Alexander Technique Classes at MIC!
July 8th, 2025
WHAT IS ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE?
Named for its creator, Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955), Alexander Technique is an educational technique designed to alleviate stress and strain from your body. Learn to move more comfortably, relieve tension and pain, improve posture, avoid injury, and ease anxiety. It can be particularly helpful for singers, instrumentalists, dancers, actors, and athletes.
Get Started Today!
Move Better, Play Better, Feel Better: Alexander Technique for Musicians | for teens & adults
Step into a class that's as dynamic and unique as you are! This class is all about helping you play with more freedom, less effort and zero unnecessary tension. Say goodbye to sore muscles, back pain, and performance jitters, and hello to a new way of moving that boosts your confidence, sharpens your coordination, and unlocks your creative spark. Used by musicians at top schools like Juilliard and the Royal Academy of Music, the Alexander Technique teaches you simple, game-changing skills to improve posture, reduce stress, and elevate your performances, without working harder.
Through fun, hands-on activities and movement explorations, you'll learn to own your space on stage, play with more ease, and feel better in everyday life. Come see how small shifts in how you sit, stand, and breathe can make a huge impact on the way you play, move and perform!
Fall Classes begin the week of September 15, 2025 at the Winnetka Campus
Looking for one-on-one Alexander Technique Lessons?
The Music Institute of Chicago offers a 5 (60 min) lesson bundle. Please complete an information request form and a Campus Director will reach out to you with more information and to schedule.
Alexander Technique Private Lessons
About Amanda Blair MacDonald (MFA, M.AmSAT, R-MPA)
Amanda Blair MacDonald is an AmSAT-certified Alexander Technique teacher with over 30 years of performing and teaching experience. She holds space for non-judgmental experimentation and growth that will support you to move better, play better, and feel better.
Amanda completed a 1600-hr Teacher Training program at the Dimon Institute in NYC, plus continuing education work with Alexander Technique teacher trainers Joan and Alex Murray, Beret Arcaya, Luc Vanier, Judith Kleinman, Sue Merry, Mio Morales, and Alice Olsher.
Amanda has had a lifelong interest in music and the performing arts. She grew up playing flute, guitar, and piano and has toured nationally and internationally with musical theatre and singing groups, performing in Switzerland, England, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and most of the 48 states on the US mainland. Favorite roles include: Mistress in Evita, Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street, Lola in Damn Yankees, Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd, and Mrs. Cratchit in Toby Nicholson’s musical version of A Christmas Carol.
In addition to her experience as a performer, Amanda has an extensive background in teaching. Her teaching credits include: Roosevelt University-Chicago College of Performing Arts, UIC School of Theatre and Music, The American Musical and Dramatic Academy-NY, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts-NY, The Ailey School, The 92nd Street Y, The Joffrey Ballet, and Chicago Lights, as well as multiple schools, studios, master classes, and teacher professional development workshops. Amanda incorporates the Alexander Technique, developmental movement, Brain-Compatible Lesson Planning, and anatomy mapping in her teaching methods to a full spectrum of individuals and groups – ranging from toddler age to adulthood. She currently teaches Alexander Technique at the DePaul University School of Music.
Amanda’s TEDx DePaul talk about MPA “How We Move Is How We Think,” is available on YouTube and on her website www.AmandaBlairMacDonald.com
