Marjorie Barstow

Master Teacher of the Alexander Technique

There isn't anything either right or wrong when dealing with co-ordination. There are degrees of movement. Life is really moving from one position to another. We never stop and say, "This is right--this is my posture, this is the way I ought to be". If we do that, we're stiff trying to hold that posture. It isn't natural for our bodies to be held in positions. - Marjorie Barstow, quoted in Practical Marj

Marjorie Barstow, from Lincoln, Nebraska was the first person to graduate from F. M. Alexander's first training course in 1933. After working as A. R. Alexander's assistant in Boston and New York in the 1930's, she returned to Lincoln.

She continued teaching until shortly before her death in 1995 at age 95. During the last 2 decades of her teaching, she attracted thousands of students to her workshops Lincoln, and around the world, with her unique approach to teaching Alexander's discoveries.

This page will be expanded to include additional information about Marj and her teaching, based on your contributions. If you would like to contribute (articles, photos, comments about Marj's teaching etc), please contact me, Robert Rickover, using this Contact Page

The videos listed below will give you some idea of her teaching style towards the end of her life, including her emphasis on students' taking responsibility for themselves, her use of a wide range of activities as frameworks within which to teach the Alexander Technique, the power and delicacy of her hands and much more.

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First five minutes of a 25 minute video of Marjorie produced for Public TV in 1982:

View the full video here

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View a growing collection of short video clips showing Marj's teaching toward the end of her life

(Please note: When most of these videos were shot in 1990 and 1991, Marj was well over 90 and suffering from severe osteoporosis which limited her ability to reach her full height. Despite that, her movements were as fluid as ever. In Alexander Technique jargon, her conditions of use had diminshed with age, but her manner of use- and with that, the power and clairity of her touch - was at its peak. During this workshop, she taught for 6 hours a day - mostly standing on her feet - for seven straight days! These videos were taken from almost 20 hours of raw footage that include a great deal more valuable material. To enquire about purchasing DVDs of this footage, use this Email Contact )

I can't teach anything that I haven't done myself. I may not always do it, you know we don't always do what we should (life would be very dull if we did). But I know when I want to have more freedom, I know what I can do and what I must do, then I make the choice of whether or not to do it. - Marjorie Barstow, quoted in Practical Marj

Links:

Practical Marj
Aphorisms of Marjorie Barstow
Photos of Marj
a Moment, with Marj
Marjorie Barstow - Her Teaching and Training
Alexander Technique Workshops of Omaha - Teaching in the Barstow Tradition

This site is a service of Robert and Anne Rickover. Robert Rickover is a teacher of the Alexander Technique in Lincoln, Nebraska. He also teaches regularly in Toronto, Canada. Robert is on the faculty of the annual Nebraska Wesleyan University High School Solo Singer Workshop and Alexander Technique Workshops of Omaha. He is the Director of Alexander Technique Workshops - Bring a Workshop to Your Area and Movement Coaching by Phone and is the author of Fitness Without Stress - A Guide to the Alexander Technique. Click here to arrange a lesson or workshop with Robert *** Life Bridge Coaching with Anne Rickover Are you at a place of transition in your personal or professional life? Would you like to feel a stronger spark of enthusiasm for what you do? Would you like someone to help clarify where you want to go and how to get there? Anne Rickover is a Life Coach who will work one-on-one with you to form strategies built on your personal strengths to bridge the gap from where you are to where you want to be. Using phone and email, Anne can serve as your Life Coach no matter where you are located. Click here to set up a Free Introductory Session with Anne and visit her Website

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