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LIBRARY - Mouritz Articles Collection
[Displaying 1 - 15 of 44 articles]
alexanderarticlesa5flyer.220525.pdf (746.77 KB)
2022fiscf043.pdf (484.63 KB)Easten’s book (The Alexander Technique – Twelve Fundamentals of Integrated Movement, 2021) postulates the existence of an “original” Alexander Technique, arguing that Alexander prior to 1915 taught a different technique, which he kept a secret later on and which became “lost” to modern mainstream Alexander Technique teachers. The existence of this “initial” technique is predicated on a large number of unsubstantiated claims, some of which are examined below, and hence this paper only examines Easten’s revised history of the Alexander Technique (AT), not her interpretations of the Technique itself.
2021FISCF039.pdf (1.02 MB)A report on the results of an informal survey of the use of the term ‘monkey’ and alternatives used. The Google Form survey was open between 15 April and 30 April 2021. The first teacher training course students coined the term ‘monkey’ as a nickname for one of Alexander’s positions of mechanical advantage. It was and frequently still is used for bending/folding at the hips, knees and ankles. Alexander never used this term, but it became widely used. As the term is now considered by some people to cause offense, there have recently been discussions on alternative terms. The questionnaire considered usage and alternatives used. 134 people participated.
2020FISCF034.pdf (8.39 MB)A review and criticism of Jeroen Staring’s writings on F. M. Alexander and the Alexander Technique. Staring claims that Alexander copied, plagiarised, borrowed concepts and procedures and teaching techniques from other people and many of these claims are here examined and rejected. Many of Staring’s original sources are consulted and omitted context is investigated. This paper also examines and questions Staring’s retrodiction methodology.
2020FISCF032.pdf (596.03 KB)
2020STRAF033.pdf (141.54 KB)
2020fiscf041.pdf (2 MB)Including F. M. Alexander there have been at least 185 teachers running teachers training courses (including apprenticeships). This training course "family tree" is only a draft for the purpose of providing a quick overview. It only states from which course a teacher has been certified; some teachers have changed training course during their training. It is not a guide to teaching style as some teachers have been trained in one style and have later adopted another style. Also, some teachers have run training courses jointly and later individually. The list only includes Head of Training (not Assistant Director).
This version published by Mouritz 03 June 2021
2017bernf042.pdf (322.11 KB)The author, a teacher of the Alexander Technique, explores how she has utilized the Technique to help her meet the demands of being a parent of triplets. This essay charts some of the demands, as well as the exploration she has engaged in, both with herself and with her students who are parents. A revised version of this essay was published in the AmSAT Journal no. 13 (2018), pp. 29–31. The version here published is the original version which won a second prize in the 2017 Mouritz Award for Writing on the Alexander Technique.
2014FISCF017.pdf (53.73 KB)
This transcription published by Mouritz 24 February 2016
2016ARMSF016.pdf (710.94 KB)Joe Armstrong had lessons with Frank Pierce Jones during 1968 and 1969 before training as a teacher of the Technique with Walter Carrington in London 1969-1972. Armstrong moved back to Boston in 1972 and worked with F. P. Jones until the latter's death, in 1975. The paper describes F. P. Jones' style of teaching and his concerns regarding the future of the Alexander Technique.
This transcription published by Mouritz 13 December 2019
2015MURRF031.pdf (343.32 KB)Extracts from a variety of sources on Charles Neil (1916–58) with Alexander Murray's commentary.
2010CARRF001.pdf (4.39 MB)
This transcription published by Mouritz 13 February 2021
1990GARLF036.pdf (4.13 MB)The ‘lost sixth sense’ refers to kinaesthesia and proprioception. First published as a booklet in 1990 this presents Dr David Garlick’s (1933–2002) survey of possible physiological explanations for the workings of the Alexander Technique. It covers interpretations of phenomema and concepts in the Technique such as inhibition, direction, unreliable sensory appreciation, and primary control. Garlick described it as a work in progress, the science is described for the lay person, and some of the science is not up to date. (4.1 MB.)
This transcription published by Mouritz 20 December 2020
1990CARRF035.pdf (673.46 KB)A short note written in 1990 for private circulation following watching a play about Sir Henry Irving. Walter Carrington here recounts his memories of F. M. Alexander talking about his meeting with Sir Henry Irving.
This transcription published by Mouritz 26 February 2018
1984WIELF024.pdf (472.99 KB)Transcript of a talk Catharine Wielopolska and Dr Mario Pazzaglini gave to ACAT students in New York, about the discovery and use of the eye order in teaching the Alexander Technique. The eye order is ‘eyes free to go apart’ as a precursor to the primary control. Wielopolska is also suggesting to think of the directions as ‘words without meaning’, allowing the ‘body’s intelligence’ to interpret it as it wishes. The importance of the word ‘free’ is stressed, and she also relates some of her memoirs of F. M. Alexander. Because of the nature of a transcript it appears that occasionally a word is missing.
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