accessible and fun!” -Kyra Sedgwick, Emmy-winning actress.
“I can immediately tell the difference between actors who have studied the Alexander Technique, and those who haven’t”-Sam Mendes, Academy Award-Winning Director (American Beauty) at one of our lessons.
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“The Alexander Technique helped a long standing back problem, and to get a good night’s sleep after many years of tossing and turning.” -Paul Newman
“I find the Alexander Technique very helpful in my work. Things happen without you trying. They get to be light and relaxed. You must get an Alexander Teacher to show it to you.” -John Cleese
“The many benefits that the Alexander technique afforded us as actors included minimized tension, centeredness, vocal relaxation and responsiveness, mind/body connection, and about an inch and a half of additional height. By balancing and neutralizing tensions, I’ve learned to relieve as well as to avoid the aches and pain caused by the thousands of natural shocks that flesh is heir to.”- Kevin Kline
“The greater the actor’s sensitivity and awareness of his body, the wider the range of choices or responses he can make for himself and his characters.” Kelly McEvenue-The Actor And The Alexander Technique
Working with NYC actors is similar to working with non-actors with a few significant differences. As with singers, the actors’ body is his/her instrument. If your ‘instrument’ is being tensed or strained unconsciously, if you have a level of body un-awareness, you’ll be less expressive at the very least.
Actors I’ve worked with have told me that after our Alexander Technique lessons they’re better able to approach roles and auditions with a blank slate. From that neutral place they are more able to question: Might this character have ‘good posture’? The Alexander Technique trained actor will achieve that without appearing stiff. Might the character slouch? They can do that also, but in a way that won’t hurt their neck, back, or voice. One can appear to be slouching, yet do so in a way that won’t be harmful. That same awareness can be developed while walking, sitting, standing, bending, gesturing, and all other movements on and off-stage.
Stress affects the actor and the non-actor as well, especially in large cities such as New York. Excess tension also affects the actor during the course of the day while doing everyday activities. The Alexander Technique addresses the stress problem in unique ways. By cultivating awareness of excess tension in the neck, for instance, the Alexander student starts changing the muscular tonus throughout her/his body.
The stress level of this city, or other large cities is so high, combined with the stress of the ’self employed’ aspect inherent in the arts adds to the actors’ stress on and off-stage. The AT helps to relieve the extra tension, and more importantly teaches you how to release the tension yourself, at any moment.
“The Alexander Technique teacher can help the actor with both self-discovery and character discovery. A character has to evolve out of the actor’s mind, body and emotions; reside there truthfully and experience the story of the play or film, moment by moment…You simply cannot learn the Alexander Technique from a book. You can read about the concepts and principles of Alexander work, but at some point it is absolutely necessary to engage with a trained and certified Alexander Technique teacher.”
The Actor And The Alexander Technique by Kelly McEvenue
Mark Josefsberg-Alexander Technique NYC
(269) P-O-S-T-U-R-E
or (917) 709-4648
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