As an actor our body and our voice are our tools. We need to take good care of them, so that they can serve us when we need them to.
All too often, especially in our early career, we work beyond our experience. Our acting impulses will be triggered from fear and a desire to please, not from our inner sense of artistry and creativity. With these ‘excited fear reflexes’ at work, younger actors often get a slight constriction of the throat and a tightness of the neck. This can become a learnt behaviour, sometimes becoming second nature as a performer. Without a proper focus we begin to interfere with our ‘Primary Control‘.
Primary Control is a relationship between the head and the neck which promotes natural lengthening of the body, and facilitates freedom of movement throughout the body.
The Alexander Technique was developed in the 1880s by Frederick Matthias Alexander as a tool to help with breathing problems and hoarseness during public speaking. Through its practise it he discovered the importance of Primary Control, and his teachings will allow you to stop interfering with your own Primary Control. FM Alexander credited the technique with allowing him to pursue his passion for Shakespearean acting.
I find the Alexander Technique very helpful in my work. Things happen without you trying. They get to be light and relaxed. You must get an Alexander teacher to show it to you.
The Alexander Technique is a proven way of restoring your natural balance, flexibility, and ease of movement. Through its teachings you will learn the appropriate amount of effort to use for an activity. This then releases more energy for your other activities and emotions. It is a re-education of the body and mind. It is not only useful when acting and will be just as important to you off stage as on.
A huge amount of the Alexander Technique focuses on the relationship between our head and neck. Years of sitting at computer desks incorrectly, and sitting and standing in bad posture, has put a huge amount of stress on our necks therefore putting increased tension on our spines and our nervous systems. To put it as simply as I can; our heads should sit comfortably on top of our necks, perfectly balanced on the top of our spines, this is how our body is built. Once we find that position our body will release it’s ‘anti-gravity’ reflexes and tensions are released all over the body.
The basic ideas of the Alexander Technique are not in any way complex or mystical, they do represent a new way of thinking about the functioning of your body and may take a little getting used to at first.
At any stage in your acting career studying the Alexander Technique can be so wonderfully freeing. It gives you an innate ability to change your thinking, to improve co-ordination and stay in the moment. You will become enlivened and connected on stage, which will lead to a compelling performance. With freedom of Primary Control comes a spontaneity. The change will also be very noticeable in your voice. Alexander Technique training helps your voice to finds its freedom and ease. You will find an increased strength and resonance in your vocals.
Emotional truth can also accessed through Alexander training. At times when we shut down our emotions, we quite literally shut down and tighten our bodies. Fear and anxiety can cause our nervous system to contract and tighten. As a result of this it is very easy for an actor to stop ‘acting’ and to simply ‘go through the motions’. Lines, actions, and emotions can become forced, anticipated and faked. By focusing on posture and breathing Alexander Technique keeps us ‘open’, and therefore opens our instrument to its deeper resources allowing them to be accessible ‘in the moment’.
The Alexander Technique addresses the nuisance habits of actors and musicians
Good acting is very often a cocktail of vulnerability with absolute commitment. Alexander Technique can help you to achieve this by giving you a process and means of guiding your performance to a place of complete harmony with the present moment.
Excess stresses and tensions in our bodies really can interfere with our ability to perform well in any circumstances, causing a variety of unpleasant side effects. Actors can really benefit from studying and practising Alexander Technique because of the very nature of the work. It is a great way to improve your singing, playing, acting and dancing. Many professionals swear by it, and with some practise you can and will too.
Images from
