musicians

Musicians & Performing Artists
The Alexander Technique is a "meta-skill" - it provides the basis upon which other skills can be built.
The Alexander Technique has proven to be particularly useful in the management of both the musculo-skeletal and stress related problems of performing artists. A great many performers learn to accept an ongoing level pain or discomfort as a result of what they do. This process affects individuals in different ways, but it always diminishes the level of engagement essential to true creativity, and similarily interferes with their ability to continue to learn to higher levels.
The way in which performers acquire the necessary skills or levels of musicianship to practice their art, rarely includes practical advice on how they are to maintain an appropriate level of attention on themselves during this process. If your whole system is unnecessarily struggling ( even momentarily succeeding in that struggle ) to engage in a task, how much better would both your levels of perception and your ability to execute your skills be, if such a struggle was removed? It is this inappropriate level of background muscle tension and the associated sense of effort which is the cause of so many problems. If we continue in this way for long enough, then we become reluctant to even believe that we can function without this particular sense of effort. This is a fertile ground in which chronic muscular pain, injury, re-injury and "burn out" can become established. Both Richard and Annie's initial interest in the Technique arose out of problems that they were having as musicians. Although they both now teach the Technique to individuals from a broad cross-section of the community they retain a particular interest in working with musicians and other performing artists. They both taught the Alexander Technique as a course subject at WAAPA@ECU in Perth for 8 years and their own training as teachers of the Technique had a particular emphasis on its application to the practice of making music. As a performing artist the Alexander Technique Provides you with the chance to be skilful in the way you use yourself. Gives you the ability to truly choose the manner of your response This is the basis of a truly creative response. No longer do your skills as a performer have to come at an ever increasing cost in terms of pain and discomfort.
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