News & Notes from Larry's Laptop

While teaching at the Fourth Melbourne Feldenkrais Teacher Training last January, I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Cann. Besides being one of the trainees in the program, Michael is a technologically savvy young man. The following is his appeal (reprinted here with permission), for others to join him in creating an improved listing about the Feldenkrais Method on Wikipedia...

In the last 30 days, the Feldenkrais Method article on Wikipedia has received nearly 13,000 visitors.

When it comes to public opinion of our method, this article is likely to be the most influential document in the English-speaking world. You can see it for yourself here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feldenkrais_Method

Many of the people who think of coming to see us as practitioners will read this page before they make their decision. It is therefore critically important that this article be outstanding.

Will you join me in improving this crucial document?

People Magazine online is featuring an article about Feldenkrais teacher and trainer Alan Questal's Pregnant Pauses: Movement for Moms DVD program. The article talks about how Alan developed this program of specialized ATM lessons to help moms-to-be stay mobile and minimize pain during pregnancy.

Pregnant Pauses is a down-to-earth program that applies the Feldenkrais Method to the everyday actions that can become difficult when pregnant—such as carrying objects, reaching, getting in and out of a chair, and rolling over in bed. The article tells about the content of the DVD's, explains the rationale for Pregnant Pauses, and relates this approach to more standard exercise programs.

Back in the early 1980's, I met Scott Clark when he auditioned for a position as a modern dance teacher at UC Santa Cruz. I was doing the Amherst training during the summer and completing my Bachelor's degree during the school year.

The beginning of Scott's class immediately caught my attention. I remember thinking, "Whoa, what's this?" Not only were the movements familiar from my Awareness Through Movement experience, but he was teaching in an unmistakably "Feldenkraisian" fashion.

It was clear that we were not doing anything resembling a standard warm-up. We were slowly exploring movements with small variations, building to a more complex coordination, and then that became the basis of the choreography we later danced. I was thrilled, stunned, enchanted. The Feldenkrais approach and attitude had arrived in the dance studio, and I was there to witness—and benefit—from it!