Our Wonderful Team

Quotes:

F.M. Alexander

" For in the mind of man lies the secret of his ability to resist, to conquer and to finally to govern the circumstances of his life"

Sam Marion, Piano teacher, organist/choir director, performer

"The teachers are truly world-class in their experience and in their teaching. Every student is allowed to bring his/her own experience into the study and is made to feel comfortable no matter how little AT study he/she has had.  The teacher-student ratio allows for a good mix of group and individual attention.  Having access to so many really good teachers in a 5-day intensive period really increases the learning exponentially."

Moshe Feldenkrais

"Learning to inhibit unwanted contractions of muscles that function without, or in spite of, our will, is the main task in coordinated action."

A neuro-surgeon attendee

These Alexander Technique courses are “state-of-the-art” in understanding “brain plasticity” applied to everyday life.

Chinese Proverb

If you are patient in one moment of anger…you will escape a hundred years of sorrow.

Ambrose Redmoon

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.

J. Krishnamurti

There is great happiness in not wanting, in not being something, in not going somewhere.

Barbara Smith | Beginning Student

"This workshop is helpful for people from beginners to advanced and there is no barrier between people at different levels. We are all travelers together along the Alexander road for a week."

Michael Frederick

The Alexander Technique gives you a “smart tool” to help cope with change and move forward…this work is “green thinking” at its best!

T.K.V. Desikachar

“Whenever you are in doubt, it is best to pause"

Jonathon Leathwood | Alexander Technique Teacher

"I've been to this workshop three times: first as an interested student, then as a teacher trainee, and this last month as a very nearly qualified teacher. Each workshop has been a landmark in my life."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.

Chinese proverb

The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth.

Michael Pritchard

You don’t stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing.

Moshe Feldenkrais

“You can’t teach anyone anything, you can only create the conditions in which they can learn.”

Nick Erickson, Professor of Theatre

Simply one of the best Alexander Technique courses anywhere…well worth attending. Starting in 1979, these are the original Alexander Technique Residential Workshops. Today there are many complimentary imitators, however why go for second best when you can have the original.

J. Krishnamurti

There is no self to understand, only the thought that creates the self.

T.K.V. Desikachar

"Mastery of yoga is really measured by how it influences our day-to-day living, how it enhances our relationships, how it promotes clarity and peace of mind."

Teaching Staff

Alexander Technique Retreats International

Michael D. Frederick
Founder & Director

Malibu, Tuscany
Michael is an internationally recognized teacher in the field of Psychophysical Re-education.

Michael D. Frederick

Michael is an internationally recognized teacher in the field of Psychophysical Re-education. He trained as an Alexander Teacher in England with Walter Carrington and in America with Marjorie Barstow, both master teachers trained by F. M. Alexander. Michael studied in the U.S. and Israel as a Feldenkrais Practitioner and has extensive Yoga training in both the U.S. and India. He is Co-Director and on the Board of the Alexander Training Institute of Los Angeles (ATI-LA). Michael is the founding director of the first three International Congresses on the Alexander Technique and has organized over 150 workshops in the U.S. and Europe since 1978. Michael was voted best Alexander Teacher in Los Angeles Magazine’s “Best of L.A.”  https://michaeldfrederick.com/

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Alexander Technique Retreats International

Carol P. Prentice
Co-Director

Malibu, Tuscany, Women's Retreat
Carol trained in the mid-1980s as an Alexander Teacher with Frank Ottiwell in San Francisco, CA.

Carol P. Prentice

Carol trained in the mid-1980s as an Alexander Teacher with Frank Ottiwell in San Francisco at the American Conservatory Theater (ACT). She furthered her training with first-generation Alexander Teachers Marjorie Barstow, Walter & Dilys Carrington, and Marjory Barlow. She has been teaching this work for over 37 years. Carol is also a Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist and a graduate of the California College of Ayurveda in Grass Valley. She was on the California College of Ayurveda faculty for eight years. Carol is also a graduate 500-hour Yoga teacher training in the tradition of Sri T. Krishnamacharya from the Healing Yoga Foundation – San Francisco. She has an Alexander, Yoga, and Ayurveda practice in Tampa, Fl. Carol also runs the Hands-On Women’s Retreat.

Carol is also a certified End-of-Life Consultant and Doula. She believes that everyone should have a Life Well Lived and a Death Well Planned. Please visit her website at www.carolpprentice.com or www.HandsOn-Retreats.com

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“The Alexander Technique is not a method of accumulating information nor the art of learning something new. It is, instead, the art of unlearning, which is much more subtle and, sometimes, a more difficult endeavor – unlearning that which is habitual instead of natural – letting go of old patterns and those repetitious opinions arrived at in times and circumstances totally different from those of the present.”
                                                         Laura Huxley, Author, Educator

John Baron-8357

John Baron

Malibu, Tuscany
John has been a full-time teacher of the Alexander Technique for 35 years.

John Baron

John has been a full-time teacher of the Alexander Technique for 36 years, during which time he has practiced in London, Rome, and the Bay Area. He has a theater and business background enabling him to work with a diverse range of organizations, including Google Inc., Fireman’s Fund Insurance, Cal State Hayward, The Sundance Institute, Esalen Institute, Weg Der Mitte (Berlin), San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Opera. He co-directed the AEC(teacher training school in Berkeley, CA) for 28 years in Berkeley, Ca.  He works as a vocal coach to actors and people in business in the Bay Area.  https://johnabaron.com/

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Silvia Sferlazzo

Silvia Sferlazzo

Malibu, Tuscany
Silvia is an Alexander Technique Teacher, Yoga Teacher, and Dancer with 30+ years of teaching experience. She lives in Florence and maintains an active teaching and artistic life.

Silvia Sferlazzo

Silvia Sferlazzo is an Alexander Technique Teacher, Yoga Teacher, and Dancer with 30+ years of teaching experience.   She was based in Amsterdam, Holland, for over 24 years. Since 2010 Silvia has returned to her home country of Italy and now lives in Florence, where she maintains an active teaching and artistic life. She taught at the Amsterdam Conservatory and in other European contemporary dance academies, as well as at the Alexander Technique Teacher Training School in Amsterdam. She has privately taught dancers, musicians, singers, actors, and athletes. She is also a qualified teacher of Yoga - Dancing the Body of Light with Dona Holleman at the European Teacher Training in the Netherlands & also at the International Vijnana-Yoga with Orit Sen-Gupta in Jerusalem.  Above all, whether it's the Alexander Technique, Yoga, or Dance, Silvia loves teaching and brings a joyful spirit to her work.

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Morgan Rysdon

Morgan Rysdon

Malibu
Morgan Rysdon trained at ACAT in NYC and, in 2013, she created Center Studio.

Morgan Rysdon

Morgan Rysdon came to this work when she was 18 and pursuing her BA in Theatre. Her personal history of childhood trauma made this work especially appealing because, for the first time in her life, she felt like her body was a safe space. She went on to train at ACAT in NYC and, in 2013, she created Center Studio to help others improve their quality of life through increased awareness and mindful movement. Morgan has taught her work both nationally and internationally, helping individuals elevate their performances on stage, at work, and in life. In 2019 Morgan created a YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/morganrysdoncenterstudio) to share this work with—and help—more people. Currently, she has a private practice based in Atlanta, NYC, and online. www.atcenterstudio.com

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Alexander Technique Retreats International

Paolo Frigoli

Tuscany
Paolo Frigoli trained as an Alexander Technique teacher in Italy with Frances Robinson and Angelo Cinque, graduating in 1992.

Paolo Frigoli

Paolo Frigoli trained as an Alexander Technique teacher in Italy with Frances Robinson and Angelo Cinque, graduating in 1992. In the following years, he spent several periods of professional development in the United Kingdom at the Brighton Alexander Training Centre directed by John Nicholls, with whom he developed a lifelong learning relationship while taking regular lessons from master teachers Walter Carrington and Peggy Williams. Paolo has taught the Alexander Technique for 30 years individually and in groups, both in his private practice and in public institutions, and has been invited to teach in various Alexander schools in Italy and abroad. In 2015 he started his STAT-approved teacher training course in Italy. Paolo qualified as a physiotherapist in 1989 and then trained in the Mézières method with Dr. Bertelè and in the CranioSacral Therapy of Dr. John Upledger, which is still part of his daily practice. https://www.collolibero.it/

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Alexander Technique Retreats International

Michael Gelb

Malibu, Tuscany
Michael is an internationally renowned author, speaker, and consultant who helps individuals and organizations worldwide find innovative solutions to their most important challenges.

Michael Gelb

Michael is an internationally renowned author, speaker, and consultant (and, yes, juggler) who helps individuals and organizations worldwide find innovative solutions to their most important challenges. Since 1979, Michael's unique, creative approach has inspired and transformed clients such as DuPont, Merck, Microsoft, and Nike. This year, we are looking forward to a series of special presentations by Michael Gelb, author of Body Learning, An Introduction to the Alexander Technique, and the best-selling How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci. Michael trained as an Alexander Teacher in London during the mid-1970s. www.michaelgelb.com

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Alexander Technique Retreats International

Lauren Hill

Malibu
Lauren Hill began studying the Alexander Technique in her 20’s looking for help managing chronic neck, shoulder, and back pain.

Lauren Hill

Lauren Hill began studying the Alexander Technique in her 20s, looking for help managing chronic neck, shoulder, and back pain. Besides the physical relief, she found with the Technique, she was also drawn to its simple and practical nature. Joan and Alexander Murray trained her and has taught in St. Paul, MN, since 2003. She joined the faculty of MinnCAT, a teacher training course in Minnesota, in 2017. Lauren loves learning and is interested in how people learn. She enjoys the challenge of uncovering how her students learn best and creating an environment that facilitates their learning of the Alexander Technique. When she is not helping her students find more ease in their daily lives, she is dancing, dreaming up next year’s Halloween costume, or spending quality time out of doors. https://alexanderteachingstudio.com/

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Bruce Fertman

Bruce Fertman

Malibu
Bruce Fertman, founding director of the Alexander Alliance International, the Grace of Sense Online School, and the WalkingWay™, has taught people how to move well for 60 years.

Bruce Fertman

Bruce Fertman, founding director of the Alexander Alliance International, the Grace of Sense Online School and the WalkingWay™ has been teaching people how to move well for 60 years. He brings a lifetime of training as a movement artist and educator to his work as an Alexander teacher having trained in Gymnastics, Modern Dance, Ballet, Contact Improvisation, Tai Chi Chu’an, Aikido, Japanese Tea Ceremony, Argentine Tango, and Kyudo. He is author of Teaching by Hand/Learning by Heart - Delving into the Work of F.M. Alexander, The Way In ~ The Way Out: Renderings of the Tao Te Ching, and of a forthcoming book on walking which he is co-authoring with Michael Gelb. https://www.graceofsense.com/

 
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Alexander Technique Retreats International

Lyn Charlsen Klein

Malibu
Lyn is currently one of six Co-Directors of the Alexander Training Institute of Los Angeles. She is one of the founding members of the course and has taught on the course since its inception in 1987.  She was Head of Training for 17 years.

Lyn Charlsen Klein

Lyn is currently one of six Co-Directors of the Alexander Training Institute of Los Angeles, teaching regularly on the course. She is one of the founding members of the course and has taught on the course since its inception in 1987.  She was Head of Training for 17 years.

Lyn taught the Alexander Technique at the USC School of Theater from 1980 to 1995 and at California State University in Los Angeles from 1989 – 1999. She has given lectures/demonstrations and conducted courses for Alexander training programs and the general public throughout the United States. She regularly taught residential courses in Virginia and Malibu from the 1990s to 2019.  She maintains a private practice in Van Nuys and Santa Monica, CA.

Lyn had the good fortune to meet and work with first-generation Alexander Technique Teachers Patrick MacDonald, Marjorie Barstow, Elisabeth Walker, and briefly with Marjorie Barlow and Walter Carrington. These teachers, as well as colleagues through the years, have been a deep well of knowledge and inspiration.

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