Workshops Archive
Workshop Archives
Improvisation and the Alexander Technique: Letting the Dance Dance You
Mondays: September 19, 26; Oct 3, 10. 7-8:30 pm
The most basic element of good improvisation is that the dancer be present and engaged, as well as physically coordinated. Alexander Technique provides an excellent access to this state of being. Using the principles of the Alexander Technique as a basis for exploration, we do a simple warm up and then begin enjoying the infinite options that our bodies our capable of. How can you surprise yourself? How can your innate body/mind intelligence put you in the zone where the dance dances you?
A dancer, choreographer and improviser, Emily Faulkner founded Emily Faulkner/Wind-Up Dances to share with audiences her love of acceleration and suspension – the way movement ripples through the body and create the illusion of floating – and her love of improvisation in performance. Faulkner’s dances are known for being rigorously structured and for their combination of delicate movement, deadpan wit and physical ferocity. Faulkner’s work has been presented by Dixon Place, DanceNOW(NYC), Conversations at the Flea, Hatch, WaxWorks, Washington Square Church, the American Center for the Alexander Technique, and the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. She is honored to have presented work and performed many times at Movement Research at the Judson Church as well as at the Joyce Soho through New Dance Alliance. She performed in the works of many ground breaking choreographers, including Yvonne Meier (with whom she per- formed in the Bessie Award Winning, The Shining in 1995), Jennifer Lacey and D.D. Dorvillier. Faulkner will participate in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as part of the Booking Dance Festival this August. In addition to choreographing and dancing, for the past 12 years Faulkner has hosted and curated, in collaboration with Jody Sperling, Tea Dances, an afternoon series which has presented numerous dancers and choreographers including: Douglas Dunn, Ellis Wood and Chris Elam. Faulkner has been a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique since 1999. She teaches privately and at Balance Arts with Ann Rodiger, and teaches workshops in dance and the Alexander Technique. She has three children ages 11, 9 and 4.
No experience needed, but must have an interest in improvisatory dance.
You can register here or email: arodiger@balanceartscenter.com or call (212) 439-5248.
All of the upcoming workshops take place at the Balance Arts Center, located at 114 Fulton St. #3W, in Downtown Manhattan unless otherwise indicated.
Weekly classes in ballet basics including floor work, barre, adagio and across-the-floor based on the Alexander Technique principles. Ann Rodiger and Thomas Baird will alternate teaching this class.
Thomas Baird is co-director of New York City-based Baroque dance and music ensemble Apollo’s Banquet; teaches regular Baroque Dance master classes at The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music; faculty member of Opera Division at the State University of New York at Purchase; Period Movement Coach for recent Broadway productions of “A Touch of the Poet”, Lincoln Center Theater’s “The Rivals”; choreographer for Metropolitan Opera production of “Cyrano de Bergerac”; teaches Historical Dance at the Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet, New York City; choreographed and performed for five seasons for the New York Philharmonic’s Young People’s Concerts; AMSAT-certified teacher of the Alexander Technique; teaches the Alexander Technique in the Dance Division at the Juilliard School.
Wednesdays 6:30-8pm
Fee: $15 per class.
Reservations required.
Please email Ann Rodiger at arodiger@earthlink.net before attending your first class.
Workshops and events are offered periodically focusing on people who perform specific tasks such as typing, singing, dancing or walking. One can learn a great deal about their movement habits in the class setting. It is often helpful to observe others while working to increase one’s own awareness.
Integrated Awareness Meditation
Sunday, October 23, 2011 – 1-5 pm, $60, 114 Fulton St. #3W, Downtown Manhattan
Ann Rodiger has developed the IAM course to assist people in developing a meditation practice and in helping people deepen existing meditation practices. Class will begin with Yoga postures to prepare the body for meditation.
Laura Lomas is an Intuitive Counselor who has the rare ability to tune in to each person’s energy systems and life experiences. This allows her to help each client release their emotional, physical, and spiritual entanglements. Once that release takes place, one is able to fulfill their life’s purpose with clarity, perspective and inspiration for the future. Laura works with guided meditation techniques, energy cleansing and balancing along with other modalities to address each client’s best way of connecting in to their highest consciousness. She has been doing this work for over 20 years and has clients from all over the world. She currently resides in Vermont.
To register, click here, call 212.439.5248 or email arodiger@balanceartscenter.com
You must register in advance because space is limited.
Class fee: $60
All of the upcoming workshops take place at the Balance Arts Center, located at 114 Fulton St. #3W, in Downtown Manhattan unless otherwise indicated.
Freedom to Play: Making Music with the Alexander Technique
This one day experiential workshop is designed to illuminate the powerful relationship that exists between your body and your instrument. How you use yourself and interact with your instrument has everything to do with your freedom to play and making music.
Specially designed masterclasses on body usage, breathing and sitting will provide you with simple yet profound ways to enhance this relationship.
Date: Sun Oct 30
Location: Fulton St, Downtown NYC
Time: 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Workshop Fee: $100
Limited places. Please register early and here.
Contact: arodiger@balanceartscenter.com
Faculty : David Homan : Judith Muir : Ann Rodiger
Judith Muir, M.M. M.AmSAT, is one of the senior teachers of the Alexander Technique in America. She is a founding member of the American Society of Alexander Teachers (AmSAT), and former Vice-Chair of the American Center for the Alexander Technique, New York, with 27 years of private teaching experience. She trained in London with Walter Carrington, one of the most influential teachers of hte Alexander Technique in the world. Her teaching experiences include helping to train students to become certified teachers of the Alexander Technique in Cape Town, South Africa, Manhattan, New York City, and Amherst, Massachusetts. Currently on the faculty at Bard College in the Theatre Department her past and present students include, members of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, New York City Opera, flutist Sir James Galway, and actors Greta Scacchi and Chris Noth.
As Director of Early Childhood Education at the Institute for Music and Healthin the Hudson Valley, Judith also offers an exceptional international background in woodwind and piano pedagogy. She has a Masters degree from Manhattan School of Music and is a distinguished clarinetist. Her performances include classical and jazz concerts on three continents, and her solo and ensemble appearnaces include Carnegie Hall, New York City, St. Martin’s in the Fields, and Wigmore Hll in London U.K. She also runs an award winning music program at the Hawk Meadow Montessori School in Poughkeepsie based on the work of John Diamond M.D. having been personally trained by him for twelve years in his unique approach to music and healing.
David Homan is a composer and collaborative artist. Dedicated to live composition for theatre, dance, chamber music, and musical theatre, Mr. Homan’s current projects emphasize collaboration in live performance and communication between performers and creators in various fields.
He is the founding director of the Live Arts Collaboration, a non-profit dedicated to producing multidisciplinary works in NYC, and the Executive Director of the American-Israel Cultural Foundation.
For samples of his work, or more information, visit www.homanmusic.com
Ann Rodiger brings her experience of over 25 years in the Alexander Technique, Laban Movement Analysis and Observation, Dance Notation, movement education, and her own dance performance experience to her work as a teacher. She currently has a private practice in New York City. Ms. Rodiger is the founder and director of the AmSAT approved Balance Arts Center Alexander Technique Teacher Training Course in NYC. Ms. Rodiger has taught graduate and undergraduate level dance courses in several major U.S. Universities, including the University of Illinois-Urbana, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Hawaii-Manoa, City College of New York, and the Juilliard School. Internationally, she teaches regularly in Berlin, and has taught in France and Switzerland. Ms. Rodiger graduated from the Urbana Center for the Alexander Technique in 1981. She also holds a Masters Degree in Dance from the Ohio State University and a B.S. from the University of Oregon. She has also studied ergonomics, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Feldenkrais, yoga and meditation. She has been working with singers and musicians for over 25 years.
Alexander Technique Singers’ Workshop/Masterclass
Singers learn principles of the Alexander Technique that will enhance their knowledge of how the whole body participates in singing.
Sunday, September 18, 2011 – 3-6 pm
Classes will be limited to 12 participants. The workshop will include theory, observation, and practical application. Reading material will generally be provided. No previous Alexander Technique experience is necessary.
Students will be required to pay the full fee before beginning the class. There are no refunds.
Location: 114 Fulton St. #3W, NYC.
Fee: $75
Contact: Ann Rodiger, 646-526-6515
Register: here
Integrated Awareness Meditation
Sunday June 12, 2011, 3-6 pm, $60, 114 Fulton St. #3W, Downtown Manhattan
Ann Rodiger has developed the IAM course to assist people in developing a meditation practice and in helping people deepen existing meditation practices. Class will begin with Yoga postures to prepare the body for meditation.
To register, click here, call 212.439.5248 or email arodiger@balanceartscenter.com
Finding Your Flow: Yoga and the Alexander Technique
Learn the Principles of the Alexander Technique as they apply to Yoga. You will learn concepts of direction, balance and ease of movement as well as how to change habitual movement patterns. We will look at Yoga postures through the Alexander Technique lens.
Saturday, February 26, 3-6pm – for Yoga practitioners
Sunday, April 3, 3-6pm – for Yoga teachers
Saturday, May 14, 3-6pm – for Yoga practitioners
Fee: $50 per session. Limited enrollment. Reservations required.
To register, please email Ann Rodiger at arodiger@earthlink.net or click here.
Your Body at Work: Working with Less Stress and More Energy
New York Open Center 22 E. 30th Street New York, NY 10016
3 Sessions Weekly
Tuesdays, March 29-April 12
8-10pm
Open Center Members $90/Nonmembers $100
To register, click HERE
Many of us experience tension while we work and wind up suffering from such ailments as eye strain, headaches, backaches, fatigue, breathing problems, carpal tunnel syndrome, vocal strain, neck and shoulder tension, and sore muscles. In this class we’ll learn how to to prevent tension from building up so we can maintain a sense of balance and ease as we move gracefully throughout our day, even if we’re forced to sit at a desk for a lot of that time. We will use principles and practices drawn from the Alexander Technique, a superb, time tested method for building awareness of our core movement patterns that provides us with practical ways to permanently make our postures, ways of moving our bodies and mental states far more fluid and natural. Come discover how to transform your relationship to your workplace so you can maintain your calm in stressful situations, and feel more relaxed, alert, energized and focused.
The Diamond-Dart Meridian Sequence
Sunday, April 10th, 1–5pm
The Diamond-Dart Meridian Sequence is an easily learnt movement meditation designed to raise your Life Energy (Chi). This dance-like series of movements and postures will help organ functioning, improve coordination and breathing as well as clearing the Acupuncture Emotional System. The sequence was developed by John Diamond, MD and documented in his book, Life Energy: Using the Meridians to Unlock the Power of your Emotions. Although each posture is beneficial when performed separately, it is by moving through the complete sequence that the greatest benefits accrue.
Presented by:
Judith Muir, MM, M.AmSAT
Karla Diamond, M.AmSAT
Location:
Balance Arts Center, NYC
Contact Judith@musichealth.net
Choral Singers’ Series
November 9: Jaw, 7-8:30pm
November 16: Tongue, 7-8:30pm
November 30: Diaphragm/Support, 7-8:30pm
December 7: Whole Body, 7-8:30pm
Learn in a four-session workshop how to use your tongue, jaw, tongue, diaphragm, and whole body with more articulation and freedom while you are vocalizing. Your new knowledge will be applied directly to your singing. The awareness and understanding you gain will increase the effectiveness of your voice lessons by helping you understand more clearly what your teacher is asking you to do.
Location: 114 Fulton St. #3W, Manhattan
Fee: $125 whole series OR $35 single session
Reservations/Questions: 646.526.6515, arodiger@earthlink.net
Introduction to the Alexander Technique for Yoga Teachers
Saturday December 4, 3-6pm $75
Ann Rodiger will introduce the Alexander Technique principles as they relate to the practice of Yoga. The Alexander Technique is a mind/body educational method that helps restore balance, freedom and ease of movement, and improves one’s overall mental and physical functioning. No Pre-registration required.
Singers’ Series I
October-November 2010
Tuesdays, 7-8:30pm
October 12: Jaw
October 19: Tongue
October 26: Diaphragm
November 2: Whole Body
Learn in a four-session workshop how to use your jaw, tongue, diaphragm, and whole body with more articulation and freedom while you are vocalizing. Your new knowledge will be applied directly to your singing. The awareness and understanding you gain will increase the effectiveness of your voice lessons by helping you understand more clearly what your teacher is asking you to do. Enrollment is limited to ensure ample individual attention.
$135 whole series OR $35 single session
Email Ann Rodiger to register: arodiger@earthlink.net
The information presented is based on principles of the Alexander Technique.
Singers’ Series II
September-October 2010
Tuesdays, 7-8:30pm
September 21: Vowels
September 28: Consonants
October 5: Starting and Stopping
October 12: Ongoing Continuous Sound
Learn in a four-session workshop how to better produce vowels, consonants, how to start and stop more easily, and how to produce ongoing continuous sound with more articulation and freedom while you are vocalizing. Your new knowledge will be applied directly to your singing. The awareness and understanding you gain will increase the effectiveness of your voice lessons by helping you understand more clearly what your teacher is asking you to do. Enrollment is limited to ensure ample individual attention.
$135 whole series OR $35 single session
Email Ann Rodiger to register: arodiger@earthlink.net
The information presented is based on principles of the Alexander Technique.
Integrated Awareness Meditation
Sunday October 24, 2010, 2-5 pm, $75
In this workshop we will practice meditation by focusing on optimal posture, breath and balance through the principles of the Alexander Technique. We will use creative visualizations and guided meditations to liberate the wisdom of our hearts. Through this process you will learn to recognize how thought patterns manifest in your body and how to release habitual patterns of thought and behavior. As you follow the voice and flow of your own inner wisdom you will experience an embodied awareness of your unified heart, body and mind. This workshop is a wonderful introduction to meditation for beginners and an opportunity for experienced meditators to go deeper.
Take a look at all the workshops that were offered at
Freedom To Move: Conference on Dance and the Alexander Technique, May 21-23, 2010
click to see details on the conference
Speaking, Singing, and Making Sound for Dancers
June 12, 2010, 3-6pm
This workshop is tailored specifically for dancers wishing to develop vocal skills for various levels of performance. Feel comfortable using your voice while standing and in motion. Learn how to use your voice well through principles of the Alexander Technique; how your breath and whole body participate in speaking, singing, and making sound; learn how knowledge of good vocal technique can enhance your overall balance and movement experience. Bring your questions and concerns about speaking and singing.
Integrated Awareness Meditation
Sunday May 2, 12-4 pm, $75, Middlebury Vermont
Thomas Jackson and Ann Rodiger have developed the IAM course to assist people in developing a meditation practice and in helping people deepen existing meditation practices.
Integrated Awareness Meditation
Sunday April 18, 2-6 pm, $75, 114 Fulton St. #3W, Downtown Manhattan
Thomas Jackson and Ann Rodiger have developed the IAM course to assist people in developing a meditation practice and in helping people deepen existing meditation practices.
Singers’ Series
April-May 2010
Tuesdays, 7-8:30pm
April 13: Jaw
April 20: Tongue
April 27: Diaphragm
May 4: Whole Body
Learn in a four-session workshop how to use your jaw, tongue, diaphragm, and whole body with more articulation and freedom while you are vocalizing. Your new knowledge will be applied directly to your singing. The awareness and understanding you gain will increase the effectiveness of your voice lessons by helping you understand more clearly what your teacher is asking you to do. Enrollment is limited to ensure ample individual attention.
$125 whole series OR $35 single session
114 Fulton St. #3W, Manhattan
Email Ann Rodiger to register: arodiger@earthlink.net
The information presented is based on principles of the Alexander Technique.
An Introduction to the Alexander Technique for Yoga Teachers
Saturday March 13, 2010, $25, 114 Fulton St. #3W, Downtown Manhattan
Ann Rodiger will introduce the Alexander Technique principles as they relate to the practice of Yoga. The Alexander Technique is a mind/body educational method that helps restore balance, freedom and ease of movement, and improves one’s overall mental and physical functioning. No Pre-registration required.
Integrated Awareness Meditation
Sunday March 7, 2010, 2-6 pm, $75, 114 Fulton St. #3W, Downtown Manhattan
Thomas Jackson and Ann Rodiger have developed the IAM course to assist people in developing a meditation practice and in helping people deepen existing meditation practices.
Breath and Support: Workshop for Singers, Musicians and others who use their voice, using principles of the Alexander Technique
Saturday February 13, 2010, 2-5pm, 114 Fulton St #3W, Downtown Manhattan
Having an accurate image, understanding, and sensation of how your breathing works is critical to the success of your singing and speaking. In this workshop you will learn the basics of good breathing and support and integrate this information with the use of your voice. Your expanded awareness will lead you to a better understanding of how to improve your singing and speaking. Singers and speakers of all styles are welcome.
Workshop Fee: $75. Workshop + one private 45 min. lesson: $145. Reservations Required.
Contact Ann Rodiger: 646-526-6515 or arodiger@balanceartscenter.com
Breathing Out and In
Saturday December 5, 2009, 2-5pm, 114 Fulton St #3W, Downtown Manhattan
Having an accurate image, understanding, and sensation of how your breathing works is critical to the success of your singing and speaking. In this workshop you will learn the basics of good breathing and support and integrate this information with the use of your voice. Your expanded awareness will lead you to a better understanding of how to improve your singing and speaking. Singers and speakers of all styles are welcome.
Workshop Fee: $75. Workshop + one private 45 min. lesson: $145
Turning In and Out for Dancers
Sat. Nov. 1, 2-5 pm, $25, 114 Fulton St. #3W, Downtown Manhattan
Explore your inward and outward notation and apply your new knowledge to standing and simple movements. Reservations required.
Integrated Awareness Meditation
Sun. Oct. 25, (Manhattan), Sun. Nov. (VT), 2009, $75, 114 Fulton St. #3W, Downtown Manhattan
Thomas Jackson and Ann Rodiger have developed the IAM course to assist people in developing a meditation practice and in helping people deepen existing meditation practices. Workshops are given in both NYC and Middlebury, VT.
Sun Salutation and the Alexander Technique
Sat. Oct. 17, 2009, $25, Sandra Cameron Dance Studio, 199 Lafayette, Soho
Refine your Sun Salutation practice with better alignment, balance, direction and ease of movement – through the lens of the Alexander Technique. Pre-registration is not required.
Head, Neck, Tongue, Jaw Workshop for Singers
Saturday September 26, 2009, 2-5 pm, $75, 114 Fulton St. #3W, Downtown Manhattan
Apply a new awareness directly to your singing. Your expanded awareness will lead you to a better understanding of how to improve your singing and how your whole body is involved with your singing. Reservations required.
An Introduction to the Alexander Technique for Yoga Teachers
Saturday October 3, 2009, $25, Sandra Cameron Dance Studio, 199 Lafayette, Soho
Ann Rodiger will introduce the Alexander Technique principles as they relate to the practice of Yoga. The Alexander Technique is a mind/body educational method that helps restore balance, freedom and ease of movement, and improves one’s overall mental and physical functioning. No Pre-registration required.
