About the Alexander Technique

The Alexander Technique is a hands-on method, primarily taught in one-to-one lessons, that brings awareness to the postural system, helping it be more adaptive and, in turn, improving movement, balance, and overall well-being.

Research has shown the Alexander Technique to be effective in reducing chronic neck and back pain and improving the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. It is often considered a form of mindful movement, helping students bring attention to their movement patterns.

About Claire

Claire teaches Alexander Technique lessons out of her home studio in Macomb, Ill. She also created the 2023 Macomb Alexander Technique Series and has presented through Western Illinois University’s LIFE classes and School of Music Wellness Series.

Her teaching experience includes work at Valparaiso University, Illinois Summer Youth Music, and assisting in classes and workshops at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Roosevelt University, and the Music in the Mountains Festival. She has presented at the World Harp Congress in Dublin, the Alexander Technique Congress (2018), Lyon & Healy’s Harp Day (2018), the Freedom to Move Conference in New York (2014), where she demonstrated the Dart Procedures.

She has a particular interest in applying the Technique to dancers and musicians. Her writing on the Alexander Technique appears in the American Harp Journal and the forthcoming book Moving Into Skill: A Framework for Integration. Her doctoral thesis explored the application of the Alexander Technique to harp performance and pedagogy.

Background and Approach

Claire’s interest in the Alexander Technique began during her undergraduate studies in dance. She was struck by the immediacy with which it improved her coordination within the aesthetic and technical demands of ballet–by accessing underlying, whole-body patterns, movements in, for example, petit allegro, suddenly became easy and inevitable.

As she continued her training, she found these same principles equally transformative in her work as a musician. Drawing on the work of Professors Nettl-Fiol and Luc Vanier, she explored how developmental movement patterns underpin traditional technical training in both dance and music.

While in Urbana-Champaign as an undergrad, she studied with many local teacher trainees, including Lauryn Hill, Andrew McCann, Cynthia Pipkin-Doyle, and many others. In 2013, she returned to Urbana to train with legendary teachers Alex and Joan Murray at Alexander Technique Centre Urbana. While training, she wrote about her experience in the blog, On the Course.