Faculty

Nan recently earned a Masters degree in Psychology and Systematic Theology from Union Theological Seminary (2021). In 2018, Nan authored  Unsmudged: An Encounter with Peggy Williams, a First Generation Teacher of the Alexander Technique.

She has taught at the American Center for the Alexander Technique (ACAT) on the Resident Associate Faculty (2005-2008); Alexander Technique Workshops, Sweet Briar, Virginia (2007-2012); the School of Visual Arts (SVA) (1987-1990).

She also holds an MFA in Art Media Studies from The College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University (1982); she received her AmSAT teacher certification in 1995 after training at ACAT; and subsequently undertook extensive post-graduate work in London with Walter Carrington and Peggy Williams.

Nan was appointed to AmSAT’s Board of Directors in 2009, and served an extended tenure as AmSAT’s Chair (2011); she served on AmSAT’s Professional Conduct Committee (2008); Leadership Advisory Council (2012-2014.) Nan has been awarded: AmSAT’s Certificate of Merit (2012).

Nan is also a long standing practitioner of tai chi, various forms of contemplative meditation, and depth psychology.

Ms. Schiff qualified at ACAT in 1987. She did post graduate work with the Carringtons and the teachers at The Constructive Teaching Centre in London.She has introduced the Alexander Technique to groups and institutions across the country including Master Classes at The Metropolitan Opera, West Point Military Academy, The San Diego Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestras, National Youth Orchestra of China, The New York Youth Symphony, and Aspen Sports Medicine.She has presented classes to Teachers of the Alexander Technique at AmSAT Meetings in San Francisco, Ann Arbor, Las Vegas, New York City, Boston and Minneapolis. She was a guest speaker at The International Congress for the Alexander Technique in Lugano, Switzerland. Ms. Schiff is the founding Director of Flight Feather Productions, LLC.She maintains her private practice in New York City. More information and a link to her video, The Alexander Technique: Musician’s Method for Improvement can be found at www.lorischiff.com
www.flightfeatherproductions.com

Ariel is also a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and SE training assistant. She has assisted at The Juilliard School, and guest taught at Boston University where she earned her BFA. She has also been a guest teacher at The Colburn School, and Saint Ann’s School. Ariel previously worked as a teaching artist for the Leadership Program, teaching leadership skills through the arts to under-served students in New York City public schools. She is the organizer of the Healing for Activists NYC chapter. From her work with U.S. veterans, to performers, to activists, to the LGBTQ+ community, Ariel is most interested in teaching the Alexander Technique as part of a holistic and multifaceted approach to cultivating greater sustainability, vitality, and freedom in the body-minds of her current and future clients. www.wavesomatics.com

Peggy has been a dancer, choreographer and teacher for many years. Her initial Alexander studies began in the late ‘80‘s, with Kate Judd, and later with Alex Farkas, Giora Pinkas, Eva Karczag and Nanette Walsh. After receiving an MFA in Dance she was appointed to the dance faculty at Bennington College where she taught for twenty years. She then became an Associate Professor of Dance at Bard College, where she teaches ballet, modern dance and the Alexander Technique. In her private Alexander practice, Peggy integrates her years of study of anatomy & movement to awaken and facilitate grounding, ease and expansiveness in her students.

Nadav is also a jazz pianist in training and holds a degree in jazz performance (BFA, 2017) from the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, where he first began to study the Alexander Technique with Caren Bayer, Rebecca Tuffey and Cynthia Reynolds. Upon graduating the New School, he immediately began his Alexander Technique teacher training and graduated as a certified teacher in 2020. Nadav maintains a private practice of teaching the Technique alongside performances with jazz ensembles in New York and abroad, while also teaching piano in ways which are influenced by the principles of the Technique. Currently residing in Chelsea, New York, Nadav is faculty at the teacher’s training course at Riverside Initiative for the Alexander Technique, while also teaching people from diverse backgrounds individually and in groups.

He studied voice, text and Shakespeare with master voice teacher Patsy Rodenburg, and is a Rodenburg Registered Teacher (RRT) of voice & text. He received his MFA in Acting from A.C.T in San Francisco and his BFA in Theatre Arts from Boston University. Max has directed Shakespeare productions for NYU-Meisner, The Atlantic Acting School among others. He is is a founding company member of the Seattle living wage theatre company The Williams Project, and has performed with them for the last eight years. He has performed regionally at The Pittsburgh Public, The American Conservatory Theater, The Huntington Theatre Company, The Olney Theatre Center, The Magic Theater among others. Max is co-founder of the Hudson Alexander Technique Collective, and maintains a private practice where he focuses on helping performers cultivate the inner resources needed to express themselves fully and powerfully. www.maxrosenak.com | thewilliamsproject.org

Having spent her first year training at the American Center for the Alexander Technique (ACAT), she completed her 3-year, 1600 hour teacher certification at Riverside Initiative for the Alexander Technique (RIAT) where she is now an affiliate faculty member. She has extensive training and experience in education, early childhood yoga, Tai Chi, and movement, and enjoys sharing the benefits of the Alexander Technique with people of all ages. Becky served as assistant teacher of the Alexander Technique to the blind and visually impaired at The Lighthouse Guild, and is committed to helping older persons and people with less mobility discover greater stability, more comfort and ease with daily activities, and less pain and anxiety. In addition to her Alexander Technique teacher certification, she is an accredited teaching member of the largest professional organization of teachers of the Alexander Technique in the United States, the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT) and holds a Masters of Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education and a Masters of Library Science from the University of Missouri.

She has served on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music and at RIAT, where she currently teaches the Breathing & Voice course for teacher-trainees. This year, she has offered workshops for Respiro Opera, the University of Michigan Musical Theatre program, and the One Voice Centre Intensive program. During the pandemic, she has taught several “Teachers’ Lab” workshop series for AmSAT-certified teachers interested in developing their businesses as Alexander teachers.  She has trained in Jessica Wolf’s Art of Breathing and Betsy Polatin’s The Actor’s Secret methods, and holds B.M. and M.M. degrees in vocal performance from New England Conservatory and the University of Minnesota. Eleanor has led Alexander Technique masterclasses for the University of Illinois-Chicago Theatre program, National Opera Association’s Eastern Regional Conference, Music Educators Association of NYC/United Federation of Teachers, the Freedom to Act and Freedom to Make Music Conferences, the Classical Singer Convention and Brooklyn Opera Works’ Summer Vocal Arts Institute. Eleanor is a member of the American Society for the Alexander Technique’s (AmSAT’s) Board of Directors, and the peer-review board for the Alexander Journal. www.eleanortaylorAT.com

Rebecca is an Adjunct professor at Pace Performing Arts in the BFA program for Acting in Film, Television, Voice-Over & Commercials and Part-time Faculty at The New School, where she works with students fromJazz, Mannes, and Drama. Rebecca certified with Jessica Wolf as an Art of Breathing Instructor (2010) and continues to explore how the ways in which we breathe intersect with creativity, ease (in body and mind), balance, and movement. Rebecca holds a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, where she began her encounter with the Alexander Technique in 1994, and she attended the British American Drama Academy (London). Rebecca is an accomplished Alexander Technique teacher, whose private students have ranged in age from 9 to 102 years old. She maintains a dynamic private practice in Union Square, and sometimes, in Astoria, Queens. www.RebeccaTuffey.net