Nancy Forst Williamson
Director

Nancy Forst Williamson, M.A., has been studying and working in the field of mind-body education for over 40 years and is the Program Director for The Barstow Institute. A native Nebraskan, she began an on-going apprenticeship with Marjorie Barstow in 1975. She also trained with Moshe Feldenkrais and is a certified practitioner of Awareness Through Movement® and Functional Integration®. Nancy holds degrees from UNL and Doane College-Lincoln with a focus on communication, aging, and human learning and response. She regards the Alexander Technique as an extraordinary avenue for development of individual expression and style.


Shawn L. Copeland
Co-Director

Shawn L. Copeland, D.M.A., began studying the Alexander Technique in 1997 while a student at the Brevard Music Center and qualified as a teacher in 2006 after a five year apprenticeship with Marsha Paludan. New to the Northwest, Shawn is the Associate Professor of Clarinet and Alexander Technique in the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho. He also teaches Alexander Technique at the Eastern Music Festival and at the Summer Clarinet Clinic at Stetson University. He travels extensively, presenting at universities and international conferences throughout the US and abroad. Shawn has been studying Nervous System Energy Healing since 2010 and explores the many intersections of energy work and Alexander Technique in his teaching and research. He recently complete the Essentials of Performing Arts Medicine Certificate from the Performing Arts Medical Association. Shawn is a Sponsoring Teaching member of Alexander Technique International and a Training Mentor and Licensed Body Mapping Educator.

Diana Bradley

Diana Bradley, M.Ed., has been a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique since 1979. She completed a 13-year apprenticeship with Marjorie Barstow and had the opportunity to travel and teach with Marj in Australia and New Zealand. Diana was a modern dancer for 10 years and has 16 years of training in Aikido holding a third-degree black belt. She was on the faculty of the Baltimore School for the Arts for 11 years where she worked exclusively with theater students. Diana continues to work with actors at the Studio Acting Conservatory where she has been a faculty member for over 15 years. She is in the process of replacing her garage with a teaching studio! With luck, she hopes to open her new Takoma Park studio in late 2021. Currently, Diana teaches groups and individuals in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

Dana Calvey

Dana Calvey specializes in group teaching and is certified by both ATI and AmSat. She teaches performing artists at Interlochen school for the Arts summer program (Interlochen, MI) and in NYC at The Barrow Group, The Alexander Technique Center for Actors, and The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her masterclasses include Yale School of Sacred Music, New Jersey Shakespeare, and Stonybrook College. She is affiliate faculty at The Riverside Initiative for the Alexander Technique in NYC and has been on faculty at The Philadelphia School for the Alexander Technique since 2010, where she trained and was immersed in the lineage of Marjorie Barstow through Director of Training, Martha Hansen Fertman.  

Marilou Chacey
on sabbatical 2022

Marilou Chacey found lifelong change flowed from F. M. Alexander's discoveries. She has shared these changes with students for over thirty years. Introduced to Marj Barstow's teaching in 1974 at Ohio State University, Marilou was inspired to move to Lincoln, Nebraska, and develop her skills as an Alexander teacher. Having an academic and professional background in dance/movement education and mental health, she is attuned to both kinesics and human understanding. Now teaching in Thousand Oaks, California, Marilou approaches change through the use of intention and delicacy.

Jano Cohen

Jano Cohen has had a private practice teaching the Alexander Technique and T’ai Chi Ch'uan for 32 years. She lives in a suburb of Philadelphia. She was certified as a teacher by The Alexander Foundation of Philadelphia in 1990 and is a founding, teaching member of Alexander Technique International. She is a senior student of Maggie Newman, who was a senior student of Ch'eng Man Ch'ing, developer of the short yang form. Her approach to teaching is further informed by her prior experiences as a dancer, choreographer, therapeutic masseuse, and musician. She works with students of all ages and occupations, but has a special love of assisting performing artists and athletes. She taught AT for 15 years at People's Light and Theatre, and 5 years at two massage training programs.


Ariel Weiss

Ariel Weiss has been teaching Alexander Technique in Philadelphia since 1988. Inspired by her summers in Lincoln with Marj, her teaching emphasizes working in activity and engaging her students’ playful, constructive thinking. Since March, she has been teaching 6 classes a week online and has developed online courses for musicians and remote workers. In addition to her lively private practice, she coaches musicians at the Curtis Institute of Music and trains teachers at the Philadelphia School for the Alexander Technique. She has taught at the University of the Arts, Allentown College and Pig Iron School for Physical Theatre and previously co-produced the Freedom to Make Music Alexander Technique Conference for Musicians. An inveterate mover, Ariel has a Master’s degree from Wesleyan University in Movement and Dance and moves to music whenever possible.

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