Dance and the Alexander Technique

Contents

• Credits ix
• Preface xi
• Acknowledgments xvii
• Part One: Groundwork: Dance, Alexander Technique, and Dart Procedures 1
• Introduction to Part One 3
• 1. Assumptions and Foundations 9
• 2. Alexander Technique: Overview and Basic Principles 17
• 3. The Dart Procedures: Overview and Key Concepts 27
• Part Two: From Crawling to Leaping: Dart Procedures Applied to Dance Training 41
• Introduction to Part Two 43
• 4. Primary and Secondary Curves: Looking at Movement through a New Lens 45
• 5. Spirals for Connectivity and Lengthening 57
• 6. Discovering the Resiliency of the System 71
• Part Three: The Right Thing Does Itself- Alexander Principles Applied to Dance Training 83
• Introduction to Part Three 85
• 7. The Whole Self 87
• 8. Becoming Aware of Habit 95
• 9. Head First: Facilitating Coordination 103
• 10. Allowing versus Doing 111
• 11. Releasing the Catch: Direction 117
• Part Four: Applications to Dance Movements 129
• Introduction to Part Four 131
• 12. Applications to Ballet 133
• 13. Applications to Contemporary Modern Dance Technique 149
• 14. Applications for Teachers: Correction with Direction 165
• Epilogue 177
• Bibliography 181
• DVD Contents 185
• Index 187