In the summer of 2023 I introduced the Alexander Technique to around 20 classical musicians in Bucharest. None of them had experienced the Alexander Technique before, and as well as giving workshops, I made time to provide some hands-on work.
For their interest, I took ‘before and after’ photos. Pretty obviously, the ‘before’ condition was before they had experienced any hands-on work. The ‘after’ condition was after only around 15 minutes hands-on (I had limited time, though they had additional hands-on work on subsequent days).
I’ve included some of the ‘before and after’ photos below, with a little bit of commentary. Visible changes don’t by any means tell us everything. For example, a change in alignment doesn’t necessarily demonstrate a change in tension. However, the feel under the teacher’s hands is very different when someone has let go of tension, and the snapshots do indeed show a general direction of travel.
The snapshots are interesting, fun and intriguing and most definitely not scientific. Permission to use the images was given in all cases.
I’ve blogged about my previous work with musicians in Romania here (includes testimonials) and here (more snapshots).