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AT Congress® Berlin 2022

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Congress Directors & Team

The directors for the 12th Alexander Technique International Congress are Rossella Buono and Andreas Dirscherl. They are responsible for overseeing, planning and implementation of the Congress in Berlin, Germany.

Organising a Congress

Organising a Congress is a major commitment requiring several years of collaborative work to carry the process through thoroughly. The current directors are dedicated to fulfilling this commitment in order to bring the world body of Alexander Technique teachers together. They are currently establishing contacts with the many Alexander groups around the world to get the word out about Congress 2022 and have been researching and inviting special guest presenters, securing appropriate venues in Berlin, researching hotels, tourist information, and restaurants that will hopefully make booking, travelling and attending the Congress 2022 as easy as possible for participants. They have constructed a workable budget, and have created the structures to notify, register, and inform the attendees, and are continuing to work with the many details that arise as we move forward.

Portrait Rossella Buono

They are extremely grateful to all of the previous Congress directors who have freely given such wonderful advice and guidance. They have listened intently to the feedback given from the last Congress attendees and are shaping the 2022 Congress to be inclusive, safe and enjoyable, incorporating as many of their suggestions as possible.

Congress Directors

Rossella Buono

Director

Portrait Rossella Buono

Rossella, born in Italy in 1975, lives and works between her adoptive home in the UK, Italy, and Australia, where she trained with David Moore in Melbourne.

As well as running a successful practice as an Alexander Technique teacher in Canterbury, UK, and online, Rossella also teaches the technique at the School for FM Alexander Studies in Australia.

Rossella is the author of For the Love of Games with Anne Mallen, with beautiful illustrations by Melbourne artist Isobel Knowles. This collection of games and activities, part original and part collected over the years, offers a resource for AT teachers to begin working with groups, or add depth and variety to an existing group-based practice.

Rossella is also the co-creator and co-curator of Authors – not your Usual Book Club with Jana Boronova, and assistant to David Moore’s Smart Yoga and AT training courses in Melbourne. A keen proponent of collaboration, she has worked with Luke Hockley to offer the workshop Learning How to Learn, Jeremy Chance’s AT Success course and many more.

Her interest in training courses has taken her to New York, Germany, Ireland and all over the UK, to share work and present on the topics of marketing, activities, anatomy, working with groups and social media.

Rossella has a gift for organising, a dynamic personality and a down to earth approach to things, allowing her to join the dots leading to new content and collaborative projects. She sees the Alexander Technique as an effective and sustainable model of personal and social development. Bringing an inclusive and practical spirit to all her activities, Rossella aims to realise the Technique’s value as a resource to as many people as possible.

Andreas Dirscherl

Director

Portrait Andreas Dirscherl

Web-Design

Web-Development

Andreas has been teaching the Alexander Technique continuously in his own studio in Munich since 2005. In 2009, he became Assistant Teacher with a training course in Munich, where he taught until 2015.  In this time, Andreas repeatedly substituted for the Head of Training – at one point, he has been running the training course for a period of seven months.

For over 20 years, Andreas has also been a well-known radio presenter and newscaster with the Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian public radio) where he regularly presents the news and can be heard in various radio features and radio plays. 

He offers regular introductory AT workshops, is a visiting teacher in several German-speaking AT schools and gives Alexander Technique Workshops throughout Europe.

Combining his practical experiences in front of the microphone with AT principles, he developed a series of voice-oriented workshops. Other specialized workshop formats include Practical Everyday Anatomy, The Power of Doing it Wrong, and AT in the Digital Age.

Andreas is very interested in connecting teachers and exchanging experiences and ideas. He was a founding member of the Munich Alexander Cooperation and has been participating in the AT work exchange in the Munich Area whenever possible. 

With a like-minded AT teacher he co-created an easy-to-follow toolset for AT beginners called the Alexander Basisplan – for which he created a website and a free smartphone app that features audio narration, a diary and a reminder function (an English version Alexander Technique Basic Steps is in the works). 

Andreas was part of the Congress team for the 2011 AT Congress in Lugano, where he was in charge of designing and maintaining the website. He is also very involved with the German AT society (ATVD) where he, among other things, co-conducted the first extensive member survey form in 2018/19.

Robert Britton

ATCA Representative
Co-Director

Portrait Rossella Buono

Robert Britton had his first lessons in the Alexander Technique with Frank Ottiwell in 1974. He began training to be an Alexander Technique Teacher with Frank Ottiwell and Giora Pinkas in 1975 at the American Center for the Alexander Technique – San Francisco, and graduated in 1978.

In addition to his private practice in San Francisco, he has been a professor of the Alexander Technique at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music since 1984. He has helped train Alexander Technique Teachers since 1989. He regularly teaches at Alexander Technique teacher training schools in Berlin and Hamburg. He served as chairman of the American Society for the Alexander Technique from 1997 to 1999, and he also was a long-time faculty member of the Bay Area Summer Opera Training Institute.

Bob was one of the directors of the 9th International Congress of the Alexander Technique in Lugano Switzerland in 2011, and continues to serve on the Board of the Alexander Technique Congress Association. He was awarded the George S. Sarlo award for Excellence in Teaching in Colleges and Universities in Northern California in 2012, and served as the Department Chairman of The Complete Musician Department at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Congress Team

Petra Pachaly

Research and Assistance

Portrait Rossella Buono

Petra certified as an Alexander Technique teacher in May 2021. She trained with Jörg Aßhoff in Berlin and studied online with Penelope Easten and Ted Dimon.

Originally from Austria she has been living in Berlin for half of her life and enjoys the international vibe as well as the constant changes and events happening in the city. As the pandemic started during her training course she started to explore how to teach the principles of the Alexander Technique online.

“My aim is to get people into this experimenter mindset at home in their daily environment, I like to be playful. We connect by seeing each other and talking to each other. The student feels empowered. It enriches the hands-on experience.”

Anna Bosatta

Helpers Team Manager

Anna Bosatta

Anna finished teacher training in the Alexander Technique earlier this year, and is excited to continue exploring what it means to be a practitioner as she offers her AT experience to other people. She trained with Tom Vasiliades in New York and with Anthony Kingsley in London.

It is really important to Anna in all her work (and indeed in all her life) to offer spaces where vulnerability and authenticity feel safe, which in turn enable curiosity and creativity. Professionally, she also offers spiritual accompaniment in daily life and on retreat, and leads community music-making and other arts projects.

Anne Mallen

Head Editor

Portrait Anne Mallen

Anne lives and works between Melbourne and Daylesford. She was for many years a sub-editor on a newspaper, but now dedicates herself to teaching the Alexander Technique full time. She especially enjoys working with people who have major postural challenges and chronic pain, because she faced these same issues herself before discovering the Alexander Technique.

Valentina Sciutti

Admin & Support

Valentina Sciutti
With 20 years experience in customer service in Italian, English and German, Valentina brings to the Congress Team a wealth of knowledge and expertise.

Her interest in yoga, swimming and meditation, combined with the appreciation of the benefits of the Alexander Technique, make her very effective in understanding the needs of our profession and in creating different forms of versatile support.

After working with translation, Valentina is keen in creating connections and participating in a network of projects, but also into supporting individual professional in developing their own business and in collaboration to create online visibility and professional development.

Jana Boronova

Web Development

Portrait Rossella Buono

Jana trained at David Moore’s Melbourne school and was certified as an Alexander Technique teacher and Smart Yoga teacher in 2015. She was working at the Melbourne Alexander School before returning to Europe in 2019. Afterwards she stayed in touch with David and during lockdown helped him set up his Smart Yoga Online Teacher Training. At the same time she was working with Rosella Buono on Authors – Not Your Usual Book Club series which will be back for season five this autumn.

An avid snowboarder and skier, she has been part of the Ease on Skis project for many years. Together with Erik Bendix and Christoph Bacher she has been teaching regular EOS workshops in Austria.

Jana is also a certified Shaw Method teacher and loves working with swimmers of all levels.