Directors

11th International Alexander Technique Congress

The Directors for the 11th Alexander Technique International Congress are Carol P. Prentice and Jamie McDowell. They are responsible for overseeing, planning and implementing the Congress in Chicago, IL at Loyola University, Lake Shore Campus.

Organizing a Congress is a major commitment requiring several years of collaboration and hard work. The current Directors are dedicated to fulfilling this commitment in order to bring the world-wide group of Alexander Technique teachers, trainees and friends of the Technique together. They are currently establishing contacts with the many Alexander groups around the world to get the word out about the opportunities that will be offered at this Congress. They are inviting Keynote speakers from outside our community, Plenary speakers and Continuous Learning teachers who will educate, inform and inspire us in our work. We have a wonderful lake front venue at the beautiful Loyola Campus which will allow all attendees to be centrally located with their accommodations, meals, daily congress events, work exchange and other activities.

Jamie and Carol are grateful to all of the previous Congress directors and the Board Members who have given them such wonderful advice and guidance. They have listened intently to the feedback given by the last Congress attendees and are shaping the 2018 Congress to be even more successful, incorporating as many of their suggestions as possible.

They look forward to hosting the Alexander Community in Chicago!

Carol P Prentice

Carol P. Prentice is a senior teacher of the Alexander Technique specializing in somatic education and health for 30 years. Carol trained with master teachers Frank Ottiwell and Rome Robert Earle at the Alexander Training Institute in San Francisco. She graduated in 1986. Since graduating, Carol has furthered her training with first generation Alexander Teachers here in the U.S. and in Europe.

Carol graduated from the California College of Ayurveda as a Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist (CAS) and a Pancha Karma Specialist (PKS), She was the Internship Director from 2008 to 2016. Carol is also a certified 500-RYT Yoga Teacher in the tradition of Sri T. Krishnamacharya from the Healing Yoga Foundation in San Francisco.

Carol has taught the Alexander Technique in California, Hawaii, and Europe, in venues as; Strawberry Music Festival at Pepperdine University, Hawaii Performance Art Festival, Spine Care Rehabilitation Center (S. F.), Ventura Pain Clinic, Poised Rider Equestrian Clinic, and the Barron/Brown Acting School among others. She has created Hands-On Retreats, a 5-day retreat where she combines her training of Alexander, Ayurveda, and Yoga empowering people to take responsibility for their own health and healing.

Carol currently lives in Ojai, CA where she has a private practice. She is an AmSTAT certified teacher and is excited to be one of the Co-Directors for the next Congress in Chicago.

Jamie McDowell

Jamie is Director of the Fellside Centre in Kendal, a training facility in the Lake District of England. He has been teaching the Alexander Technique since 1984 and is currently Head of Training at Cumbria Alexander Training. Originally Jamie became certified under the direction of Don Burton in London and has lived and worked in England and throughout Europe.

He is active with other European Alexander Teachers organizing events throughout Europe and attending annual gatherings, where he has presented workshops on functional anatomy (the Use of the Arm) and teaching modalities (Styles of Teaching).

In 2015, he gave the FM Alexander Memorial Lecture at the STAT Conference in London.

Jamie was previously a Congress Director at the 9th International Conference in Lugano, Switzerland. He is a member of A.T. Congress association (ATCA), the supervisory board for the International Congresses.

Currently, as the Editor of Statnews (the newsletter of the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique) and Co-Editor of The Alexander Journal, Jamie has ongoing contact with a wide range of opinion-makers in the Alexander world and looks forward to hosting the 2018 Congress in Chicago.