Teacher Biographies

• Peter G. Anderheggen

• Pam Bartlett

• Margaret Boyko

• Alana Cox

• Katherine Glatter

• Tully Hall

• Katarina Hallonblad

• Teo Hannum

• Lisa Harvey

• Michaela Hauser-Wagner

• Priscilla Hunt

• Tova Malin

• Eric Miller

• Sara Miller

• Chris Mincer

• Christine Olson

• Cheryl Pleskow

• Ruth Rootberg

• Christine Stevens

• Maggie Sullivan

• Missy Vineyard

• Merlin Wisswaesser

Peter G. Anderheggen

I completed my teacher training at the Alexander Technique School New England (ATSNE) and am certified as an Alexander Teacher by the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT). In addition to my training with ATSNE, I have had lessons with a number of eminent, senior Alexander Teachers. I currently teach the Alexander Technique in northwestern Connecticut in the town of New Hartford.

My introduction to the Alexander Technique occurred during trainings I had in the 1980s with Jean Houston and Ilana Rubenfeld.   I did not, at that time, begin Alexander lessons. But the power and value of the Technique stayed with me during my years of teaching literature, writing and public speaking in colleges and universities in New England. During those years I also studied and taught both hatha yoga and Feldenkrais exercises and throughout that time I often contemplated studying other forms of body-mind work.

Only after I retired from teaching and one day heard myself recommending Alexander Technique lessons to my daughter did I seriously consider the Technique for myself.  I only took lessons to treat a slightly annoying, but chronically painful, neck which I had had for twenty years and regularly but temporarily relieved with chiropractic adjustments.  But, when the neck problem did not return after less than a month of Alexander lessons, thoughts of teacher training became serious.

In addition to my many years of classroom teaching, I bring to my Alexander teaching: experience as a competitive runner, a competitive swimmer, a choral singer, a builder, an actor in university and community theater, a facilitator for Receptive Listening  workshops and as the director of such diverse programs as college student disability services and The WoodenBoat School in Brooklin,  Maine.

^ Top

Pam Bartlett

I had my early lessons in the Alexander Technique while I was a student at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut, and at summer chamber music festivals. I was impressed by the subtle and profound changes that I experienced in lessons, brought about by the gentlest guidance of a skilled and observant teacher. A surprised friend remarked after one particular lesson that I looked different. I could see in the mirror that I looked the way I felt: more open, more relaxed, more lively, happier and taller! Years after those first lessons, and after becoming established in a career as a violin teacher and performer, I began training to become an Alexander Technique teacher. I graduated from The Alexander Technique School of New England in 1995. I now teach in and around Northampton, Massachusetts, and have continued my studies at ATSNE as well as at the Constructive Teaching Centre in London, and at workshops throughout the United States.

The changes I experienced in lessons and training were essential to me as a musician: freedom from stiffness and chronic back pain; and improvements in violin technique, concentration, and sight reading. Over time, I began to see the Alexander Technique in a broader sense as an important tool for personal growth and change. The Alexander Technique teaches us how to pause before we react habitually, and to consider a new direction. For me, the beauty of the Alexander Technique is in entering a realm of possibility, recognizing another way of doing something, or another way of thinking about something. I have recently rekindled an interest in painting and have discovered that I am able to be more present, more patient, more observant, and more creative than before.

As a teacher, I enjoy working with people with a variety of interests and life circumstances: those whose work involves sitting at a computer desk, women experiencing the challenges of a changing body during pregnancy, those whose passion in life involves specific skilled activities such as music, the arts or sports, or who want to enjoy their daily activities more fully.

^ Top

Margaret Boyko

I grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland, where I received a B.A. degree from Edinburgh College of Art. After graduating I created a textile design company, in partnership with my husband, which grew to become international in scope. I also owned and ran a designer knitwear shop in central Edinburgh in partnership with another textile designer. In 1995, my husband and I sold these businesses and moved our family to Massachusetts. I trained at ATSNE graduating in 1999. In addition to assisting at ATSNE and building a private practice, I am currently pursuing doctoral studies in Education at the University of Massachusetts. I also hold a part-time position as Executive Director of English as a Second Language for Top Floor Learning, Palmer Library, MA. I am also a Teaching Assistant at the University, and run workshops designed to help aspiring teachers pass the Massachusetts Teacher Educator Licensing exam.

I have been interested in the Alexander Technique since the1970's when I read Wilfred Barlow's book, which pointed out the extreme perils of habits of thinking that consisted of end-gaining (and gave no consideration at all to the process of how to get to that end). I had Alexander lessons intermittently for several years but teachers in my area were few.

After a disabling experience with a chiropractor, followed by frustration with the medical profession, I decided to take the Alexander Technique more seriously in my effort to break the cycle of pain, anger, and dependency on outside practitioners to 'fix me.' I knew I had to take responsibility for myself---my own pain and my own recovery. I found two teachers who started me on the long path of re-education. From being in chronic pain and finding walking very painful and difficult at the lowest point of my life, I now live pain-free and am in a much stronger state of equilibrium emotionally and mentally. In addition to the physical and emotional benefits I have experienced, I have noticed that I have much greater clarity of thinking and control over my intellectual development, which has been of tremendous use in advanced graduate study. The most remarkable benefit from studying the Alexander Technique has been the growth of self-awareness, and the realization of the emergent potential that lies within us that can be tapped and developed by using the powerful tools of inhibition and direction.

^ Top

Alana Cox

I graduated from ATSNE in 2004. In the same year I retired from my job at the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts to pursue my new career as a teacher of the Alexander Technique.

I discovered the Alexander Technique after twenty years of making the rounds of the medical profession searching in vain for diagnosis and effective treatment for my debilitating headaches and joint pain. I consulted an array of doctors who prescribed physical therapy, cortisone shots and drugs. I experimented with chiropractic and alternative medicine such as Homeopathy, Reflexology, Acupuncture, Chinese herbs and Feldenkrais. I slept on magnets and took shark cartilage. After years of searching I was eventually diagnosed with fibromyalgia and tempero-mandibular joint problems (TMJ) but nothing I tried gave me any relief.

Then I did a computer search and discovered the Alexander Technique. From my first lesson, it drew me like a magnet. I have always been an avid walker but often suffered with lower back pain and would frequently trip and stumble. I could not walk up the slightest incline or a flight of stairs without gasping for air and reaching for my asthma inhaler. After several months of lessons in the technique, I stopped tripping and stumbling. And I haven't used my inhaler for several years.

I also have a genetic, progressive hearing loss and, as with most hearing loss, I experience tinnitis. When we cannot hear we strain and tighten our muscles unconsciously, somehow believing that this will help us to hear. But all this does is create more intense ringing, muscle tension and strain. The technique has also helped control the ringing in my ears.

The Alexander Technique teacher training has been a life altering experience and one of the best things I have ever done for myself. By learning how to address the deeply ingrained, unconscious muscle tension habits that led to my various problems, I have found a powerful tool for helping myself (where no one else could), and have experienced enormous relief from both physical and emotional pain. The Technique gave me a choice I had not realized I had÷the choice to learn how to control pain and change how I felt about myself. Because it has helped me so much, I am passionate and enthusiastic about the Technique and have committed myself to teaching it to others, especially those who have experienced chronic pain as I have.

^ Top

Katherine Glatter

I graduated from Kent State University with a BA in English in 1985. At that time, I planned to pursue a career teaching literature, but my life circumstances led me to an earlier passion and I took up the study of massage. In 1988, I received my degree from The Ohio College of Massage therapy.

I first encountered the Alexander Technique in 1990, while studying pregnancy massage. As I leaned over the massage table in my usual manner, my teacher put her hands on my back. Her touch was unlike any I had experienced, and it transformed the way I stood and felt. I had a sense of freedom and expansion throughout my body, free from pain and stress.

I was so taken with this experience that I began to study the Alexander Technique whenever possible. For ten years, I worked with many teachers from a wide range of approaches to the Technique, a situation that gave me broad insight into different teaching styles. After a time, however, I came to realize that I needed to dedicate myself full-time to the study of the Alexander Technique, and that to do so required a more unified approach. I moved to the Pioneer Valley in August 2000 to study with Missy Vineyard at the Alexander Technique School of New England, graduating in 2003.

Before moving to Amherst with my husband and two daughters, I ran a successful massage therapy practice in Kent, Ohio for 12 years, specializing in treating athletes; women in all stages of pregnancy, labor and post-partum; chronic pain sufferers; and people recovering from injuries. I loved my work as a massage therapist, but after many years of providing primarily deep tissue massage, my own body began to suffer÷low back and hip pain became chronic. The Technique proved to be the most effective way for me to address how I was giving massages so that I could prevent further injury and interrupt the habits that were causing my pain in the first place.

Since beginning my teacher training, I have returned to many interests I had when I was younger. I can now approach these abandoned pursuits with a fresh perspective and greater insight, whether I am walking, swimming, running, or doing yoga. I have also been involved with singing and performance for my entire life. The Technique has given me new tools for singing powerfully, without fear, and without straining my voice. I urge any and all who love to sing to take Alexander lessons!

For me, the Alexander Technique bridges the gap that exists between the desire to do something-- whether it be an artistic or athletic endeavor or an everyday task -- and being able to carry it out with success, confidence, and freedom. The Alexander Technique has allowed me to address and change many of my unconscious habits, unlocking some of my own unease and pain. I have no doubt that all individuals can benefit from its study.

^ Top

Tully Hall

I am a member of the first graduating class of ATSNE (formerly the Northampton School of Alexander Studies), and was certified as a teacher by AmSAT in 1990. In addition to my private practice in Ashburn, Virginia, I teach regularly at Stetson University music school in Florida, at Shenandoah University's music degree summer programs, and as guest faculty at ATSNE. I've studied extensively with master Alexander teachers in London and the U.S. and have presented the Technique in a wide variety of educational, institutional and corporate settings. I wrote the Adjudication Procedures for AmSAT's professional Code of Conduct and currently serve on AmSAT's Professional Conduct Committee. I'm also a member of Alexander Technique Teachers of Greater Washington.

After receiving a music performance degree from the University of Wisconsin, I played the French horn professionally for many years, including several years with a German opera orchestra and many seasons with various symphony, chamber and opera orchestras in New England. Currently, I study voice and perform with the Master Singers of Virginia, and am a frequent Alexander teacher for both private and university vocal studios. I've also studied riding and given Alexander lessons and seminars to equestrians.

I was first attracted to the Alexander Technique by its fascinating concepts and possibility for personal growth. It transformed the way I thought of behavior and the choices we make, as it transformed my overall coordination. Soon after completing the teacher training, I found myself able to hike effortlessly up a mountain with an ease that my previous career as an aerobics instructor had never afforded me! Since then I've been lucky enough to teach in an increasing number of situations where I can use my music experience to inform my work. Now I find I have something special to offer performers-- an invitation to let the Technique help them discover and open new channels within themselves for communication and self-expression.

^ Top

Katarina Hallonblad

A native of Finland, Katarina Hallonblad studied at the Alexander Technique School of New England (ATSNE) under Missy Vineyard and received her teacher certification in 1999.  She assisted in the ATSNE teacher training program for several years, completed the faculty training program in 2006, and is now on leave from the faculty while teaching in Helsinki.

Katarina currently teaches the Technique to musicians in the piano music and orchestral performance departments of the Sibelius Academy and to actors at the Theatre Academy of Finland. She also maintains a private practice. Her pedagogical interests include facilitating ease and grace in daily activities, promoting occupational health and well-being, enhancing personal growth, and developing self-expression.

Katarina’s work as a teacher of the Alexander Technique is informed by her training and experience in meditation and movement studies. She is particularly interested in exploring the Alexander Technique as a practice of mindfulness of movement. She has practiced meditation for over 15 years and is qualified in Mindfulness-Based-Stress-Reduction (MBSR), an empirically-validated health care application developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.  She also trained as a group facilitator in Authentic Movement, a contemplative dance practice based on Jungian depth psychology, under Alton Wasson and Daphne Lowell.  Katarina has additional experience with applications of mindfulness in hospice work, as a leader of body-awareness groups, in the practice of yoga, and as a parent.

Katarina holds a Master of Arts degree in linguistics from The University of Helsinki, where she was a lecturer in the graduate and undergraduate programs. Her background includes institute training in classical music theory and performance (piano, violin and cello). She created the ATSNE continuing education program, taught the Technique at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and presented at the 2004 AmSAT Annual General Meeting.  Katarina is a member of the Psychophysical Psychotherapy Association of Finland and currently serves as the Secretary of FinSTAT, the Finnish Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique.

***

Katarina Hallonblad valmistui Alexander-tekniikan opettajaksi Alexander Technique School of New Englandista (USA) vuonna 1999. Hän kävi lisäksi ATSNEn monivuotisen jatkokoulutuksen ja pätevöityi Alexander-opettajien kouluttajaksi vuonna 2006.

Katarina asuu parhaillaan Helsingissä, jossa hän opettaa Alexander-tekniikkaa Sibelius-Akatemiassa ja Teatterikorkeakoulussa sekä antaa yksityistunteja. Hänen pedagogisia tavoitteitaan on liikkeen ja olemisen helppouden lisääminen arjessa, työhyvinvointi ja stressinhallinta, itseymmärryksen kasvattaminen sekä ilmaisun vapauttaminen.

Katarinalla on suomen kielen maisterin tutkinto Helsingin yliopistosta, jossa hän on  toiminut lehtorina. Muusikkokoulutuksensa hän on saanut Länsi-Helsingin Musiikkiopistossa (viulu, sello, piano). Hän on suorittanut Mindfulness-Based-Stress-Reduction ohjaajakoulutuksen University of Massachusettsin lääketieteellisessä tiedekunnassa sekä 2-vuotisen ohjaajakoulutuksen jungilaiseen aktiiviseen mielikuvitukseen pohjautuvassa Autenttinen liike -metodissa. 

Katarina on Suomen Psykofyysisen psykoterapian yhdistyksen jäsen ja toimii parhaillaan Suomen Alexander-tekniikan opettajien yhdistyksen FinSTATin sihteerinä.

^ Top

Teo Hannum

I graduated from ATSNE and received my AmSAT certification as an Alexander Technique teacher in January 2003.

I have a BFA in dance from Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle WA, 1988. I studied, performed and taught dance in Seattle and New York City. I'm a licensed massage therapist (since 1998).

I am presently living in Seattle Washington and teaching private lessons and group classes in the Alexander technique and I am the local Alexander teacher for The Seattle Guitar Circle.

I started taking Alexander lessons in 1990 when I lived in New York City and had a very rigorous dance schedule that included taking dance classes, rehearsing and performing. My lower back was in constant pain and I had tried a lot of different techniques to help it. Alexander Technique was the last and most effective technique for me that I tried. My back pain went away and my dancing improved immensely and now, fourteen years later I am not only still practicing and using the Alexander Technique but also teaching it.

^ Top

Lisa Harvey

My first love is for teaching. I started out in early childhood education, teaching preschool and working with new parents. My path led me to teaching in a number of settings, including the museum education department at Old Sturbridge Village, Pioneer Valley Therapeutic Riding Program and the equestrian program at Smith College.

My second love is for horses. I have been teaching, riding and training for twenty-two years and it is through the horses that I found the Alexander Technique.

At the age of twenty-five, I was experiencing severe back and knee pain, as well as sciatica. I was dealing with my situation with chiropractic, acupuncture and massage. I was able to avoid the use of drugs, I got temporary relief from the pain and I was able to keep active with this combination of work. Then I experienced the Alexander Technique through a riding clinic held at our farm. For the first time I realized that I could change the things that were creating my problems rather than continually going to someone to "fix" me. It was the most empowering feeling I had ever had. When your body is in pain and you don't know how to help yourself, it can be a very depressing feeling. Discovering that I had within my self the tools for change was a truly life altering experience. It was in fact the greatest gift I have ever received.

After studying for several years and applying the principles of the technique to my work with horses, I was so convinced of the importance of this body of work that I decided to train as a teacher. Since then I have taught people from all walks of life, some of whom have come because of discomfort and many who have come because they want to improve performance in some activity. I am particularly skilled at working with riders, as this is an area that I have been involved with for most of my life. No matter what I am doing, the Alexander Technique is what I use to tune myself÷body, mind, and spirit. And the learning never ends!

^ Top

Michaela Hauser-Wagner

I am a Certified Teacher of the Alexander Technique, living in Cheshire/CT, serving New Haven and its surrounding communities. Before I came to the United States in 1991 I had graduated from the University of Tübingen in Speech Language Pathology and worked as a speech therapist and voice teacher in Germany and Austria. Being a therapist for people of all ages with neurological and developmental disorders strengthened my medical background and fostered my compassion for the disabled and sick. Very early in my career I had to overcome my own vocal problems. As a consequence healing overstressed and misused voices became my passion and area of expertise. Today I am teaching the Alexander Technique and continue to work with people who want to improve or heal their voice.
I found the Technique when I was looking for ways to supplement my daughter’s scoliosis treatment. While I observed her lessons I assumed that my voice therapy background had prepared me thoroughly for experiences of the body involving ideas of posture and breath. But when I finally had my own first lesson I knew that I had never felt anything like this. The depth and subtlety of the Alexander work was a completely new physical and mental experience.
This work has changed me in so many ways. I learned to address the effects of my differently long legs and to manage the resulting myofascial and sciatic pain. Beyond these physical aspects it was surprising to me as a learner in mid-life that I discovered new mental abilities. My approach to writing and presenting changed and my memory improved. Also, I have learned to deal more effectively with daily stress and worries around parenting and family issues. My ability to sleep through the night and my improved digestion are two areas of change in mental and physical health. All in all I am a much happier person today. Accepting my self more deeply also brings ease to my relationships with others. It is as if the Alexander Technique has given me space within and around me. I enjoy teaching individual students and in small group settings.

^ Top

Priscilla Hunt

I am an AmSAT certified teacher with a private practice in Amherst. I also give group lessons and lecture-demonstrations throughout the Pioneer Valley. During the Spring of 2006 I will be continuing to give a group introductory course at the Bangs Community Center in Amherst through Leisure Services. In my private practice I have worked with a diverse group of students including people with postural concerns, repetitive stress injuries, problems due to injuries and chronic pain. I also have worked with athletes, musicians, tai chi players, and people who are suffering from physical and mental stress due to work, extensive driving or other causes. I have traveled to England and the West Coast of the USA to study with master teachers and specialists in equestrian riding and voice. I assist in the ATSNE teacher training course and took a yearlong (2005-6) advanced teacher training course with master teacher John Nicholls. I am also serving on the Board of Directors of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT) from 2005-2007.

My own personal path to the Alexander Technique began in my teens when neck and arm problems forced me to give up a possible career as a flutist. I then pursued an academic path, receiving my PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures from Stanford University. I have taught at Amherst College, Brown University and the University of Massachusetts and enjoyed a research career specializing in Russian spiritual, literary and iconographic tradition. However, I suffered from both back problems and headaches, which limited my participation in music, and active sports, especially tennis. The Alexander Technique offered me a path of recovery, with unexpected benefits. As my lessons progressed, I discovered that the Technique addresses the very questions concerning personal responsibility, personal transformation and the wholeness of Being that I was dealing with in my academic life. It taught me to "think in activity" and has enabled me to undertake a path of constant improvement. The Technique has granted unprecedented freedom, lightness and optimism, and an improved coordination in whatever I do. It is a privilege to initiate my students on to a similar path, and to witness their growing self-understanding, improvements, and unexpected benefits as they realize their potential more fully. I am enriched every day by the challenges and courage that they bring to their study. Their ongoing insights and transformations bear continuing witness to the validity of F. M. Alexander's understanding of the way to psychophysical wholeness.

^ Top

Tova Malin

^ Top

Sara Miller

My training was completed at the Alexander Technique School New England and I am certified by the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT).  I also have a B.F.A. in dance The Ohio State University.

I came to the technique as a dancer who spent long hours dedicated to this physically demanding art form.  However, my body was not always willing to withstand the pressures I put on it and, as the demands increased, so did the pain, injury and diminished performace.  In an effort to improve my skills as a dancer I became interested in various body/mind modalities such as yoga, somatic education and the Alexander Technique.  I began supplementing dance training with A.T. lessons and during my first year of lessons I grew to understand my body as I never had before.  As lessons continued I began to understand that the A.T. could not only help me with my dancing, but could help me with virtually every aspect of my life. This led me to my decision to train as an Alexander Technique teacher.

Currently I am on the faculty of The University of Hartford's, Hartt School Community Division, offering the technique though the dance department. I teach a wide array of group classes through the town of West Hartford, Menla Holistic Health and Saint Francis Care. I also teach the Alexander Technique, dance and yoga at Watkinson School. I have been a guest speaker at Central Connecticut State University's music department and Branford Hills Rehabilitation Center. I also maintain a private teaching practice in West Hartford with fellow ATSNE teacher and husband, Eric Miller. My experience and accomplishments as a dancer, yoga instructor and Alexander Technique teacher equip me with the skills necessary to address musculoskeletal pain syndromes, injury and performance issues. I teach the principles of the Alexander Technique in a simple, clear manner, bring to my teaching the highest level of care, openness and respect for my students. 

^ Top

Eric Miller

My training was completed at the Alexander Technique School New England and I am certified by the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT).  I also have a B.M. in film scoring from Berklee College of Music.

I began studying the Alexander Technique to overcome arm pain due to my guitar practice. It was the only thing that helped, having also tried physical therapy, massage and acupuncture. After a few lessons, I began to notice that I was moving easier, thinking more clearly and writing better music. As lessons progressed, I realized that I was not only learning skills to help with pain, but also skills to develop myself more as a person and a musician. This led me to my decision to train as an Alexander Technique teacher.

I am currently on the faculty of The University of Hartford's, Hartt School Community Division offering the technique though the music department. I teach a wide array of group classes through the town of West Hartford, Farmington, and have been a guest speaker at Central Connecticut State University's music department. I also maintain a private practice in West Hartford with fellow ATSNE teacher and wife, Sara Miller. Today, I draw from my experience and specialize in working with performing artists who suffer with pain and injury, and who want to improve their technical skills.

In addition to teaching the Alexander Technique I am owner/composer of Miller Music, LLC and specializes in original music for film and television. I have written over two hundred scores for different productions throughout the United States and have received several awards for my work.

^ Top

Chris Mincer

In an attempt to address the tendonitis I had developed in both arms from long hours of guitar practice, I began studying the Alexander Technique in 1989 while getting my Masters in classical guitar performance at Southern Methodist University. The Technique enabled me to resume playing and I finished my degree in 1991 free from tendonitis.

Aside from helping me overcome my tendonitis, the technique yielded other benefits I hadn't been expecting. I no longer woke up with a stiff neck and shoulders in the morning. My ability to listen to more than one musical part at a time increased. I found myself emotionally maturing and becoming more responsible. Social discomfort was being replaced with increasing self-confidence. As my fear of making mistakes gradually subsided it gave way to an increased ability to learn new skills and make fresh observations.

In learning the technique, time and time again I've come face to face with the fallacy of some of my beliefs about myself, and this has given me a much more open mind with which to listen to others better and to see things I otherwise wouldn't have noticed.

The technique had such a profound affect on me that in 1993 I went to England to undertake the three-year, 1600-hour teacher training course with John Nicholls. I was certified to teach in 1996. In 1999, to further improve my teaching skills, I began a post-graduate three-year training at ATSNE that I completed in 2002. I have been in private practice since 1996 and am currently teaching in Shelburne Falls and Amherst.

^ Top

Christine Olson

I received my teaching certificate from the Alexander Technique School New England in 1997 and have maintained a teaching studio in Northampton since then. I have presented the Technique in various colleges in the area and teach a class for musicians at Smith. As a member of the American Society for the Alexander Technique, I served as chairman of the organizing committee for the 1999 national annual meeting held at Amherst College. For several years I have assisted at the training course of the Alexander Technique School of New England.

My undergraduate and graduate training was in piano performance at the University of Colorado and the University of Redlands, respectively, followed by Doctoral studies in music theory at the University of Michigan. During college I was drawn to many forms of dance and movement including: Rolfing, Skinner Releasing Technique and Authentic Movement, as well as the Alexander Technique. This began my life-long interest in movement and the connection of mind and body as a resource for well-being, technical development at my instrument, and personal and artistic expression.

In 1985 I moved to Northampton with my husband and two children. At that time I was immersed in my career of piano teaching and performing. I had a full teaching studio and was active in the community producing educational concerts and creating an organization for independent keyboard teachers. Unfortunately my career was curtailed due to an overuse injury in one arm. My first response to the physical and emotional pain was to blame an external agent (my piano had recently been rebuilt) and try to find
something "out there" that could fix my arm. I dismissed the Alexander Technique, believing I had already been there and done that. However, when I failed to get much help from other modalities, I was persuaded to try it again. Fairly quickly the pain in my arm began to melt and gradually I gained awareness of my own tension patterns. This was tremendously empowering and allowed me to take responsibility for my part in the problem (instead of blaming my piano). With the guidance of a teacher I was able to return to the piano by learning better movement coordination, which involved not just my arm but also my mind and whole body.

Even better, I discovered that motor coordination is not just an isolated physical event--it is an expression of one's whole self. So enhancing my overall coordination has meant having more of myself: more depth, more clarity and intelligence in whatever I choose to do.

I teach this effective and empowering work to people of all ages and professions, and specialize in work with instrumentalists. Since you have found your way to this website, my advice to you is try some lessons and find out for yourself what the Alexander Technique has to offer.

^ Top

Cheryl Pleskow

I bumped into the Alexander Technique one summer afternoon sometime in the mid-1970s, on a bus going from a dance class in St. Paul, MN, to a rehearsal in Minneapolis. I had run into a friend and fellow dancer on the bus. She announced excitedly that she was going to London to study something called "the Alexander Technique". The combination of her level of exuberance, my ignorance, and that it just sounded "too good to be true", left me silently worried that my dear friend was going off the deep end and joining a cult.

Little did I know that I would eventually become an Alexander teacher myself one day! Between that fateful encounter on the bus and today, the thread that has pulled me forward through my experiences as both a student and teacher of the Alexander Technique has always been a sense of discovery, open-ended learning, unfolding curiosity. This is what I enjoy most about teaching÷sharing that "Aha!" moment when a student discovers a new ease in breathing, or a different way to balance over the feet, or a sense of lightness and well being in moving through the activities of the day.

I believe that anyone can benefit from studying the Alexander Technique. I view myself as a "generalist" in my approach to teaching, with an interest in meeting all kinds of learners÷from those people coming with chronic pain, to those seeking to prevent injury or to enhance skills, to those interested in personal development.

My enduring interests revolve around the processes of learning and creativity. As a dancer, choreographer and arts educator in Minneapolis/St. Paul, I taught and performed in elementary and secondary schools, university and professional theatre settings. I was a founding member of Caravan Dance Collective and the Minnesota Independent Choreographer's Alliance (MICA), contributing to the resurgent vitality of the dance community of the Twin Cities in the 1970s. Moving to New York and Boston in the 1980s, I studied with Hanya Holm, Murray Louis and Alwin Nikolais, and continued to create and perform independently. I enjoy dancing, improvisational theatre, Tai Chi, fencing, writing, working with visual media, singing and playing the piano. The tools of the Alexander Technique provide an ever-evolving internal reference guide in all my creative and kinesthetic journeys.

A graduate of the University of Minnesota (Bachelor of Arts) and Boston University (Masters in Education), I have also worked in the fields of instructional design, media production and organizational management.

I graduated from the Alexander Technique School of New England (ATSNE) in 1994 and have maintained a private teaching practice in Northampton, MA, since that time. Over the years, I've assisted in the training of new teachers at ATSNE. I have taught occasionally in the Berkshires, and currently travel in Western New York to present workshops and lessons. I am a Past Chairman of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT), and was awarded AmSAT's Distinguished Service Award in June 2004.

^ Top

Ruth Rootberg

I teach the Alexander Technique in Amherst. As a designated Linklater Voice Teacher and Certified Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst (CMA), I also offer voice and integrated voice-movement studies. (I hold a Master's Degree in Music.)

Before deciding to become an Alexander teacher, I taught voice on the faculties of Yale School of Drama, the Theatre School of DePaul, and Northern Illinois University. I have given a number of workshops to voice and movement teachers in the US and South Africa. As a writer I published the monograph Teaching Breathing: Results of a Survey (www.movingvoices.us) and have published peer-reviewed articles in The Voice and Speech Review.

Earlier I sang opera and recitals, mostly in Switzerland and Chicago, and acted in Chicago area theatres. For a short period I toured the states as a puppeteer and clowned around the streets of Chicago.

My first lessons in the Technique were with Alexander teacher and scientist Frank Pierce Jones at Tufts University. My second encounter came several years later while studying acting. While on the faculty at Yale, I succeeded in hiring an Alexander teacher for the actors÷first in master classes, and then as an adjunct who came weekly.

After I observed several of these classes, I knew I wanted to acquire the Alexander teacher's hands-on skill for myself. I moved to Amherst with my family to train with Missy Vineyard. My goal was to use the teacher training to enhance my voice teaching. However, I soon discovered that I had been ignoring my own problems of misuse÷my knees were hurting and I walked downstairs sideways to protect them. I became worried that I wouldn't be able to teach. But during my second year of training my knees improved so much that I resumed playing racquetball, which I hadn't played in over ten years. My voice and breathing continue to change and open in new and wonderful ways. I have found the skills I had wanted and so much more. The Alexander Technique has become my way of gracefully moving through middle age.

It is important to me that people in my community learn that the Alexander Technique exists and that it can help them in a variety of ways. I have happily given several lecture-demonstrations at local high schools, colleges, and community centers. As a private teacher, I love to teach the skills for growing÷growing out of pain, growing into higher skill levels, and growing as an individual÷through the Alexander Technique.

^ Top

Christine Stevens

I graduated from the Northampton School of Alexander Studies (now ATSNE) in 1992. I currently teach the Alexander Technique as a member of the faculty at the Brown/Trinity Repertory Consortium--a three-year, professional actor-training program in Providence, RI. I have also taught the Alexander Technique in the theatre department at UMASS, Amherst, and as part of an acting class at Marlboro College in Marlboro, VT. I have presented workshops to actors and to the general public, as well as to Alexander teachers at AmSAT's Annual General Meeting. Since 1992, I have maintained a private teaching practice in Amherst for people from all walks of life. As an actress, I also helped to found the Hampshire Shakespeare Co. and am a founding member of DramaWorks Interactive, a consulting group that uses theatre as a tool for organizational change.

I first discovered the Alexander Technique while majoring in theatre at the University of California, Santa Barbara. After moving to New York City in 1983 to pursue acting, I met an Alexander Technique teacher and decided to take lessons, since I knew actors often studied it to help increase physical freedom. After about a year of lessons, I noticed that I no longer suffered from end-of-the-day low back pain.

In 1988, my husband and I moved to Amherst, MA. After a year of lessons with Missy Vineyard I joined the training course. At that time my husband, Timothy Holcomb, and I started a theatre company dedicated to performing Shakespeare outdoors in the summer. The first year we performed outdoors in the courtyard of an Inn, where we were competing vocally with air conditioners, barking dogs, airplanes and generally poor acoustics. (We nicknamed ourselves "The Shouting Shakespeare Co.") By then I had completed my second year of training but this was still a strain on my voice. The next summer, however, I discovered that it was significantly easier to project my voice yet still bring color and emotion to the words. And each succeeding year it became easier to use my voice--thanks to the skills I was learning through the Technique. But more than the technical aspects of acting, the Technique has deepened my ability to create and to inhabit the character I am playing. It has become the basis for my teaching to actors. It has also given me invaluable tools for managing the emotional and physical demands of everyday life.

^ Top

Maggie Sullivan

I live in Brattleboro, Vermont. I completed my training at the Northampton School for Alexander Studies (now ATSNE) in 1993. I teach in Brattleboro, Hartland Vermont, and at the Healing Arts Center at Mt. Ascutney Hospital in Windsor, Vermont.

I graduated from Sarah Lawrence College where I majored in Early Music performance, and played viola da gamba. In my junior year, I developed tendonitis in my arm and hand, and had to stop playing for more than a year. I was amazed that no one in the medical community seemed to understand anything about my condition or how to fix it. Eventually a good friend, who was a dancer, recommended that I try the Alexander Technique. It immediately made sense to me when I realized that I was causing the injury by the way I was using too much tension as I played the instrument. I studied the technique for several years with different teachers and then decided to train to be a teacher and enrolled in Missy Vineyard's training course in Northampton.

Besides being enormously helpful for me, personally, in accomplishing all the activities of my life, I especially enjoy teaching the technique to all kinds of people with different interests and backgrounds.

^ Top

Missy Vineyard

Missy Vineyard received her B.A. in dance from Sarah Lawrence College and completed her teacher training at the American Center for the Alexander Technique (ACAT) under Judith Leibowitz in 1975.

For over thirty years she has maintained a busy private teaching practice and conducted numerous workshops on the technique to a wide variety of groups, large and small, young and old. Applying the technique to the needs of athletes and performing artists is a special interest and focus of her workshops. She has taught courses at universities, performing arts schools and arts festivals, including: Springfield Community Music School, the Amherst High School Ultimate Frisbee team, Smith College, Amherst College Summer Voice Workshop, the American Dance Festival, Duke University, the University of North Carolina and the University of Maryland. Most recently, she taught a one semester, credit course on the Alexander Technique to students in the Five-College Dance and Theater Department at Amherst College.

Missy has done extensive volunteer work to contribute to the development and public recognition of the profession. In 1986 she served on the steering committee that created AmSAT, the national professional society for teachers in the U.S. She served as AmSAT's first chairman from 1987 to 1989, and served another term as chairman from 1994-1996 followed by a term as past chairman. She received the organization's Distinguished Service Award in 1996. In addition she served on the board of directors of the American Center for the Alexander Technique from 1975-1978, and on the board of directors of The Alexander Technique Association from 1988-1995. Missy also developed and chaired AmSAT's Training Approval Committee and its Professional Identity Project. More recently she represented the Society before the White House Commission on Alternative and Complementary Medicine in 2000.

Missy's foremost commitment at present is training highly skilled professionals of the Alexander Technique. Toward that end, for the last nineteen years she has devoted the majority of her schedule to teacher training and to developing a unique, systematic curriculum designed to ensure the highest level of hands-on skill in ATSNE graduates.

She has done extensive post-graduate study in London with Walter and Dilys Carrington and written numerous articles on the technique. (See "Articles by ATSNE Teachers.") Missy is currently at work on a book about the Alexander Technique.

^ Top

Merlin Wisswaesser

I am a graduate of the Alexander Technique School--New England and am certified by the American Society for the Alexander Technique. Currently, I teach privately in Canaan, New York (located in the foothills of the Berkshires) and offer workshops to groups in the surrounding area. I have been involved with the Alexander Technique since 1996, first as a student for many years and then as a teacher, having completed the three-year teacher training program with Missy Vineyard.

All of my life I have been very physical, playing many sports and exploring yoga, dance, running, and meditation as a means to keep my body and mind healthy. Being a carpenter and builder for thirty years, as well as an athlete, makes my body my most valuable tool. Therefore, when my right knee started to throb with pain about ten years ago I was quick to look for a solution. I turned to many different forms of bodywork and healing modalities but found only temporary relief and was still unable to run. In my frustration I decided it was finally time to explore the repeated suggestions of a friend to try the Alexander Technique. With the Alexander Technique, I began to discover the underlying habits and tension patterns that led to my knee injury. I soon gained the skills necessary to not only change those habits and correct the patterns but also heal the injury. The Alexander Technique was so effective in offering the results I had been looking for that I decided to become a teacher. As a teacher, I have been able to help others discover how patterns of misuse lead to discomfort and to offer the skills of awareness necessary to change those habits. I continue to apply the technique in the many diverse areas of my life (teacher, athlete, builder, human) and find it always has something expansive to offer. I find this approach to change limitless, ongoing and ever-deepening.

^ Top

About the Connection | About the Alexander Technique | ATCNE Teachers | Learning-for-Living Program: Classes, Calendar, Registration | Teacher Training Program | Post-Graduate Study | Faculty Development Program | Articles by ATCNE Teachers | Links and Resources | FAQs | Contact Us | Site Map | Home