Dance and the Alexander Technique

Rebecca Nettl-Fiol is a professor of dance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a dance choreographer, and the coeditor of The Body Eclectic: Evolving Practices in Dance Training.Luc Vanier is an associate professor in the dance department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Peck School of the Arts and a dance choreographer.

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