“While training in London with Walter and Dilys Carrington in 1975, my wife, Lena, and I attended a gathering of Alexander Technique trainees from the various London training schools. What we encountered was sobering. Rather than a shared exchange, the room was divided, with each group standing in its own corner and little real conversation between them. The fragmentation was unmistakable and sadly unproductive. Some years later, after returning to the United States, I explored the idea of making a film about the Alexander Technique. A PBS director was sent to London to interview the major teacher trainers. His conclusion was unexpected but clarifying: there wasn’t enough “hard science” for a Nova documentary, but what the work truly needed was a way for people to come together, such as an International Alexander Technique Congress. That observation named something I had already seen—and helped clarify the direction of my work from that point forward.”

Group photo from the first International
Alexander Technique Congress in 1986

Back Row: Michael Frederick, Dr. Wilfred Barlow, Walter Carrington, Patrick Macdonald, Lena Frederick

Front Row: Dilys Carrington, Marjory Barlow, Marjorie Barstow, Shoshana Kamainitz