Alexander Technique: First Lesson | 
| Director: Richard L. Bare
Actors: Roger Smith, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Edd Byrnes, Dolores Donlon, Jacqueline Beer
Studio: Wellspring Media
Buy Used: $23.35
Used (3) from $23.35
Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 20563
Format: Color, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 75 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 3.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 158350060X
UPC: 790658987807
EAN: 9781583500606
ASIN: B00004REQ1
Theatrical Release Date: October 31, 1958
Release Date: March 21, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: good withdrawn library vhs, both case and vhs are in nice clean shape, fully tested and plays like new ,thanks.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
By changing your posture you can look, move, and even breathe better, according to proponents of this century-old technique popular with entertainers. Developed by an actor who lost his voice due to improper posture, the Alexander Technique involves a series of subtle changes in stance and movement that, once learned, are to be incorporated into everyday life. Actor William Hurt introduces viewers to the video and demonstrates the positions and movements. Hurt must truly believe in this method because not only does he allow himself to be an on-screen guinea pig for 74 minutes, but the reclusive actor has also made rare television appearances promoting the video. However much he appears to believe in the technique, though, the Oscar winner displays uncharacteristic awkwardness in introducing and quizzing his teacher, Jane Kosminsky. A former dancer, Kosminsky is well versed in the history and method of the technique as she moves Hurt through head placement, chair work, "the Monkey" (a lifting position), walking, and finally a 22-minute self lesson. At the tape's end Kosminsky warns that a personal teacher may be needed to truly learn the technique, and offers a contact number and Web site information. --Kimberly Heinrichs
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 Back pain? get this now! AT lessons? Go to a certified AmSAT/STAT teacher first, THEN get this! February 9, 2008
A loving husband
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The second segment with Deborah Caplan is laudable: pragmatic and practical, plus demonstrating with people who have real back pain how they can achieve functionality again and get their life back. One reviewer here was amused that Caplan shows how to eat soup, so obviously that reviewer is an ignoramus who does not have severe lower back pain: the eating the soup does not cause the pain, but there are people who cannot lean over to eat soup because of the excruciating pain that it leads to. Anyone who has had a medically certifiable bad back will understand how this can be.
So, if you have a bad back, I do recommend watching this second segment, as well as buying Caplan's book. AND finding your nearest AmSAT or STAT certified Alexander Technique teacher to give you the experience of how to do these things. Just watching the video will not be enough. But it is a good supplement to one-on-one lessons.
I recommend not going to people certified by ATI, as they in general have far less hours experience and teacher training than those certified by AmSAT or STAT (I know there is a vast difference, from my own experience of seeking instruction).
As far as the first segment with Kosminsky, it is beautifully shot, but she seems a bit nervous or unsure in front of the camera, and this detracts. The explanations and demonstrations are good but incomplete. The guided lie down procedure can be very useful to follow along with. But again, watching something, one is tempted to do it, whereas in the Alexander Technique one has to get the experience first that one should not do it, for reasons to delicate to go into here. So go get a lesson!
My recommendation is:
If you are in dire need (back pain) get this and watch the second segment only to help you get a healthy lifestyle for your situation. But get an Alexander lesson as soon as possible from a certified teacher.
If you are interested in the Alexander Technique as, say, a performing artist, then have your lessons FIRST and THEN consider getting this video. The danger of this video is that some people will get an opinion of the Alexander Technique, like the reviewer here who found the first part "boring." If you get a good teacher, then there is nothing at all boring about it, even if it LOOKS boring.
Pretty good. January 13, 2008
G. Miller (Toronto, Ontario Canada)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I tried reading a few books about the Alexander Technique but I couldn't grasp it from the books. The DVD allowed me to understand what the Technique was about. But even with the DVD, there are still a lot of aspects of the Technique that are not that clear. I suspect a live teacher would be better than the books and this DVD. The DVD is a good introduction. I liked the hosts.
 Breathe, Move, Be: "The Balance of Well Being" June 30, 2007
Breath, Life, Spirit
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
"The aim of this technique is not to teach you to do what is right, but to help you stop doing what is wrong, through a series of practical procedures which awaken your awareness and allow you to develop your innate potential."
If I wanted to introduce the initiate to the Alexander Technique, I would suggest that they:
1. Locate a qualified teacher and begin working with that teacher (see end of this DVD for information & see below **);
2. Watch this DVD and begin doing the exercises of the "self lesson" outlined at the end of Lesson 1; and,
3. Read "Indirect Procedures: A Musician's Guide to the Alexander Technique", by Pedro de Alcantara, for a greater understanding Indirect Procedures: A Musician's Guide to the Alexander Technique (Clarendon Paperbacks)
When I started studying the Alexander Technique, I was very fortunate to find a teacher very close to my home who had studied with Walter Carrington, who, in turn, had studied directly with F.M. Alexander. About six months after starting this study, I watched this DVD one night with my husband who knew nothing about the Alexander Technique. As the "innocent eye" he took from just one viewing the thought that it was a common sense approach to awareness of your body and being mindful of how you use your body to perform certain tasks. He felt this technique would be of great value not only to musicians and artists and athletes but anyone who needs to depend on their body and wants to function at an optimum level for balance and efficiency. That would include office workers, computer users, etc.
My feeling was that this DVD takes what can seem like an esoteric subject and makes it extremely understandable for a general audience. Jane Kosminsky's explanation, direction and pace are very straightforward and logical.
In the initial months of my Alexander study, I wanted to read everything I could about the technique. At first, however, it seemed that the more I read, the less I understood, until I came upon "Indirect Procedures." Maybe because it is written by a musician (cellist), it spoke more directly and effectively to me, thereby "lifting a veil" on what seemed elusive in the writings of Alexander and others.
This, then, is what I would recommend to anyone with an interest in knowing more about the Alexander Technique.
Final thoughts (from packaging information): "This DVD introduces a system that integrates the head with the heart . . . it frees the mind, opens the voice, releases the body and nurtures the imagination." - Ben Donenberg, Artistic Director, Shakespeare Festival, LA
**To find a teacher in your area, search online: American Society for the Alexander Technique and/or The Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique. Sites for both organizations provide information on how to find a teacher as well as further information on obtaining materials to aid in study and practice.
well meaning but not terribly useful May 19, 2007
Alex Grayson (Los Angeles, CA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I bought this to supplement my Alexander Technique lessons, which I was doing once per week in a private one on one session. While this video does a nice job of explaining the nebulous technique, I was unimpressed. I did get some use out of the "constructive rest" segment, with her talking me through it, but I was hoping for something a bit more concrete and usable. Even as a seasoned student I felt a little unguided in this, for lack of a better word. I would imagine someone who has never taken a class or has only done group sessions might find this even more befuddling. Great idea, mediocre execution.
Overview of Alexander Technique principles March 14, 2007
Food Fan (New York)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I am new to the Alexander Technique, and was curious to learn more about it...
This DVD is primarily LECTURE (like a talk show demo).
but there are a few segments that involve demo/doing.
The instructor Jane talks very very sloooow(boring), but I overcame this problem by running my DVD in fast forward 1.4x speed which made her speech more normal paced.
The DVD divided into chapters that you can select. Here's a summary of the lessons I learned:
INTRO:
Can't talk when tighten up neck and push head back.
Can't breathe when stick ribs out
FREE THE NECK:
Free the neck - Loosen neck, tilt head forward & up, and let spine rise
Observation --Think about our anatomy & movements
Ex: Think of dangling hand/arm as an arrow...
Inhibition - choosing not to respond habitually
Direction 4 concepts of good use:
To let the head be free, to let the head be forward and up from the spine
To allow the torso to lengthen and fan into it
To allow the legs to release away from the hip joints
To allow the shoulders to release out to the side and float on the rib cage
Makes you feel very light and boyant
CHAIRWORK:
Awareness of body's movement. Use mirrors.
Feel neck & back while getting in & out of chair. (e.g. don't thrust head forward or arch back)
(Allow shoulders to release out to the side and float the rib cage.)
Organization of movement and balancing point
MONKEY:
Free neck, bend knees, point head up while pivot at hip joints.
(Saves the back by using the joints)
WALKING:
Allow head/neck to be free and to move up, and allow torso & hip to come up with it. Let arms dangle and swing (spine twists).
No no's while walking: Shifting to side and down, tigthening neck, hunching shoulders, push into lower back
SELF LESSON:
Lying down lesson based on table work.
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