Dare To Be Wrong - The Teaching of Judith Leibowitz

Edited by Kathryn Miranda
Berkley: Mornum Time Press, 2007
The Alexander Technique of Syracuse
Kathryn Miranda
Certified Teacher of the Alexander Technique
Book Review by Ruth Diamond, published in AmSAT News, Issue #74, Summer 2007

Ruth Diamond graduated from the American Center for the Alexander Technique in 2003 and maintains a practice in New York City. She is a clinical nurse specialist with a master's degree in psychiatric/ mental health nursing. She has worked as a psychotherapist and has a continuing interest in mind-body unity.

© 2007 Ruth Diamond. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
"Lovingly edited and handsomely bound transcripts of classes, lessons and workshops taught by Judith Leibowitz, co-founder of the American Center for the Alexander Technique, with endnote comments by teachers who knew her work well. Those fortunate enough to have worked with Judy will instantly recognize her distinctive voice, and those who did not know her will learn much from the clarity and simplicity of her teaching."
Ralph Zito, M.AmSAT
Secretary and Past Chair, AmSAT

Alexander Technique of Syracuse, Kathryn Miranda, Director.  kmmirand@twcny.rr.com  or 315-412-4829
  Judith Leibowitz was one of America’s most important and influential Alexander teachers. She was instrumental in founding the American Center for the Alexander Technique (ACAT) in Manhattan in 1964, directed the program until 1981, and continued on the faculty until her death in 1991. In 1968 John Houseman invited her to join the Drama Division of Juilliard, where she pioneered the tradition of teaching the Technique as part of the curriculum of conservatories and performance divisions of universities across the United States. She later introduced the Technique at other schools, including the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and the Arena Stage in Washington.
         If you count the number of American teachers who were trained by Leibowitz or were taught by
  people who were trained by her, you will find that Judith Leibowitz directly or indirectly influenced the
  teaching methods of a significant proportion of American teachers. She was a beloved figure who
  is remembered for her courage, her humanity, and her talent for making the Technique accessible to
  students at every level of experience.
   In 1991 she co-authored The Alexander Technique: The World Famous Method for Enhancing
  Posture, Stamina, Health and Well-being, and For Relieving Tension and Pain with Bill Connington to
  introduce the Alexander Technique to the general public. Many teachers still recommend this classic
  to their students as an adjunct to regular lessons. She wanted to write another book for people who
  knew and understood the Technique to explore the subtleties of deep learning. Although she never
  had a chance to write that book, she left behind a rich collection of tapes recording her work as an
  individual and group teacher at Juilliard as well Training Program Director of ACAT.
    For many years, these tapes were housed in the ACAT library where they were available for loan. Several years ago, ACAT initiated a project to transcribe and publish them. The resulting book, Dare To Be Wrong, edited by Kathryn Miranda, allows us to hear Leibowitz as she teaches, reminisces, and philosophizes. The transcripts span several decades, but the bulk of the book comes from Leibowitz’s final years, after she had distilled her thinking and methods into a fine art.
    As Miranda explains in her preface, editing transcripts of taped lessons and workshops is a challenge. Visual cues are lacking, sentences are fragmented, and there are periods of silence. Miranda has mastered the challenge beautifully. Using her intimate knowledge of Leibowitz’s teaching style and a delicate editor’s hand, she fills in gaps, inserts meaningful words, and sometimes combines more than one tape into a single essay.
    Miranda has chosen her material wisely. The book opens with Leibowitz describing her journey from young polio victim to master teacher, studying first with Alma Frank, then Lulie Westfeldt, and F. M. Alexander. She describes her process of connecting new thinking with new kinesthetic experience. As she talks we get a sense of the different teaching styles she encountered: Alma Frank engaged her thinking, Lulie Westfeldt’s hands were amazing; F. M. Alexander’s teaching was simple and straightforward.
    As I read the later transcripts of Leibowitz teaching trainees, individual students, and classes at Juilliard, I was struck by the subtlety of her teaching; her characteristic pattern of combining words, visual cues, and kinesthetic experience. Over and over she demonstrates the power of connecting the kinesthetic experience of the teacher’s hands with verbal concepts. Whether she was teaching a new student, a class at Juilliard, or experienced teachers, the words she used were similar, and, because of the clarity of her thinking, they sounded new. Each lesson begins with simple concepts and grows organically based on the students’ responses.
    Leibowitz had a degree in biology and worked as a chemist before studying the Technique, and her specific use of language was matched by her respect for empirical evidence.
    Frequently she moved between precise anatomical descriptions and creative imagery, always distinguishing which was which. Her students used their own hands in guided explorations and were frequently looking in the mirror to observe their own reactions.
    The spirit of her teaching is captured in the title of the book. She offers her students the opportunity to “Dare to let it feel wrong.” She says, “What I want is for my students to feel secure, to feel they can take a chance. Life is full of making mistakes; it’s no grave thing to make a wrong choice. It’s important to recognize that the choice didn’t work and be able to say, ‘fine that didn’t work, let me try something else.’”
    Dare To Be Wrong stands as a record of Judith Leibowitz’s unique heritage; it records her style of teaching, the methods that she used, and the clarity of her thinking. It provides a means for Leibowitz to take her proper place in the written history of the Alexander Technique. It is a small, beautifully bound book that can be carried around in a purse or a large pocket, allowing readers to pick out a favorite chapter for reading over and over. And, as we read, those of us who knew her will remember how she taught and those of us who didn’t know her will understand something about the depth and breath of her contribution to the development of the Alexander Technique in the United States.
Judy working with Kathy
Read Excerpt about Judy's amazing journey in the Alexander Technique from Dare To Be Wrong.
Read Review from The Juilliard Journal by Alexander teacher Carolyn Serota.