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Alexander Technique – the history
As a young man, Frederick Mathias Alexander (1869-1955) was a Shakespearean actor touring in Australia and Tasmania. Chronic hoarseness interrupted his burgeoning career, and he lost his voice while performing. However, when he rest, his condition gets better. Although he received medical help none was able to cure the problem.
One day, it occurred to him that while acting he must have done something that caused this problem. To see what the problem is, he started to act in front of a mirror and saw what happened when he was about to speak. Breathing started to get difficult and he saw that while acting he lowered his head, thus making him shorter. He also saw that he had to strain to project his voice so that every member of the audience could hear him, something that causes him a great stress. In fact, even thinking about having to project his voice make all the symptoms to appear again.
From this, he concluded that there must be a connection between the mind and the body. He experimented by watching and improving the way he speaks, his posture and mental attitude. As a result, he was able to act and speak and use his body in a more relaxed way. This is how Alexander Technique was born.
The catalyst
In 1904 he became popular with other actors when he traveled to London and started to teach others about the Alexander Technique. He later went to America and achieved fame and international recognition for this technique. At the age of 78, Alexander suffered a stroke attack but using his Alexander technique methods, he managed to again regain the use of all his faculties – a superb achievement that amazed all his doctors.
Noted actors, musicians and athletes have used Alexander technique for over 100 years to enhance performance and stage presence. Among them are Sir Colin Davis, William Hurt, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Kevin Kline, Paul McCartney, Kelly McGillis, Paul Newman, Lynn Redgrave, Maggie Smith, Mary Steenbergen, Sting, Robin Williams, Joanne Woodward and members of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Today, Alexander training schools can be found all over the world.
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