AmSAT Annual Conference and General Meeting

You will be able to validate your attendance (Check-In to sessions) using your personal schedule.

10:00am EDT

Refining our teaching skills and discovering new ways to work with Alexander's Principles

Friday June 26, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am EDT

Refining our teaching skills and discovering new ways to work with Alexander's Principles in our lives and in the professional world.

Speakers

Beret Arcaya

Beret Arcaya was born in 1942 in New York. Was accepted into the Juilliard School in 1956. In 1957, she began studying acting with Uta Hagen and began to work as a film actress. In 1968, she returned to singing. Using the method of Manuel Garcia (1804-1906). The self-discovery and... Read More →

Friday June 26, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
W6

Workshop

11:45am EDT

How Are You Thinking About Direction? A Talking/Listening Circle Approach

LIMITED

Friday June 26, 2026 11:45am - 1:15pm EDT

Limited Capacity seats available

This is a workshop for sharing thoughts to strengthen our sense of individuality as part of a greater community. We will briefly demonstrate for participants the process of a Talking/Listening Circle, sharing our experience and understanding of F. M. Alexander’s concept of “Direction.” Then we will have participants break out into smaller Talking/Listening Circle groups for a comfortable and adequate period of time for each person to speak and be heard on this same topic.

Our group of six (the presenters) has been practicing communication skills using ProSocial principles and Talking/Listening circles. In our five+ years of meeting weekly on Zoom, we have developed trust and understanding, supporting us when holding discussions of subjects which may kindle a wide range of opinions and feelings.

What is ProSocial? David Sloan Wilson’s ProSocial principles provide a framework for enhancing cooperation in groups by fostering shared identity, equitable resource distribution, and fair decision-making to help groups function as cooperative organisms. https://www.prosocial.world/

What is a Talking/Listening Circle? It is a place where participants gather in a circle to share thoughts and feelings and to focus on deep, respectful listening rather than on debate or problem-solving. A Talking/Listening Circle is where you can practice receiving someone else’s thoughts without formulating a response while you are listening. Each participant will have a turn to speak to the group of non-judgmental witnesses. The speaker practices speaking authentically—tuning in to what the present moment evokes.

Each participant may have a different way of expressing their understanding of Direction. The Talking/Listening Circle format can be a first step towards speaking authentically from their current understanding and listening to others without judgment.

We are offering this workshop as a demonstration to the larger community of Alexander Technique teachers in approaching topics that may create conflict—inviting our colleagues in AmSAT to recognize the plurality of individual experiences and understandings before proceeding into deeper engagement.

Ruth Rootberg is a member of the AT Science Cohorts group though she won't be presenting at this ACGM.

Speakers

Frances Robertson

Frances Robertson began her Alexander career still acting in NYC and upon graduation from ACAT, decided to pursue teaching fulltime and let the limelight of theater go its way. She taught for 10 years at Broome Community College, Binghamton, NY in the theatre department and now teaches... Read More →

Kathryn M Miranda

Kathryn Miranda has been teaching the Technique for thirty-plus years and has been involved in teacher training for many of those years. She is on the faculty of the Syracuse University’s Drama Department and Setnor School of Music.She has an ongoing interest in the evolutionary, physiological... Read More →

Chris Mincer

Chris Mincer holds a B.M. from Penn State University and an M.M. from Southern Methodist University in guitar performance. In 1996 he earned his teaching certiﬁcate from the Brighton Alexander Training Centre under John and Carolyn Nicholls. While living in England he was fortunate... Read More →

Michaela Hauser Wagner

Michaela Hauser-Wagner (Alexander Technique School of New England/ Missy Vineyard, 2007) holds a
degree in Speech Language Pathology from the University Tübingen, Germany and in 2017 completed
training as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, a nervous system oriented approach to... Read More →

Ruth Diamond

Ruth Diamond trained with ACAT and was certified in 2004. She assisted on ACAT faculty from 2004 until its closing in 2018. She has worked as a nurse-psychotherapist, nursing instructor, a programmer and a healthcare systems analyst. She was a long-time member of the editorial... Read More →

Friday June 26, 2026 11:45am - 1:15pm EDT
W6

Workshop

10:00am EDT

In the Moment Anything Can Happen

FULL

Saturday June 27, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am EDT

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Join us in a collaborative exploration of how anything can happen in a given moment.

Meeting the moment asks us as Alexander Technique teachers to be present, available to change, and responsive to the uniqueness of what might emerge. Whether we are teaching or engaging in all the ordinary and extraordinary activities of our lives, this workshop will address the skills of doing less while engaging with the demands of the moment. We will explore how the quality of our attention grounds us. As our rapidly changing world asks more from us, these abilities at the core of our work are needed now more than ever.

In the moment anything can happen speaks to what’s possible when we move from the familiar patterns we know toward the vitality of the unknown - where something genuinely new, fresh and unexpected can occur.

Our roots are in decades of collaborating at ACAT. Now as the Collaborating8, we continue to be inspired by how the intersection of our multiple, complementary approaches is a fertile environment for growth. The support we feel from each other creates community and safety. In our workshop we will foster this atmosphere and make the time to integrate what we discover in our work together.

The Collaborating8 will offer guided exercises and hands-on exploration to use in teaching private lessons and group classes.

The Collaborating8 taught Continuing Learning workshops at the Dublin Congress last summer and wrote an article about it that was recently published in The 13th International Congress Papers. Here it is - Check it out!

Come collabor8 with us in meeting the moment!

Speakers

Melissa Brown

Melissa Brown (ACAT, 2016) worked as a civil rights attorney for many years; however, her experience studying the Alexander Technique was so meaningful that she changed careers and became an AT teacher. Melissa teaches group classes and private lessons in NYC, including an ongoing weekly series... Read More →

Joan Frost

Joan Frost has been teaching the Technique for over 40 years. She served on the senior faculty of ACAT for over 35 years and was Director of Teacher Certification there from 2001-2008. In addition to training teachers, Joan has taught in a variety of medical institutions including Greenwich... Read More →

Rebecca Tuffey

Rebecca Tuffey gained her AT teacher certification from ACAT in 2004 after a decade of applying Alexander to singing, acting, dancing and young life in NYC. She completed her certification in Jessica Wolf’s Art of Breathing in 2010. Rebecca maintains a lively private practice in New York City, se... Read More →

Kathryn M Miranda

Kim Jessor

Kim Jessor received her certification from the American Center for the Alexander Technique in 1981. She taught on the ACAT faculty until the school closed in 2018, serving as Director of Teacher Certification from 1991-1994. Kim has focused much of her teaching career on working... Read More →

Barbara Kent

Barbara Kent has been teaching and training teachers for over 50 years. Certified at The American Center for The Alexander Technique (ACAT) under the Co-Directorship of Judy Leibowitz, Deborah Caplan, and Ilana Rubenfeld in 1971. She directed the Teacher Certification Program for some 10... Read More →

Judith Stern

Judith C. Stern, MA, PT (ACAT, 1987), is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique and is an a licensed physical therapist . She recently retired from private practice in Westchester County, New York. Judith’s background includes 20 years of clinical experience as a physical therapist... Read More →

Hope Martin

Hope Martin graduated from ACAT in 1987. She operates Hope Martin Studio in NYC, teaches privately and has taught extensively in music schools, holistic learning centers and meditation halls. She is a Senior Teacher who trained Alexander Teachers for over 25 years in ACAT’s Collegial Faculty... Read More →

Congress2025.Martin.pp.368 378 pdf

Saturday June 27, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
W6

Workshop

10:00am EDT

The Elephant In The Room: Addressing Emotional and Psychological Responses in Alexander Technique Teaching - Presented by CATPA

LIMITED

Sunday June 28, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am EDT

Limited Capacity seats available

The Committee for Alexander Technique in the Performing Arts (CATPA) will facilitate a structured conversation for Alexander Technique teachers and trainees exploring how we meet the moment when a student presents an emotional or psychological response during a lesson.

In our work with actors, dancers, and musicians, such moments are not uncommon. Because Alexander Technique invites increased awareness of habitual neuromuscular coordination and nervous system patterns, shifts in use can sometimes coincide with unexpected emotional responses. Yet explicit conversation about how to navigate these moments—ethically, skillfully, and within scope of our practice remains somewhat limited and sometimes even avoided.

As a committee, we have found it helpful to share personal approaches and resources when these situations arise, learning from and inspiring each other. Drawing on our collective experience, we seek to open a dialogue about trauma-informed and consent-forward practices that support student safety while staying within the scope of what our teaching is. As our cultural landscape shifts and students arrive with increasingly complex lived experiences, this conversation feels both timely and useful.

Moderators

Julia Bullard

Speakers

Kelley Schoger

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Kelley Schoger is an actor, theatre director, intimacy director, and Assistant Professor of Acting at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique (Virginia) since 2014 and a certified instructor of Jessica Wolf’s Art of Breathing since 2023... Read More →

Sunday June 28, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
W6

Workshop

AmSAT Annual Conference and General Meeting

From $40.00

Tickets

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AmSAT Annual Conference and General Meeting

10:00am EDT

Beret Arcaya

11:45am EDT

Frances Robertson

Kathryn M Miranda

Chris Mincer

Michaela Hauser Wagner

Ruth Diamond

10:00am EDT

Melissa Brown

Joan Frost

Rebecca Tuffey

Kathryn M Miranda

Kim Jessor

Barbara Kent

Judith Stern

Hope Martin

10:00am EDT

Julia Bullard

Kelley Schoger

Tom Truss

Diane Bruce

Dawn Karlovsky

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