about Elizabeth

my AT training

other background

my AT training

My teaching practice, betterATbeing, is certified by the American Society for Alexander Technique (AmSAT).

I trained for 3 years (1600 hours) with Tom Vasiliades, Director of The Center for Alexander Technique - NYC.

2019-20 is my fourth year assisting Tom in his course at The Juilliard School Evening Division, working hands-on with students.

My practice of AT is informed by Tom's own training with John Nicholls and Walter Carrington.

Carrington is revered for preserving and communicating the principles established by F.M. Alexander, AT's founder, taught into the present at the Constructive Teaching Centre in London.

This profoundly effective way of teaching emphasizes the engagement of the postural muscles via the body's elastic, opposing pulls. It promotes a widening as well as a lengthening of the back, freeing the rib cage for deep and natural breathing.

why I teach AT

other background

my AT training

I prize the mindful awareness that AT cultivates, and the skills it teaches for becoming healthier, happier, and more at home in myself. It's a joy to share these benefits with others.

Teaching helps me continue my own learning experience. Every lesson is a new conversation between two nervous systems - my own and my pupil's. I acquire new understanding of the work each time I share what I know.

AT is uplifting, literally and figuratively. My AT certification is a license and obligation to practice expert care, which begins with taking care of myself.

other background

other background

other background

I come from Northern California, and earned a BA in English Literature from UC Santa Cruz.

From there I moved to NYC's Upper West Side, joined a church chorus, and shared a choir loft with trained singers and actors. To help improve my vocal abilities, I took my first AT lessons with Pamela Anderson.

I established a career in performing arts management, including 13 years as Executive Director of New York Festival of Song.

Today, in addition to teaching AT, I serve as Development Director of Copland House, a creative center for American music based in Aaron Copland's historic home in Cortlandt Manor, New York.

I live in lower Manhattan with my husband Elliott Hurwitt, a music historian.