IADMS New York 2002   [back to the Category]

The Use of the Alexander Technique to Help in the Prevention of Hip Injuries   [read the french version]

Author :   Madeleine Samuelson White, ARAD, MSTAT

The Use of the Alexander Technique to
Help in the Prevention of Hip Injuries


Madeleine Samuelson White, ARAD, MSTAT
Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique
London, England


Many dancers, including myself, have had to have hip replacement operations. The purpose of this presentation is to see how the use of the Alexander Technique can help prevent such outcomes.

Young, keen students often manifest their anxiety to improve their work by undue tension in the head/ neck/ back area. This causes poor alignment and a tendency to “hold “ the breath. I shall show a pupil demonstrating certain exercises in her habitual way and then show her having an Alexander lesson.

In an Alexander lesson the student learns to help herself by having a truer awareness of the “use” of herself, how to release the undue tension in the head/ neck/ back relationship, resulting in better poise and balance, easier natural breathing, and more flexibility in her joints. She learns how to use her more reliable sensory perception in everyday activities and to relate it to her particular skills, in this instance to her dancing.

We will focus in this presentation on certain steps, which, if incorrectly performed, could cause hip joint injuries in later years, and possibly other problems also. We will show rond de jambe a terre and en l’air and grand rond de jambe en l’air. I shall show the student demonstrating the steps with her new insight.

The Alexander Technique works on the deeper level of co-ordination in the nervous system which cannot always be reached by traditional exercise and correction.