Description of Foundation of Countertechnique from Alexander Technique
According to Alexander, counter technique came as a result of the urge and motive to research more about the body and mainstreaming that in the dancing lessons. This was a technique he developed from the basics of the many lessons he had learnt over the years and the motive was to come up with something new, unique and understanding the body. Having the insight to do research and understand the body in line with the dancing styles proved more vital than the other dance techniques and lots of people joined to learn much on the links between their bodies and the dance styles and techniques they were learning at the moment (Nettl-Fiol & Vanier 2011, p 61).
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The involvement of different training and understanding the laws of physical movement described the counter technique is of significance in generating Countertechnique. The body movement pattern was significant to be understood in the learning of any dancing style or technique. Most of the dance teachers in the musical world, however did not integrate these realities into their teachings. Having understood the dynamics of the bodies’ operations aptly, Alexandra created a counter technique to address the issues that these teachers did not address. This included the physical laws that affected the movements of the body during the dancing periods and also directly linked to the stability of the body. This was a real issue to most dancers and helped the technique grow as they found every lesson and time spent in the new and relevant approach in teaching of dancing, the counter technique (Nettl-Fiol & Vanier 2011, p 64).
Principles of Countertechnique
For the technique to fully incorporate the points that the other dance techniques did not address, it has to be operated on basic guidelines or principles so that the difference and impact is felt. These principles involved the following:
There is the principle of awareness creation and exercise. This was linked to the spread of knowledge on the body and the related processes. This shed light on different moves and which body parts were to be involved in the movements. This helped in engaging the right body part into dancing techniques which could not do harm to the body but rather left the body with great relaxation and fitness. The exercise helped in listening to a particular piece of information at a given time and transitioning the senses of the body to the coordinated exercise (Legg 2011, pp 30-31).
Understanding the anatomical features of the body is imperative to understanding Countertechnique. This helps in engaging the right body parts in execution of dancing movements and patterns in the technique. This knowledge alters the use of the shoulders, arms and other joint limbs in the body in dancing (Legg 2011, p 31).
This technique involves the taking of responsibilities by the students on their training. This will improve the ability to learn amongst the students and understanding themselves within the speculated dynamics of training and movements. ‘Through this they are able to improve their’ mental and physical abilities in the dancing technique due to heightened opportunities to explore and conduct research on the areas they do not understand properly. This engrosses success to the students (Legg 2011, p 32).
Countertechnique emphasizes that the training methods are process-oriented. The due processes of understanding, exercising and performing training exercises by the students must be followed flawlessly. The students learn on how to employ the lessons learnt in the training creatively and exhaustively. This process-oriented framework will enable the students to improvise and apply these techniques (Legg 2011, pp 33-34).
The Countertechnique teachers have the responsibility to look for the causes of harmful behaviour by the student while training or dancing in movements. There are outlined laws regarding the body structure and the physical law that the students must follow in order to avoid injuries that will affect the execution of the dancing movements. This is what the teachers are to curb through being observant on the students’ training methods and habits (Legg 2011, p 35).
- Legg, J 2011. Introduction to modern dance techniques. Hightstown, NJ, Princeton Book Co.
- Nettl-Fiol, R., & Vanier, L 2011. Dance and the Alexander technique: exploring the missing link. Urbana, University of Illinois Press
