“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 instrument. If your instrument is being tensed or strained unconsciously, if you have a level of body un-awareness, you’ll be less expressive. If you aren’t less expressive you might not be aware of exactly what you’re expressing. This is not optimal for anyone, especially an actor.

Actors I’ve worked with have told me that after studying the Alexander Technique they’re better able to approach roles and auditions with a blank slate. From that neutral place they may ask: 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.

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 his or her 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 ads 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, in the 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.”

All quotes from “The Actor And The Alexander Technique” by Kelly McEvenue

Mark Josefsberg-Alexander Technique NYC

Mark@MarkJosefsberg.com

(269) P-O-S-T-U-R-E

or (917) 709-4648

Related posts:

1. Alexander Technique Back Pain, Neck Pain.
2. Alexander Technique Slumping, Shlumping
3. Alexander Technique Posture Habits
4. The Alexander Technique And Computer Injuries
5. How To Relieve Stress In A New York Minute With The Alexander Technique