John Nicholls Australia Visit 2024

SYDNEY:  FEBRUARY 2-5 +  MELBOURNE:  FEBRUARY 9-26

"Learn to do the simple things really well." That was the advice given to me in my early years of teaching by renowned London first generation teacher Peggy Williams ... that going further is a matter of going deeper rather than adding new manoeuvres ... As I found myself saying to teachers in a workshop in London recently, to do this work well requires an almost shocking amount of directed undoing”                                    John Nicholls, 2017

John Nicholls will be returning to Australia in 2024 to provide continuity for those wishing to deepen their understanding of his way of teaching and training Alexander Technique teachers.

Due to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in addition to the ‘cost of living crisis’ affecting many,

John is continuing to reduce his fees for this visit to make his workshops, HOGs and private lessons affordable!

John Nicholls with L ~> R  Janet Davies, Penelope Carr, Jane Refshauge & Jane Azul

MELBOURNE:  Private  lessons & HOG’s  Friday 9 February - Monday 26 February 2024

Venue details in Fitzroy + Booking for private lessons:    

Jane Refshauge:       jane@janerefshauge.com

John Nicholls: jnichollsat@gmail.com

MELBOURNE  WORKSHOPS 1, 2 & 3:  DIGGING DEEPER WITH THE SIMPLE THINGS:

Workshop 1: (2 days)   Saturday 10 February & Sunday 11 February 2024

Defining our Terms: The Primary Coordination - integration of postural support, breathing and movement; going up - the primary movement; inhibition/non-doing; direction/ordering; primary control; re-educating kinaesthesia; a strong back – the essential support from widening back; integration – the elastic connections; parallels with horses.

Semi-Flexed position and Hands on the Back of the Chair: importance of the semi-flexed position (formerly referred to as monkey); antagonistic pulls (avoiding rigidity or passivity); importance of hands on the back of the chair for teaching – relating the back to the limbs, freeing the thorax, freeing the hands and arms from the back.

(for teachers with prior workshop experience with John)

Workshop 2: (1 day) Monday 12 February 2024

Breathing – Elements of chair and table work in relation to breathing: understanding FM’s references to “thoracic mobility” and “intra-abdominal pressure”; shifting pressure between abdominal and thoracic cavities; demystifying the Whispered Ah; how it relates to primary coordination and the origins of FM’s work;   consideration of freeing the breath as a fundamental goal of teaching. Establishing support and flexibility of the respiratory processes as the essential foundation for vocal use in acting or singing.   (for teachers with prior workshop experience with John)

Workshop 3:  (2 days) Saturday 17 - Sunday 18 February 2024

Elements of table work: why do we use a table; a look at different approaches to it, eg: different heights of books under head, ways of taking the head, limbs etc. Keeping the unifying simplicity of head, neck, back whatever part of the body you are working on.  Doing (as in lifting a leg) on a non-doing basis.

Elements of Chair work: why do we use a chair?; a look at different approaches to it, eg: use of each student’s stage of development to emerge naturally etc. The demand on support for the head from neck muscles, support for the trunk from the back muscles, and the legs integrating both support and movement function.  

(this workshop introduces these elements to give any teacher a firmer and clearer foundation for their teaching process)

Bookings for Melbourne workshops: contact Jane Refshauge:   jane@janerefshauge.com

Melbourne Workshop Venue:  Room 2 (upstairs) St Marks Church Community Centre, 250 George Street, FITZROY, Victoria, 3065

Photos from February 2017 Teacher Refresher Courses - working with John Nicholls. 

A covid safe protocol will be in place to reduce any undue risk of virus transmission and protect against infection in keeping with Government guidelines at the time.

The preference is for participants to be vaccinated unless a medical exemption is held.

The wearing of masks may be recommended at the time of the workshops and lessons.
There will be a maximum of 10 participants per workshop so that spatial distancing can be maintained.

Cancellation Policy: If there is a need to cancel workshops or private lessons due to covid or related conditions 100% of your fees will be refunded or applied to rescheduled dates.

For standard cancellations: if you need to cancel and can find someone else to take your place in a workshop or private lesson there will be no cancellation fee charged. If it is not possible to find anyone to replace you with less than 24 hours notice for a Private Lesson or 48 hours notice for a Workshop the full fee may be charged.

John Nicholls https://www.johnnichollsat.com trained with Walter and Dilys Carrington at The Constructive Teaching Centre: School of the Alexander Technique, and remained with them for eleven years assisting daily on the teacher training course and maintaining a large private practice. In 1985-86 he was Chair of STAT.

He spent three years in Australia, directing the Melbourne Alexander Teacher Training School.  After this he returned to the UK as Director of a teacher training course in Brighton. His book, The Alexander Technique: In Conversation with John Nicholls and Sean Carey, was published in 1991.

In 2003 John moved to New York City where he offered private lessons, “hands-on” supervision groups for teachers, a teacher certification program, and structured postgraduate courses for teachers.

In 2016 John returned to live in the United Kingdom and now travels frequently to lead seminars for the general public and post-graduate classes for teachers and consult on training courses in Britain, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Uruguay.