Many people try The Feldenkrais Method because of some obstacle that
keeps them from moving, performing or living in a way that they want.
I came to it as a singer, frustrated at a certain level of achievement,
and as a person with a history of physical pain.
I remember my first Functional Integration lesson (the hands on, one
on one version of the Feldenkrais Method) in which I experienced an
enormous emotional shift to a sense of possibility, hope and well-being.
Oddly, I had never realized how depressed I had felt until I experienced
"the sun coming out."
I took many more lessons and Awareness Through Movement classes (verbally-guided
group classes) before I decided to become a Feldenkrais practitioner
and joined the New York Training in 1987. Over those years I experienced
viscerally and emotionally the possibilities of our human nervous system
and brain to reorganize, now referred to as neuroplasticity. As I went
through the training, my joints changed. I literally got taller! I gained
an inch and a half in height and, more importantly, I began to rediscover
the curious, bright and creative self that had been obscured by my life
experiences and other people's expectations.
At the same time I created a new way of thinking about what it means
to learn and refine motor skills. Instead of "No pain, No gain"
(or "learning is hard work and requires effort"), I discovered
that "less is more," and that mindful exploration, even imagining
movements, is much more effective.
With my background as a singer and pianist, as well as my training in
the Feldenkrais Method, I have developed a creative and intuitive approach
to working with my students, a group that includes a wide range of people
across the spectrum, from those in their 80's and 90's dealing with
balance and pain issues or the effects of stroke, to people of all ages
with back pain and various "itis's", to singers, musicians,
actors and performers who are stuck technically or creatively. The common
thread is my ability to connect in a creative dance that may have body
mechanics and movement as its central theme, but always includes the
feeling, thinking, and creating human being that is you.
During the summer I offer classes through the Special Studies Program
at Chautauqua Institution as well as work with the singers enrolled
in Marlena Malas' voice program at Chautauqua. In New York, I teach
classes at The 92nd St. Y, private Feldenkrais lessons and classes,
as well as voice lessons informed by the Feldenkrais approach to learning.
I hold a Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music in Performance
from SUNY at Fredonia College, received a Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship,
and am a 1991 graduate of the NY Feldenkrais Professional Training Program.
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