Integrative Alexander Technique Practice for Performing Artists

Book excerpt: An educational method used to improve performance, the Alexander Technique teaches people to replace unnecessary muscular and mental effort with consciously coordinated responses, maximizing effectiveness while also relieving, if necessary, any chronic stiffness or stress. Integrative Alexander Technique Practice for Performing Artists presents the empirical research of Cathy Madden, a teacher and coach with more than thirty-five years of experience with the technique. She addresses common concerns, such as concentration, relaxation, discipline-specific techniques, warm-ups, performer/audience relationships, stage fright, and critical responses, and explores the role of the senses, emotions, learned behavior, human consciousness studies, and neuroscience in the application of the techniques.