Gerda Alexander

Gerda Alexander (February 15, 1908 – February 21, 1994) was a German / Danish teacher who developed a somatic practice called Eutonia (or Eutony). Gerda, as a young woman, was in contact with the vanguards of the arts, education and movement culture in the early 20th century. From the 30s on, she started to develop her innovative method through her studies between movement and musicality, new pedagogies and neurosciences. Through Eutony, she collaborated with many medical centers, pedagogical institutions and artistic training in Europe, North and South America and the Middle East.

Gerda Alexander
BornFebruary 15, 1908
Wuppertal, Germany
DiedFebruary 21, 1994
Wuppertal, Germany
NationalityGerman
CitizenshipDanish
EducationDalcroze Eurythmics
OccupationEurythmics teacher, Eutony creator and teacher
Known forPsychosomatics, Body awareness, Neurological rehabilitation, Neuromuscular tone regulation, Neuropsychological bases of human movement, Expressivity, Artistic development

Gerda Alexander was a pioneer among the creators of somatic education practices in the world. Her school in Copenhagen trained professionals for 45 years.

Life and work

Gerda Alexander was born in Wuppertal, Germany and her parents were enthusiasts of Dalcroze Eurhythmics, passing on to her a similar interest in arts and movement.

Gerda was born under the influence of Émile-Jaques Dalcroze in Germany. Gerda mentions that the "first contact [she] had with Dalcroze's work was some photographs from the first festival in Hellerau in 1911". She enrolled in the school of Otto Blensdorf (the Blensdorfschüle) in Wuppertal-Elberfeld, and became an active assistant of the activities of the school. In 1926, Charlotte Blensdorf (Otto's daughter) was invited to teach Rhythmic Education for children and teachers at the first Institute for Scientific Pedagogical Research under the leadership of Peter Petersen, internationally known for the Jena-Plan, a postgraduate preparation for teachers in free schools. Gerda worked as Charlotte's assistant in this project and completed a year of practical work at Stradtroda, an institution of the State of Thüringen for all kinds of disturbed children and young people up to the age of 21, including criminal cases. About this work, Gerda says that "I have never since learned so much in pedagogy as during that year".

Gerda was graduated in the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin in 1929. During this period, Dalcroze Eurhythmics was taught in all large universities and music schools in Germany.

From her 16 years old, Gerda had several severe attacks of rheumatic fever, followed by heart diseases and a endocarditis, what hindered her mobility. She was hospitalized many times, and had to find ways to move that would not overload her circulatory system. By her own difficulties, the ongoing reflections with her students of all ages and an enthusiastic inquiry about artistic development, she started to research new ways of moving. In her own words: "I tried to find out how I could develop every person's own expression without programming him/her. At the same time, there was my personal need to learn how to survive".[1]

With an invitation to work as assistant to Otto and Charlotte Blensdorf at the world congress of "New Education Fellowship", and lately to teach between Denmark and Sweden, Gerda moved to Denmark. With the Second World War, she decided to stay and she lived in Copenhagen almost her whole life. In 1959, Gerda Alexander was responsible for the "First International Congress for Release of Tension and Functional Movement" that took place in Copenhagen under the auspices of the Danish Ministry of Education. On this event, she not only gathered many psychosomatic researchers of that time, but also made public the name of her new method.

Gerda worked regularly in partnership with institutions like: Fröbel Schools, Philharmonie Malmö, Private Theater School, the Royal Theatre Copenhagen, the Theater Academy, Danish Broadcasting House (orchestra, choir and staff), Royal Music Conservatory, Danmarks Lærerhøjskole (Teacher training college - Department of music), Rigshospital, Dalcroze Societies, CEMEA- Centres d'Entrainement aux Méthodes d'Education Active, and others. She gave lectures and workshops in Danmark, Sweden, Norway, France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, USA, Israel, Greece, Italy, Holland, Mexico, Venezuela, Belgium and Argentina.

Gerda Alexander died six days after her 86th birthday in Wuppertal, where she lived for the last few years. Her students today continue her work in several places in the world.

Historical Influences
Rehearsal of Orpheus and Eurydice in Festpielhaus Hellerau, 1912. Photo by Dr. med. Kurt Becker-Glauch (C)

These were the main historical influences on Gerda's work, according to Jean-Marie Huberty:

The creation of Eutony

Gerda Alexander found ways of regulating neuromuscular tone, what was confirmed later with the discovery of Gama System.[2]

The word "eutony" (from Greek Eu: good - and Latin Tonus: tension, the grade of tension or elasticity of muscle fibers) was coined with the help of the Dr. med. Alfred Bartussek to express the idea of a harmoniously balanced "tonicity in constant adaptation to the state or activity of the moment". According to Gerda, "we use high tonus for effort, and medium tonus or low tonus for rest and sleep. In Eutony, we learn to use the best tonus for the action in question."

In the development of Eutony, Gerda Alexander was deeply concerned with a pedagogical approach that could support the experience of tonus modulation. Eutony is based in a student-centered learning process, where sensorial experience and critical reflection are the basis for bodily knowledge. She postulated that "it is important, in treatment, not to give and do more than is necessary, so that the other can rely on himself. It is not that I am a great master who gives you help. Rather, I can introduce you to my work for your own self-discovery."[3]

Gerda Alexander teaching in Talloires, 1985. Source: eutoni.dk

The Gerda Alexander School
The school of Gerda Alexander was located in a room in this building in the center of Copenhagen, at the square of Frederiks Kirke

Gerda Alexander opened a school in Copenhagen in 1939 by the name of "Gerda Alexander Skolen". The professional training in Eutony includes subjects as: Eutony (practice and theory, pedagogy and therapy), speech training, psychology, anatomy, physiology, neurology, neurophysiology, neuropathology, psychiatry and visiting seminars form specialists about current development in neurophysiology and other relevant disciplines.

In 1957, the school got state technical college recognition, with a three to four years training with diploma.

The school was officially closed in 1985 by the name of "International Centre of Eutonia".

Active schools of Eutony professional training

Gerda's book and translations
  • Alexander, Gerda (2011). Eutonie - Ein Weg der körperlichen Selbsterfahrung (10th ed.). Bern: Verlag Hans Huber. - edited and supplemented by Karin Schaefer
  • Alexander, Gerda (1985). Eutony; The holistic discovery of the total person. Translated by Gerda Alexander. New York: Felix Morrow.
  • Alexander, Gerda (2019). L'eutonie: Un chemin de développement personnel par le corps. Bernard Giovanangeli Editeur.
  • Alexander, Gerda (1998). La Eutonia - Un camino hacia la experiencia total del cuerpo. Translated by Ana Rodriguez Leonor Spilzinger. Barcelona: PAIDOS IBERICA.
  • Alexander, Gerda (1983). Eutonia - Um caminho para a percepção corporal. Translated by José Luis Mora Fuentes. São Paulo: Martins Fontes.

Related content
  • Odessky, Alejandro (2002). Eutonía y stress. Buenos Aires: Lugar Editorial. ISBN 950-892-164-1.
  • Vishnivetz, Berta (1994). Eutonía; La Educación del Cuerpo hacia el Ser. Buenos Aires / Madrid: Paidós.

Original photos: Gerda Alexander (Danish or German subtitles)

References
  1. Don Johnson (1995). Bone, Breath and Gesture: Practices of Embodiment: Interview with Gerda Alexander. ISBN 9781556432019.
  2. Knaster, Mirka (1996). Discovering the Body's Wisdom: A Comprehensive Guide to More Than Fifty Mind-Body Practices. Bantam. pp. 222–6. ISBN 9780307575500.
  3. Reza Leah Bat Pinchas. (January–February 1986). ""The Energy is in the Bones": Eutony's Gerda Alexander". Yoga Journal (66): 21–24.
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