Alexander Technique with Varsha Chandarana
www.alexander-technique-classes.com, varsha@alexandertechnique.pro, 01908 667929
Home
Alexander Technique
Alexander Brothers
The Profession
Meet Varsha
How we work
Events
Recommended Reading
Frederick Mathias Alexander (1869 - 1955)
 
F.M. Alexander was born in Australia. He found a passion for reciting Shakespeare. It was in the pursuit of this as his career that he began to experience difficulties with his throat. This led him to embark on many years of self-study. Having helped himself, he helped numerous people including some very famous names. Later he and his brother trained teachers to continue with the work.
 
Alexander tells us in his first book (Man's Supreme Inheritance) that his knowledge was gained:
  1. while vainly attempting to eradicate personal, vocal and respiratory defects by recognised systems;
  2. while afterwards putting into practice certain original principles, which enabled me to eradicate these defects;
  3. while giving personal demonstrations of the applications of these principles from a respiratory,vocal and health-giving point of view.
Frank Pierce Jones (Freedom to Change) describes his first meeting with FM: "he had an easy upright carriage and gave the impression of being at his full height without making any effort to be there. His face was alert with a bright, quizzical look in the eyes..He gave this impression of youthfulness to everyone."
 

Albert Redden Alexander (1874 - 1947)

 

A.R. Alexander was the younger brother who ran away to take part in the gold rush to western Australia.

 

He returned after many adventures and F.M. taught him what he had learned. The two brothers developed their practice together.

 

A.R. made a very significant contribution to the work.

 

In The Alexander Review, Ericka Whittacker tells us:

"A.R. also helped us a great deal and often brought new dimensions to our work - he was a much more outgoing personality than F.M. - and could sometimes get quite tough with a pupil if he thought they were taking it easy when they should have been paying attention. He had a wonderful sense of humour and we had a lot of fun with him."

Frank Pierce Jones found F.M. to be more of an extrovert. This is interesting as it shows that we each experience our teachers in different ways.

 

Frank tells us that both the brothers had an uncanny way of knowing when the pupil was "not thinking".