Since 1986

About The Performance School - a brief history

In 1986, we invited five other Alexander Technique teachers to join us in establishing The Performance School.

We wanted to create a teacher education program for people who wanted to specialize in working with performers, and a place for performers who wanted a more comprehensive study of the Technique, without necessarily becoming teachers. Our program was an 1800 hour, three year course. Over the years, as faculty members went on to do other things and the needs of our students evolved, we continued to innovate different means of teaching and training teachers. Our current program is designed to respond to our students’ needs and changing situations in the world, while still offering a comprehensive and robust training in becoming an Alexander Technique teacher.

The Performance School acknowledges that we live and work on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People, past and present, and honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe. We hope to contribute to a future on this land consistent with the values of their culture. 

We support the Black Lives Matter Movement and Indigenous Peoples Movements.

Our Philosophy

When we called The Performance School a “Center for the Study of the Alexander Technique,” we meant it both as a place where one could come to study the Technique and also a place where we continue to study the Technique, what it is, how it works, and how our understanding of it might be affected by recent scientific discoveries. 

Since the school was founded, we have continually experimented with ways of clearly and simply teaching the principles and practice of the Alexander Technique.  We believe that the essence of Alexander's technique lies in its simplicity. We hope that The Performance School will continue to serve as a gathering place for a growing community of learners dedicated to cultivating that simplicity, both in their own actions and in the world around them. 

We also believe that, as Marjory Barlow has often said, "The Alexander Technique is FUN; it's meant to make you happy." We hope that those who join us here find it as playful a discipline as we do.

More Resources

books for the curious

resources for futher exploration

Information about discoveries in many fields that will help you to deepen your understanding of how humans learn and function.

things we wrote

articles and such

          David and Catherine have been thinking and writing about this work for many years. 
Here is a sample.