A History of the Movement School

Long ago, on the cover of a worn, little grey notebook, written in black magic marker, read the words, “The Movement School”. At 21, my vision was to have a school with master teachers, from many different countries, who would come to the school and teach. I would study.

In the meantime, I sought out my teachers in America. With joyful obsession, I began studying the Alexander Work, Tai Chi Chu'an, Ballet, Modern Dance, Contact Improvisation, and Aikido.

After almost ten years of Alexander training, inspired by the work of Marjorie L. Barstow, I resigned from my university position, teaching Movement for Actors, and began my school. Naiveté, chutzpah, and determination whirled my dream into a reality.

The Movement School began in 1982, as The Alexander School. The Alexander School became the Alexander Alliance International, spreading into Europe and Asia. The Alliance remains alive and well, having now trained over 200 Contemporary Alexander Teachers.

Every ten years, The Movement School reinvents itself. It doesn’t stand still. It evolves. It improves. It moves.

At The Movement School in Santa Fe, at Ghost Ranch, I teach 3 day and 9 day retreats four times a year in The Peaceful Body.

The Movement School offers a three-year Teacher Training Program for those wishing to be teachers of The Peaceful Body. Peaceful Body teachers graduate with an embodied knowledge of the work of F.M. Alexander, Marjorie L. Barstow, and Professor Chen Man-ch’ing, as taught by Bruce Fertman. Graduates are qualified to teacher The Alexander Technique, T’ai Chi Chu’an, The Peaceful Body, and The Walking Way, as taught by Bruce Fertman.

I lost the little grey notebook. That is okay.
The content is in safe keeping.