Dance Techniques 2010

140 Working Somatically
Alexander Technique Frederick Matthias Alexander
Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869–1955) discovered that a tiny change can have a
great effect on the relationship between the head, neck, and back—and in doing so found
the key to the effortless ‘use of myself’. This can silence the ‘inner noise’ that occurs in
the nervous system through overly tense muscles. Plagued by permanent hoarseness, the
Australian actor observed himself using mirrors. He determined that when reciting his
lines, he pulled his head back and depressed the larynx; in doing so, he shortened his
whole body. This mechanism was based on a startle reflex (found in fetuses) and the
source of fear, stress, and strain later in life, one that could create patterns and bad habits.
Discovering the dominance of the head in the hierarchy of the body proved to be critical
to Alexander’s relearning, and his reaction to it was revolutionary: “He realized that he
didn’t have to do something different, but to stop doing what he was doing.” 12 Instead of
correcting oneself or learning to do the right thing, he prescribed for himself non-doing,
inhibiting. This allowed him to rehabilitate the small muscles at the base of the skull, to
poise the head and to leave it alone / balanced freely on the atlas and axis.
The next step toward a more useful body mechanics came from directional self–checking:
neck free, head forward and up, back long and wide—with the emphasis on thinking.
Alexander called the dominance of the head primary control, “because in unraveling
the muddle of misuse, it is the first factor to be dealt with, and it sets the conditions for
misuse in the rest of the body.” 13 He also discovered he could not trust his sense of feeling
while doing; perception is therefore unreliable and goal–oriented (or end–gaining, as
he called it) behavior was counterproductive. Giving up goal–oriented thinking is also
a challenge for dancers, and almost no other somatic approach has won so many fans.
The Alexander Technique can be used at any time—in everyday life, when training, when
experiencing stage fright, and on stage—in accordance with the ‘head leads, body follows’
principle.
Alexander rejected the use of specific exercises. He was convinced that they only reinforced
unconscious patterns. Instead, students learn through subtle use of the skilled
practitioners’ hands, who themselves use touch to practice what they preach (a basic rule
for Alexander teachers): for example, not pulling back and shortening the muscles in the
neck when getting up from a chair.
The technique, which took sixty years to develop, has had a broad impact. The poets
George Bernard Shaw and Aldous Huxley practiced it, as did the philosopher John
Dewey, who got to know Alexander during the First World War and wrote the foreword
to three of his books. The neurophysiologist Sherrington saw his research from 1906
about the reciprocal relationship of muscles put into practice. “Excitation and inhibition
of the muscles work together to create a harmonious chord in a healthy functioning
human body.” 14
Ideokinesis Mabel E. Todd
Even the voice teacher Mabel E. Todd (1874–1956) preached ‘action without action’.
Her observations on the efficient working of our ‘living machine’ are profound, whether
she describes the arch of the foot and the pelvis like an engineer or bridge–builder, or
compares the quality of a movement with natural phenomena: a good movement “happens
the same way it rains, snows or hails.” 15 Her metaphors, simple and complex at the
same time, first appeared in her 1937 book, The Thinking Body. This book became a
12 Marjorie Barlow: The Teaching of F. Matthias
Alexander. The annual F. M. Alexander
memorial lecture, 9 November 1965, at the
Medical Society of London. London: STAT
books, 1993. Gedächtnis-Vortrag 1965. Eberbach:
Edition Kavanah, 1991, p. 19.
13 F. M. Alexander quoted by Barlow, loc. cit.
14 Sir Charles Sherrington quoted by Michael
Gelb: Körperdynamik. Frankfurt a. M.: Runde
Ecken Verlag, 2004, p. 61.
15 Mabel E. Todd: The Thinking Body.
London: Dance Books, 1937 / 1997 p. 281.
16 André Bernard / Wolfgang Steinmüller / Ursula
Stricker: Ideokinese. Ein kreativer Weg
zu Bewegung und Körperhaltung. Bern: Hans
Huber Verlag, 2003, p. 41.