Physical Expression on Stage and Screen: Using the Alexander Technique to Create Unforgettable Performances [Paperback]

A tight throat; held breath; stiff muscles; stage fright: impediments to performance come in many guises, but they all spring from the same source-tension.

InPhysical Expression on Stage and ScreenBill Connington, a renowned teacher of the Alexander Technique, shows you how to recognize and release the tension that keeps you from performing at your best. If you're ever not certain of what to do with your hands or how to make a meaningful gesture, or if your movement feels fine in daily life but then you suddenly become self-conscious when onstage or in front of a camera, this book is here to help.

More than one hundred clear, accessible exercises-including many filmed tutorials available online-will enable you to

Move more naturally and easily
Breathe more freely
Speak more clearly
Free your creative impulses
Play a character with an unfamiliar physicality

A practical book on the Alexander Technique for actors and acting/movement teachers.

Bill Conningtonhas devoted his career to helping performers-including Broadway actors, Metropolitan Opera singers, and renowned instrumentalists-manage their art through managing themselves. The former chairman of the board of the American Center for the Alexander Technique, Bill is currently a lecturer in acting at the Yale School of Drama and has taught performers at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, the Juilliard School, and the Actors Studio MFA Program.

A clear, detailed, and practical account of how the Alexander Technique can help liberate performers from habitual psychophysical tensions, allowing them to access the deepest and most creative impulses in their work. Walton Wilson, Chair, Department of Acting, and Head of Voice and Speech, Yale School of Drama

In small, doable steps, Bill guides the actor toward a healthy, creative life as a performer-always with a supportive, encouraging tone and attention to process as opposed to result