DRAMA 6231-41 — Alexander Technique II

2 credits
Fall and Spring
Carolyn Serota

Second-year Alexander Technique emphasizes (1) an increasing attention to discerning and changing the mental, behavioral, emotional, and psychological patterns that underlie and reinforce the physical habits; and (2) the ability to use the Alexander Technique for character transformation. The deepening exploration of oneself moves from a review of the Alexander work of first year to an enhanced and increasingly specific thought process that links verbal direction (left brain) and image generation (right brain) to the desired physical response. The application of the Alexander Technique to different movement styles from contemporary to period is explored in relation to various rehearsal projects. Actors learn to create physicalities from simple to extreme that are artistically effective yet safe and free from tensions that might cause pain or physical injury. Selected readings and some research are required. In the second semester, actors are introduced to the Energy Work developed by Judith Leibowitz, which helps them deepen their sense of being present in the moment, and to the Character Energy Work, a way of taking the Alexander process into the realm of imagination to explore and embody inner rhythms, impulses, energies, and thought processes different from their own.

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