The Living Arts Curriculum
The Alexander Alliance Southwest teaches a varied and active program each year, with opportunities for apprentice teaching at every level of training. While the emphasis is on Alexander's core principles, AASW believes in applying those principles to real life, contemporary activities, and consequently has developed The Living Arts Curriculum.
Sanding a pot
The Living Arts curriculum is a study of Alexander’s principles through the “arts” of our daily life. It involves us working with visual, musical, textile, tactile, culinary, and movement arts on a regular basis as a central part of teacher training. This concept originates from the Native American understanding that everything is art and everyone is an artist. Within the languages of American Indians there is no word for “art”; exploration and creation, through every medium, is a fundamental part of being alive, of knowing oneself and one's world. Alexander’s study is likewise an exploration of life, through the choices we make, and the quality of our experience.
Fiber Arts
Through out the year, Alexander Alliance Southwest offers opportunities for Teacher Trainees to participate in events in which they can explore Alexander’s principles as they themselves take part in an activity such as cooking, doing Pilates, ice skating, cross country skiing, singing, dancing, knitting, sketching, painting, pottery, etc. Trainees take part as both direct participants and as apprentice Alexander Teachers, blending with other non-trainee participants. This allows Trainees a full and varied experience that is readily applicable to their own future professional practice.
Some of our most memorable experiences have been:
- exploring the unique landscape of Carlsbad Caverns, 800 feet below ground
- learning to make traditional tamales
- cross country skiing through the mountains
- creating traditional Apache micaceous clay pots
- canoeing at a nearby lake
- tai chi in the mountains, by the lake, at the ocean…
- studying belly dancing
- making a traditional Japanese dinner
- singing as a group
- swing dancing with the local crowd
- learning to knit, spin, weave, and make baskets
- exploring Gyrotonics movement
- riding horses through the forest
Of special note are our Fiber Arts week, Tuscan cooking week & our pottery workshop.