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The Curriculum
Use of the
Self
In the first semester
students (referred to as “trainees”) focus on developing the
skills of inhibition and direction, and learning to utilize
these skills to improve their psychophysical use. Thus begins
an ongoing process of personal growth and discovery that
continues throughout the training. This forms the essential
basis from which trainees learn to confidently practice and
maintain their inhibiting and directing as they are teaching
and to teach these skills to others.
Use of the
Hands
First Year – Late in
the first semester trainees begin putting their hands on other
trainees. This is introduced with close supervision, and an
in-depth exploration of the impact of touching on both the
person who is touching and on the one who is touched. Students
practice maintaining their inhibiting and directing as they
use their hands, and learn to stand in a position of
mechanical advantage as they move the student. Next they
progress to learning basic concepts underlying hands-on
procedures for table work and chair work that consist
primarily of beginning to shift and support weight.
Second Year
– This
year is more technically oriented as trainees learn an
expanding repertory of specific movements for putting hands on
the student on the table and in the chair, and for moving the
student in space. Toward the end of the second year, trainees
begin to practice more independently in class and to practice
on teachers in order to receive the precise feedback necessary
for increasing the skilled use of their hands.
Third Year – At this
stage, particular attention is given to learning to feel the
student’s inhibition and direction, the head-neck-back
relationship, and pattern of movement coordination. In the
last semester, trainees become student teachers and give
lessons outside of class. During class significant attention
is given to learning how to teach Alexander’s procedures:
monkey, hands on back of chair, whispered “ah,” and lunge.
Anatomy
Gross Anatomy of
the Musculoskeletal System
(one
year)
Trainees receive weekly
lectures and experiential classes on skeletal and muscular
anatomy, the structure and motion of joints, principles of
movement mechanics, and study a system for effectively
stretching musculature.
Text: The Anatomy Coloring Book, by Kapit and Elson.
Anatomy and Function of the Vocal
Mechanism
(one semester)
Trainees study the structure
of the vocal apparatus and the mechanism of respiration, learn
Alexander’s vocal procedure known as the “whispered ah,” and
practice simple exploratory activities for breathing, freeing
the vocal mechanism, producing sound, reading aloud, and
speaking in conversation. Later in the semester there is
additional attention and practice given to the topic of
performance through conversational exercises, readings, and
more.
Text: Singing: The Physical Nature of the Vocal Organ,
by F. Husler.
Comparative Anatomy and the Work of
Raymond Dart
(one semester)
Weekly lectures on the life
and work of Raymond Dart; experiential classes in the Dart
Procedures; brief overview of recent discoveries in paleo-anthropology
and comparison of structural and functional changes in the
human body underlying our upright posture. Text: Skill and
Poise, by Raymond Dart; Man: the Tottering Biped,
by P. Tobias.
Introduction to Neurology and Recent
Research on Consciousness
(one year)
In weekly lectures students
learn basic anatomy of the nervous system: the skeletal and
autonomic nervous systems, cranial nerves, the synapse, and
basic structures and organization of the brain, spinal cord
and peripheral nerves. Later in the year, lectures focus on
recent research into the evolution of the frontal lobes and
particularly the pre-frontal lobes and on the light this sheds
on the nature of human consciousness.
Text: The Nervous System, by P. Nathan.
Movement
Exploration
Over the three years trainees
learn to perform and teach Alexander’s basic procedures:
“monkey,” hands on the back of the chair, lunge, and whispered
“ah.” In the first year, emphasis is given to developing
students’ observational skills through experiential group
activities and self-observation and the skilled use of the
mirror. In the second year the emphasis shifts to learning to
use the hands to feel the student’s pattern of coordination.
In the third year trainees practice teaching these games to
others. Additional movements that are explored include:
walking, balancing on one leg, standing on toes, squatting,
crawling, running and jumping, as well as everyday activities
such as writing, driving, typing, etc. Sports, music, tai chi,
and other specialized disciplines are studied as they pertain
to the need and interest of the student.
Independent Study Projects: I, II, and III
Each year students are
assigned an independent study project. Over the course of the
training these include giving an oral presentation, writing a
paper, and developing and presenting a movement exploration to
the class.
Teaching
Seminar
Third year trainees attend an
evening class once a month. Discussion topics include:
pedagogy, ethics, practice management, group teaching,
writing, structure of the lesson, and the psychodynamics of
the student-teacher relationship. Assignments include:
developing lesson plans, planning and giving an introductory
lecture-demonstration to the public and writing a brochure.
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