Barbara Mahler in "Bellas Dance"
photo: Rachel Thorne Germond
INSTRUCTORS – KLEIN TECHNIQUE™
www.kleintechnique.com/instructors.html
Barbara Mahler Major contributor, Master Teacher of Klein Technique™, NYC, NY.
A student recently said “.. I have to tell you that it feels like I walked out of class yesterday with someone else’s hips! Just remarkable…!”. Another recently told me he took classes with me at the Beach Street Studio in 1989. His back was a mess, he could hardly walk. A week of daily class put him well on the road to recovery. Klein Technique….strong, solid, healing, brilliant.
Barbara is long-standing and active member of the New York City dance community as a choreographer, performer and teacher; a major contributor in the development and outreach of Klein Technique, a Master Teacher. Assistant Director, and main teacher, she was the “motor” of the school from 1983-2004. From 2002-04 the name of the school was changed to the Susan Klein and Barbara Mahler School of Dance and Movement Studies to reflect her contributions and dedication. Since 2004, Barbara has been an ongoing faculty member with Movement Research, as well as teaching at various studios, colleges and festivals in the greater NY area, across the US, and abroad. She is on the faculty of the State Theater School-Dance Division, Copenhagen, Denmark. She continues to research, choreograph, dance, teach, and explore all ideas of movement and the well functioning, connected body in motion. Barbara maintain a private practice in body work (primarily Zero Balancing) and movement therapy.
The main lens through which I view a richly moving body/individual in movement and life is mainly through Klein Technique. I have worked with and studied the body for 30 years plus. My teachings come from the perspective of re-educating my own body. I also draw from all of my teachers, and those that have influenced them. Particular and profound thanks to Professor Dorothy Vislocky, who literally changed my “path” in the ways of seeing and thinking of dance and the body; Dr. Fritz Smith, originator of Zero Balancing, and of course from my heart, Susan Klein, originator of Klein Technique, with whom I studied and worked with for 30 years.
Classes (and workshops) focus on and provide the tools to support movement of all styles of dance and other activities, including everyday life. The essential premise is that the postural and movement support of the body is the same in all activities. The purpose of the “stretch and placement” class is to re-educate one’s body with an interweaving of theory and practice on a physical, intellectual, and organic level. The result is a clarity and sureness of movement, and a new level of understanding the innate intelligence of the body. It has its roots in 30 plus years of investigation and teaching the essentials for efficient body use. I currently teach ongoing classes for Movement Research, and various studios in the greater New York area, travel extensively teaching dancers and non-dancers alike different viewpoints of how to use, think about and be in their bodies. Klein/Mahler Technique has many facets and levels. It is a way to explore one’s capacity to move, bringing insight into the workings of one’s body. It brings efficiency, increased facility, and creativity. The work is non-stylized. Its embodiment creates possibilities – greater technical facility, fluidity, and groundedness. It manifests itself in the creative capacity by releasing the constrictions of the body and mind from configurations of right and wrong. The work done in class facilitates process, and from the openness to process comes a wealth of options we often overlook – in our work, in our lives, in ourselves. From here, we can find our own truth, and realize it in the artistic form we choose. This work is not restricted to dancers but open to anyone who wants to achieve greater efficiency, better dynamic postural alignment, and freedom within their body.
I bring to my classes the perspective, understanding, and experience of working on my own movement re-education. I understand the time, effort, patterns, and obstacles we may have or encounter when moving on from something old, and no longer needed, to something new, and efficient. We are not just a body or a mind. The work done in class to change function goes deeper into the inner workings of ourselves as a whole; as a moving body with spirit and intelligence. The path is is process oriented. Time and space are necessary for integration and growth. Students work and integrate at their own speed. In classes and workshops, the focus is on the pelvis, the keystone of support, with attention to the four major muscle groups which support the pelvis on top of the legs- the hamstrings, external rotators, psoas group and the pelvic floor, and their integration into movement. (Specific definitions of the working actions of these muscles can easily be found in “Gray’s Anatomy”). From here we are grounded, connected to the earth, and from this grounding, we push into the earth for both uprightness and movement. We find our power. With the pelvis on top of the legs, the upper body and spine is free to move with ease and expression. We move from the level of the bone, the deepest and densest tissue in the body, which conducts the most energy and force (gravity). We work on letting go of the outer muscles which hold our bodies and minds in misalignment, and misconception, inhibiting our function, creativity, and well being. The shoulder girdle, and the connections between the upper and lower body are addressed, and broken down into their component parts. These connections are interwoven with a deeply supportive pelvis and its upright relationship to the legs, and the floor.
Is obsession too strong a word?
“What is at the root of my obsession? Is it the nature of Klein technique itself or the fact that I’m studying it in Manhattan? Because when I go to class, I notice that I’m not alone in my focused dedication. In fact, I think I’m probably a bit of an amateur obsessive in comparison to others. Everyone is completely engaged in working through whatever we are given. Mainly because we trust the work — I am constantly amazed by the way the work impacts my body………….
This might come some way towards explaining why I like studying Klein so much but it doesn’t tell me why I am so hooked. There is something about studying Klein in Manhattan that is fueling my obsession. The two are indisputably linked. You can take the work out of Manhattan but you can’t take Manhattan out of the work.
Klein technique was born in Manhattan, it is where it grew up. It’s a New York gal. I suppose I was doomed from the first day I walked into Eden’s expressway last October, where the sounds of Broadway flood through the open windows. Right in the heart of down-town Manhattan, there is little choice but to step-up. And that is one of the things I like about it.” KATE JOHNSON – mykleintechniqueobsession-web blog.
http://www.danzaballet.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1087
Lederman_The_myth_of_core_stability-1
Is your ab workout hurting your back?”
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/core-myths”
A brief history of Somatic dance by Dr. Martha Eddy
I have continued my research into movement, body function, and creative process with many somatic and body oriented techniques, as well as contemporary dance training. Whether in class or on the table, my aim is to help one function at their highest level of efficiency, ease and power. My healing (hands on} body work practice mainly consists (Zero Balancing, Touch for Health, and Connective Tissue Massage – Bindegewebsmassage)
“Mahler, a noted teacher, views dance training as a voyage of self-discovery. Barbara Mahler roots her choreography in distillation, as if she aims to extract the essence of her ideas, making them calmer and purer.”(Village Voice 2007)
Barbara Mahler’s choreography is consistent with her teaching vision and work, which is greatly informed by the teachings of Susan Klein and Fritz Smith, among others, and explores the endless possibilities that the body holds. It is spare and articulate. The movement vocabulary is most often created by Ms. Mahler, her movement informed, embodied by 30 years of study and research.
