Description

How can AT help mitigate performance anxiety in ourselves and our students? 

Whether it is performance of music, drama or dance, public speaking, taking a test, an interview or meeting any situation where the stakes feel high, nobody is completely immune to performance anxiety. It can extract a high toll as it messes with our heads and affects our physical state in ways that make it hard to stay present and connected so that we can give our best in the moment. 

As a violinist who has been performing professionally for several decades, I’ve experienced firsthand the full gamut of performance anxiety’s unpleasant and disappointing effects. In my quest to find ways to deal with those effects, Alexander Technique had much to offer. In this exploration I will be sharing the AT tools that I’ve found most effective in enabling me and my students to access their fullest technical and expressive capabilities in performance. 

Diane Bruce has been a professional violinist for over 40 years. She holds a Bachelors and Masters degrees from The Juilliard School in violin performance. With her music career, Diane has toured in Europe and Asia and performed regularly at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Radio City, as well as on Broadway. In the summers she is Principal Second Violin in the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. 

After studying the Alexander Technique privately for many years, Diane decided to train to become a teacher. She spent two years at the American Center for the Alexander Technique and completed her last year of training at the Riverside Institute for the Alexander Technique (RIAT). She qualified for teacher certification with American Society of Alexander Technique after 1,600 hours of instruction. Additionally, Diane has taken the Developing Self Education Training Course and is certified to teach the Alexander Technique at the elementary through high school levels. 

Drawing on her combined expertise in music performance and the Alexander Technique Diane has given workshops on Alexander Technique and Injury Prevention for Performing Artists at Mason Grove School of the Arts at Rutgers University, and Alexander Technique Master Class for voice students at Drew University. Recently she offered Alexander Technique for Poise and Focus in Performance at RIAT in their Alexander Technique For All series. She has enjoyed assisting Cynthia Reynolds in her Alexander Technique for Musicians class at the Mannes School of Music at The New School, Kim Jessor in her Alexander Technique for Acting class at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and currently assists Brooke Lieb in Alexander Technique classes at the Manhattan School of Music.Diane offers private and group lessons in Metuchen, NJ, NYC and during the summers in Chautauqua, NY. https://www.dianebruce-alexandertechnique.com/