Event Details
This Workshop-Medium has already taken place.
Anna Tolstoy
MA,
USA
Teaching AT in multicultural and multilingual society
Have you ever had a student whose native language was different than yours? What if both teacher and student speak during the lesson in a language that is foreign for both of them?
in this workshop we will explore how language differences can enrich and inform our teaching, allowing for appropriate sensitivity to cultural and individual differences based on the use of the language.
I have been teaching AT in English (that is a foreign language to me) to English speakers as well as students from diverse backgrounds, for whom English is a foreign language as well. I have also taught lessons in my native Russian. As I am a philologist, I always have my ears keenly open for linguistic particularities. I have some surprising examples up my sleeve to share with you. For instance, one of the shortest AT lessons I happened to give based purely on a linguistic discussion.
If you don’t speak any foreign languages, and your students are from the same cultural and linguistic background, you’d be surprised how much wisdom and teaching aid is contained in your own native tongue, if only we choose to pay attention to it.
Psychosomatics and psycholinguistic are related in unexpected and intricate ways, and I don’t see this subject discussed in books or articles.
About Anna Tolstoy
Anna’s interest in the Alexander Technique began long before her official teacher training. While Alexander Technique was virtually unknown in Russia, Anna discovered one of the first ever books on the Technique translated into Russian, and was immediately deeply taken by this work.
Anna successfully graduated from the course after completing mandatory 1600 training hours. During the three-year training, she was assisting Tommy Thompson at Harvard A.R.T. classes for actors. In addition to that, she interned for four semesters at Berklee College of Music with Bob Lada.
She then also completed a two-year Post-Graduate study with Tommy Thomson at ATTC.
It was a natural progression of things, that Anna started working as Alexander Technique teacher with musicians, dancers and actors. Thanks to the opportunity to participate in artists’ professional education classes, Anna became finely attuned to the needs and challenges that artists encounter. Assisting her Alexander Technique instructors in real life teaching scenarios, Anna gained an extensive repertoire of ways in which Alexander Technique can help professional performers.
Yet professional musicians are not the only population that finds Anna’s lessons highly beneficial. Anna truly believes, that deep inside every person is an artist, and welcomes people from all walks of life to her studio.
At the same time, Anna makes the learning process much fun. She wants her students to enjoy their Alexander Technique studies and to easily transfer their newly acquired skills and insights to reaching milestones in their lives. That is why she calls her approach Interactive Alexander Technique. She keeps her students engaged with games, fun video clips, and many explorational exercises, that she specifically develops to meet her students’ challenges. Anna loves a challenge that each student brings to the lesson. In fact, the more challenges the student can come up with, the more excited she gets to explore each and everyone of them.
Her primary source of new business is referrals from her past and current students. There is a saying that “A referral is sending someone you care about to someone you trust,” – and this seems to be an unspoken agreement among Anna’s student body.
anna_tolstoy@yahoo.com
https://www.annatolstoy.com
See also: Anna Tolstoy – Presenter Detail Page
Workshop-Medium
Wednesday, 24 August 2022
10:30 h - 11:45 h (10.30am-11.45am)
Math Building
Floor: 5.OG (5th floor)
Room: MA 544
CATEGORIES
AT Principles and Procedures||Everyday Activities||Practical Teaching Skills||Communication/Verbal Skills||Anatomy||DEI – Diversity/Equity/Inclusion||Science
4
WORKSHOP STYLE
Fully Practical
Lecture
OPEN FOR
Teachers||Trainees||Everyone
