After a year of training with Chris I decided that I wanted that particular focus upon the skill of music making that Vivien’s workshops had provided as part of my training to be an Alexander Technique teacher.
As luck would have it Vivien had started a school in Melbourne for musicians and music teachers. I was able to move my training and made the journey around the world…
My training with Vivien had all the typical elements found in other STAT and AUSTAT accredited schools plus a daily performance lab. We explored what the Technique might bring to the art of music making on a nearly daily basis; it was a demanding, exciting, and memorable two years!!
After completing my training in 1992 my life moved in another direction and I found myself in Perth, married, and soon to be a parent. I worked at WAAPA and remained there for 8 years teaching Alexander Technique in the music theatre department. I was also regularly invited to run workshop series at the UWA music department during these early years in Perth.
Gradually the focus on performance based skills changed. I began to work with a broad range of individuals who were suffering chronic back and musculo-skeletal pain - typically following injury or a failure to recover from trauma.
This shift in my Alexander practice was largely due to those few GP’s who were curious about the potential inherent in the Alexander Technique and who began to send me clients - workers from the Fremantle wharf, servicemen and women from HMAS Stirling, and other injury related insurance cases that were seeking a solution that would get people back to work.