Fine Arts Explainer: The Feldenkrais Method

Author: Susan Hillier

For performers-dancers, actors, and musicians-the body is the instrument. The Feldenkrais Method has long been a secret weapon in the fine arts world for enhancing performance and preventing injury.

Refining the Instrument

Musicians often suffer from repetitive strain injuries due to holding awkward postures for hours. Actors need to be able to inhabit different physicalities to portray characters. Dancers require immense flexibility and control.

Feldenkrais helps performers develop a more refined "body map" in their brain. By increasing their kinesthetic awareness, they can perform with greater ease, reduce the effort required to execute complex movements, and avoid the habitual tension that leads to injury. It allows the artist to express themselves more fully through a freer, more responsive body.