about me - Elizabeth Hurwitt

why I teach AT

Alexander Technique (AT) helps me organize my mind and body to support me in every way, from standing and sitting well, to standing up to fatigue and anxiety -- our constant companions during the pandemic. AT has never been more important to me than it is now.

I am trained and committed to teaching AT skills to other people. If anyone would like to get started in learning this lovely practice, I offer a free first lesson. Masks and hand-washing are required, because lessons are in-person, but safe as a visit to the hair salon.

AT has been a part of my life for over 30 years. Now that I'm an instructor, 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 gain a new understanding of the work each time I share what I know.

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

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 Alexander Technique Center for Performance and Development.

2019-20 was 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 post-graduate 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.

OTHER BACKGROUND

I come from Northern California, and earned a BA in English Literature from UC Santa Cruz. There I cultivated a love for poetry, which continues today with my passion for the embodied symmetry and simultaneity of Alexander Technique. From Santa Cruz I moved to NYC's Upper West Side, joined a Lutheran church choir, and sang Bach alongside a lively group of trained singers and actors. To help improve my vocal abilities, I took my first AT lessons on weekday evenings with Pamela Anderson, while my days were spent working in publishing, legal management and music journalism.

Over time I combined my interests and experience to build a career as a performing arts administrator, including 13 all-absorbing 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 unique 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.