https://poiseandpresence.info/, https://linktr.ee/ruthhommelsheim

Ruth Hommelsheim AT, London (2025)

26/09/2025

In Conversation with Peter Buckoke - Alexander Technique in Music Education
https://youtu.be/Zg5Uf_x55yY

In this conversation I speak with Peter Buckoke, double bass player, Professor, and teacher of the Alexander Technique based in London.

He is Professor of Double Bass at the Royal College of Music, where he also leads the Alexander Technique programme, integrating holistic approaches to performance for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. A founding member of the Schubert Ensemble of London, winners of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s ‘Best Chamber Group’ award, Buckoke has performed with premier chamber groups including the Nash Ensemble and the Alberni, Allegri, Arditi, Chillingirian, Coul, Dante, and Endellion string quartets and the London Handel Players.

He is the co-author of "The Alexander Technique for Musicians" (with Judith Kleinman), and is well known for his innovative teaching, deep chamber music experience, and advocacy for musicians’ health and performance excellence.

Peter is a qualified craniosacral therapist. This work is beautifully compatible and complimentary to the Alexander Technique.
In his spare time, Peter looks after 14 colonies of honey bees.
https://www.alexandernow.org/

in

12/09/2025

Alexander Technique Conversations # 14: Dorothea Magonet
https://youtu.be/F8ba9Q48inE?si=LQ7M4dNCD2NqDpUb

In this conversation I speak with Dorothea Magonet, Alexander Technique teacher and visual artist based in London.

Dorothea discovered the Alexander Technique in the 1970s during her physiotherapy training and went on to qualify as a teacher in 1983 with Misha Magidov. For over 40 years she has taught people of all ages in private practice in West Hampstead, London (and now also online), as well as internationally.

Since 1984 she has been on the staff of the Royal Academy of Music, supporting musicians and singers in applying the Technique to their craft. She has led workshops and conferences across Europe and Japan, collaborated with projects in swimming, dance, and early years education, and is a STAT Moderator for Alexander teacher training courses worldwide.
Dorothea has also served on the Council of the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique (STAT), including as Chair and Honorary Secretary, and continues to play an active role in the profession. Alongside her teaching, she pursues her own Fine Art practice.
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in

29/08/2025

In Conversation with Gunda Fielden - Alexander Technique and Theatre
https://youtu.be/K1g-gQfTKio

In this conversation, I speak with Gunda Fielden, head of training at Alexander Technique Training South West.

Gunda graduated from AZAT Berlin in 1996. She has taught on training courses for much of her time as a teacher, working at AZAT (1996-1999), teaching voice work at BATTSA in Bristol (2008-2011), and working as Deputy Head at CCARE in Totnes (2014-2019). She took over as Head of CCARE in 2019 and changed the name to ATTSW.

Gunda has a huge experience in one-to-one lessons as well as workshops and professional development work for teachers.

Before becoming an Alexander Technique teacher, Gunda worked in the theatre as a Director and Stage Manager and ran acting workshops. She has a particular interest in voice work – helping people reclaim the natural ease and resonance of their spoken voice, and is a strong advocate of the Technique’s role in positive ageing and a better experience of pregnancy and childbirth.
https://alexandertechniquesouthwest.com/
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25/08/2025

Some more impressions from the AT Congress in Dublin
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and many more.
photos by .info

22/08/2025

Alexander Technique Conversation #12: Alan Philps (CTC)
https://youtu.be/Hk79T7xwTuA?si=rW6dOmlVQRtvMrOn

In this conversation, I speak with Alan Philps, AT teacher and director of the Constructive Teaching Centre in London.

Alan Philps came to the Alexander Technique through performance. As an actor, he trained at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, Australia and then moved to London to study voice with Florence Norberg in 1976.

Performers of all kinds are often painfully aware of the effects of tension and stress on their ability to perform. Chronic stress, aches and pains and 'bad posture' plague the industry. The way we use our body is also crucial to the strength of a performance - for clarity of speech, stamina, subtlety and authenticity. Alan was not alone in struggling with these issues, and it was at this time that he came across the Alexander Technique. Since then, it has been the focus of his life and career.

Alan trained with Walter and Dilys Carrington from 1983-85. Walter and Dilys were the foremost proponents of the Alexander Technique across the world for many years. They were trained by F.M. Alexander himself and continued his work, training teachers at the Constructive Teaching Centre in London. Alan has worked on that course since completing his training and is now the Director and Head of Training at CTC.

He also specialises in voice work and presents voice workshops internationally. He conducts both group and individual voice work at the Constructive Teaching Centre, where he also gives private lessons in the Alexander Technique. He also has a private practice in Wedmore, Somerset.
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15/08/2025

Have you seen this interview?

Alexander Technique Conversations #11: Caroline Dale
https://youtu.be/JZZnzfQZpkg?si=TkoYaEluL47yth30

In this conversation, I speak with Caroline Dale, Alexander Technique and meditation teacher based in Devon.

Caroline began having Alexander Technique lessons in 1996 in her search for relief from a frozen shoulder and RSI. She realised that she would probably not be able to continue with her profession as an international Art Consultant unless her problems could be resolved.

After a series of lessons, her symptoms had all but gone, and she found myself to be deeply interested in the principles underlying Alexander’s discoveries and how they had alleviated the disorders that were seriously impacting her body and general health.

Over the next two years, Caroline began to realise the potential for Alexander’s work within many areas of society, and she decided to train as a teacher. Her three-year training ended in 2001, and she has been teaching a wide variety of people since then. Her pupils have ranged in age from 6 to 94 and have included a wide variety of reasons for exploring the technique. Caroline worked as a trainer at The Alexander Teacher Training School in London for several years. She now lives and works in Devon.

13/08/2025

The is over, and I had lots of good experiences and learnings! Here are some impressions from my official job as the congress photographer.
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and many more.
photos by .info

21/07/2025

Alexander Technique Conversations #10 is out now!
https://youtu.be/4AUp6j1IPJM

In this conversation, I speak with Glen Park, an experienced Alexander Technique teacher and chakra healing therapist in Devon.

Glen discovered the Alexander Technique while working in the theatre as an actress and writer, when she was suffering from chronic back pain and searching for ways to address this condition. The technique not only helped her develop a strong back but brought many additional benefits. Her enthusiasm for the principles and practice led her to pursue training as an Alexander Technique teacher.

Early in her training, she began seeing auras and energy. Seeking to understand these experiences, she was advised to train in psychic development, which introduced her to the study of chakras. She pursued this training both in England and California while simultaneously completing her Alexander Technique teacher certification. Together, these disciplines marked the beginning of her spiritual development journey.

The synergy between these two approaches inspired her to write her first book, *The Art of Changing*, which provides a comprehensive introduction to Alexander Technique principles while exploring the emotional and energetic dimensions of mind-body connection.

Her recently published work, *Chakra Healing Therapy*, is a thorough introduction to the principles of the Alexander Technique, including an exploration of the emotional and energetic aspects of the mind and body.

She provides individual sessions and workshops in both Alexander Technique and Chakra Healing Therapy, and also offers specialised training in Chakra Healing Therapy for Alexander Teachers and complementary health practitioners. With over 30 years of teaching experience, her work has taken her to the UK, Europe, the United States, Australia, and Japan.
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13/07/2025

Alexander Technique Conversations #9 is out now!
https://youtu.be/rwRHJzyaOjM
In this interview, I'm speaking with Refia Sacks, founder of LCATT - London Centre for Alexander Technique and Training.
Refia founded LCATT in 2003 and has been the Director and Head of Training for 20 years. She now shares these roles with Judith Kleinman and Roger Kidd, previously her assistants. She has been teaching the Alexander Technique for over forty years. She qualified in 1982 at the Alexander Teaching Associates and has taught there and at several other training courses throughout Britain, Ireland and South America. She has strong AT links in South Africa and is also a member of the South African Society. She has extensive experience running groups, residential courses and a private practice. Her particular speciality on the training course is teaching ‘hands-on’. Refia is also a professional silversmith and stained glass artist.
I hope you enjoy this conversation!

20/06/2025

Alexander Technique Conversations #8 is out!
https://youtu.be/hzRVJmHzOpc

In this conversation I speak with Peter Ribeaux, co-head of training of The Centre for the Alexander Technique in Fulham, London.

Peter has been an Alexander Teacher for over 50 years. He has given workshops in Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Israel, Switzerland and the USA and has taught the Alexander Technique in a number of different settings ranging from the performance arts to the aerospace industry. Formerly a university lecturer in organisational psychology, he has also been a council member of STAT and is currently a member of the Moderators Panel of STAT.

Peter and Ellie Ribeaux were trained by Patrick Macdonald, who was trained by FM Alexander himself, and ran one of three training courses which immediately succeeded Alexander’s death in 1955. They have both been influenced by a number of other first generation Alexander Teachers including Peter Scott, Walter Carrington, Bill and Marjory Barlow, Dick and Elisabeth Walker, Irene Stewart and Eric de Peyer. They were the longest established Alexander Technique teacher trainers in the UK, opening our course in September 1984 until They closed it in 2017. In that time they graduated some hundred teachers who work in establishments as varied as multinational corporations and drama and music colleges all over the world. The Centre for the Alexander Technique is still situated in their house in Fulham near the River Thames in south-west London.

12/06/2025

In conversation with Penelope Easten - Alexander Technique and Chronic Fatigue
https://youtu.be/5uDWjuX4pP8

Penelope read zoology at Cambridge university, then qualified in Alexander technique in 1989. She then took lessons with Miss Goldie, who had worked alongside Alexander for 30 years.

Goldie remodelled Penelope’s understanding of the technique, prompting a thirty-year journey to understand the differences and power of Miss Goldie’s work. It took her to many other teachers, including Erika Whittaker, and to scientific and alternative avenues of exploration and understanding. During two separate years, Penelope was unable to walk with chronic fatigue syndrome.

These years became quiet retreats, deepening her work. With the illness gone completely, she has regained resilience, strength, and fitness, particularly through using the Initial Alexander technique with Jeando Masoero, and The Embodied Present Process with Philip Shepherd. She has taught ‘Miss Goldie’ workshops internationally since 2004, beginning at the Oxford congress in 2004, and was a continuous learning presenter at the 2022 Berlin Congress. During Covid 19 she ran Training to Teach Online, a detailed ten module course.

Her extensive book, The Alexander technique, The Twelve Fundamentals of Integrated Movement, was published in March 2021.
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24/05/2025

In this conversation I speak with Judith Kleinman, musician and AT teacher in London.
https://youtu.be/SUBQ1v8qGLY

Having originally trained as a musician at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Judith was a member of English National Opera and CLS and performed with LSO, London Classical Players, the National Theatre and the London Jupiter Orchestra. The mind body connection involved in practising and performing music fascinated her. In order to explore this connection more deeply Judith trained to be an Alexander teacher with Mr Macdonald and Shoshanna Kaminitz qualifying in 1988 and went on to train to be a Tai Chi and Yoga teacher in London.

While the Alexander Technique can have many uses and applications, Judith’s career as an Alexander teacher has been focused on integrating the work into educational and performance practices. This stems from a belief that the technique works fundamentally on establishing the possibility of change, a crucial element in learning how to learn and igniting creativity. She is part of the Alexander team at the Royal College of Music and head of department at the Junior Royal Academy of Music. She is also an assistant head of training at LCATT The London Centre for Alexander Technique and Training. Recently she has been a visiting teacher at The London School of Musical Theatre.

For the last twenty years Judith has collaborated with Sue Merry to build connections between the worlds of Alexander and Education and create a thoughtful training for AT teachers interested in working in that world. The Developing Self has become a platform for videos and discussions about Alexander in Education. These, including the talks of the first virtual Alexander conference 2020 can be found at www.thedevelopingself.net

More interviews can be found on my YouTube channel
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.info

Ruth Hommelsheim AT

26/09/2025

12/09/2025

29/08/2025

25/08/2025

22/08/2025

15/08/2025

13/08/2025

21/07/2025

13/07/2025

20/06/2025

12/06/2025

24/05/2025

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