– Cobie Smulders, Actor,
“A few years ago I had some trouble with my physicality’s on stage. I felt stuck in a lot of places, unsure of which direction to go in, and emotionally detached from my body. Kristof was recommended to me to work on these issues. Thru working with Kristof on this technique I have more connection with my body and my voice has more resonance. Also in my day to day life, I can now pinpoint when my body is under stress and starts to tighten up and I now have the tools to enable to release it. Working with Kristof has given me the gift of being able to connect with my center. Even in the middle of a very hectic shooting day I can take a few moments to become present in myself. Kristof is very kind and has an extremely gentle yet persuasive touch. I have been working with him for almost a year and the work we have done together has made a huge impact on my life.”
“The Alexander Technique should be taught in conjunction with voice and movement during the rehearsal period of all productions.”
– Trevor Nunn, Theater & Film Director
– Lawrence Kasdan, Film Director
“The Alexander Technique is unquestionably useful and applicable to directors and other Director Guild members who must spend their day standing up, enduring enormous stress and pressure, under difficult conditions. Those aspects of the Technique I have been able to integrate with my life have been most useful in alleviating muscle tension and improving my endurance and carriage.”
“I began studying Alexander Technique after a friend suggested that it could help heal a lower back injury. Studying Alexander allowed me to become more aware of how I moved and how, when stressed, I tended to contract my body. It was a gradual process of retraining my neurological system, eventually allowing me to heal. An unexpected effect of studying Alexander was more emotional openness. As I learned to better connect to my body by becoming aware of it, I also connected to people in a more profound way. Kristof has a unique teaching style: he created a warm and trusting environment that allowed me to retrain my body and heal. Thanks to his classes I now have more tools to deal with stress. One of Kristof´s most effective mantras is to say to yourself: “I have time”. It’s amazing how often we can forget this simple rule. Kristof´s lessons have had an incredible impact in my life.”
– Ilona Katzew, Author, Director-Curator of Latin American Arts, Los Angeles County Museum of Arts
– Juliette Binoche, Actor
“Jean-Louis Rodrigue always brings a personal and positive approach to his coaching work. His involvement is timeless and complete. He is generous, genuine, and creative such that even when a character or a story is frightening, it becomes about exploring the work and being of service. Jean-Louis has a clear view of the character the actor is playing and also an awareness of the purpose and structure of the whole movie, which engages the entire actor’s intention and responsibility with the project. His work is a useful and exciting way to open my channels for my research as an actress.”
– Kevin Kline, Actor
“The many benefits that the Alexander technique afforded us as actors included minimized tension, centeredness, vocal relaxation and responsiveness, mind/body connection, and about an inch and a half of additional height. By balancing and neutralizing tensions, I’ve learned to relieve as well as to avoid the aches and pain caused by the thousands of natural shocks that flesh is heir to.”
“Jean-Louis’ teaching is nothing short of life transformational. His class is a must for any serious actor.”
– Howard Fine, Acting Teacher - Director
“Singers, beginner through professional, need to understand the Alexander Technique principle of the ‘The Use of the Self’ which includes most importantly the prevention of habits that interfere with their potential in the singing world.”
– Judith Natalucci, Singing Teacher, NYC
“It’s all process. It’s what you’re able to plug into and understand about yourself, and also how to pick up information and handle tension that creeps in while you’re performing. We’re fighting against gravity continually – gravity is pulling down. We’re always falling into ourselves, and the big secret – which is profound, because it affects our concept about everything – is the contrast of the tension, of pulling against gravity. You see that in the light and dark of painting, the loud and soft of music. We don’t have a language to describe this reality, but the reality is the ‘up’ you feel when you have this Alexander experience.”
– Alan Titus, Baritone
– Bo Eason, Writer and Performer,
“As a professional athlete and now a performer on a different stage, I know the importance and the power of the body. The body is how we communicate 24 hours a day. Your words may lie, but your body always tells the truth. Jean-Louis has given me a connection to the earth which may sound simple and basic at first glance; but that connection between my feet and the earth gives me the power and security and permission to express myself as an actor on a whole new level. Your body will do whatever you ask it to do. It will morph into whatever you like. It’s like magic. Jean-Louis, gently and over time, has taught me to transform my body into an open, fully expressed vessel. At first this openness is disconcerting because you feel so vulnerable. That’s it! Bingo! That is your power. Jean-Louis has uncovered my power.”
– Jobeth Williams, Actor
“The Alexander technique is invaluable to actors of all ages. It helps us find new depth in exploring the physical and emotional life of a character. And it has helped me correct physical issues which affect my daily life. Jean-Louis and Kristof immediately create a level of trust and comfort in teaching this technique which allows all of us in the class to open up to the learning experience. I continue to work privately with them because I believe so strongly in their skill in teaching this technique, and its positive effect on my well-being.”
– Jennifer Siebel, Actor-Producer
“I came to study the Alexander Technique because I felt disconnected at times from my body; especially on stage. I wasn’t using my body or voice to the best capacity. Through my lessons I became more grounded and more centered. My voice is stronger now. I am less self conscious of my body, more connected to it on stage and more specific with my movements. I love working with Kristof. He helps me to center, slow me down and connect me with my voice and body. I carry our work together throughout the day/week, regardless of whether or not I am working as an artist. Kristof is a gem. He is so caring and sensitive to your needs and how to help you. He works with you at such a core level that you are bound to grow as a human being and artist all at once. I would recommend his work (and have been) to anyone serious about a future in the arts.”
– Johnny Lewis, Actor,
“I began studying the Alexander Technique in order to get control of my physicality. I wanted versatility above all and to feel comfortable and free under any circumstances. Within 5 lessons I felt like I was beginning to move in a completely unfamiliar way, i.e., naturally. Even my voice began to change and develop dynamics. Kristof is excellent at leading you step by step so that you progress as quickly as you can manage without ever feeling confused or treading water.”
“I took Alexander lessons instead of attending movement classes which helped me enormously in my training and in subsequent years in my acting work. Now I can play people who are graceful and beautiful.”
– Lynn Redgrave, Actor
– Robert Rosen, Dean, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television
“Jean-Louis has been an indispensable member of the acting faculty at the UCLA Department of Theater since 1988, teaching Advanced Movement for the actor and the Alexander Technique in the MFA Acting Program. Jean-Louis is internationally known as one of the preeminent teachers of the Alexander Technique. I personally witnessed the effectiveness of his teaching at the Verbier Music Festival in Switzerland where famous musicians were of one voice in their praise for Jean-Louis’ skills as a communicator and effectiveness as a teacher. I might add that Jean-Louis is also an excellent colleague- a personable, outgoing individual who is capable of exercising leadership in the context of an intrinsically collaborative art form.”
– Heather Raffo, Playwright and performer,
“I worked extensively with Jean-Louis for a period of 7 weeks during the run of my one-woman show “9 Parts of Desire” at the Geffen Playhouse. Jean-Louis was able to help me release emotion out of my physicality through the Alexander practice and to simplify my acting choices. He watched the show a number of times and was invaluable at articulating what sort of journey he saw me take each night. He was able to see exactly how my body and psyche held its stresses and fears and he offered incredible support to help me release these fears. Our process was nothing short of life changing for me.”
– James Frain, Actor
“I started working with Jean-Louis on the Alexander Technique last year while shooting Invasion for ABC. I have been particularly concerned to use the Alexander principles while working on Showtime’s “The Tudors” to find an ease and grace in the movement of Cromwell. The costumes are restrictive if not inhabited as they were designed to be worn – with an uprightness of posture – and I am keen that there is no stiffness to Cromwell’s physicality. I find that the consciousness of upwardness, expansion, inhibition and release I am learning from the Alexander Technique are crucial in imagining myself into the world of the Tudor court. Cromwell was a social outsider who had to learn to adapt to aristocratic mores and my sense is that he would have wanted to be more gentlemanly than the gentlemen “to the manor born” and not display any awkwardness. I have a sense of him gliding through the court almost effortlessly, a man at home with the machinations of power. In my own life the experiences of release I am having with the technique are revelatory. I have studied Alexander Technique before but much less successfully than with Jean-Louis who has helped me unlock years of habit with comparative ease. I am discovering an economy of expression and a freedom from pain and tension that I had not thought possible and it is transforming my own sense of comfort in myself.”
“Of all the disciplines that form the actor training program, none is more vital, enriching and transformative than the Alexander Technique.”
– Harold Stone, Associate Director, The Juilliard School, Drama Division
– Matt Salinger, Producer, New Moon Productions
“I was and am the producer of “The Syringa Tree”. I found it when it was in its infancy, in Larry Moss’s acting class in Santa Monica. One of the very first things I noticed in Pamela’s work was her physical grace and her stamina, both qualities I later learned were helped immeasurably by her work with Jean Louis. Jean-Louis didn’t just help Pamela focus her energy, prepare for her performances, and connect her voice to her body, but he quite literally helped her CREATE many of the characters in her remarkable piece. He helped her distinguish them from one another, and he helped her with her “magic” of morphing from one to another through his insights into how and where each one’s energy was based, and how to dance with those energies. But perhaps most importantly- to my role as producer at least- Jean Louis helped Pamela maintain her energy through a very, very long run. Unlike almost every other play you are likely to have seen, ours did not HAVE an understudy, so we were totally dependant on Pamela’s being able to do a seven show week, week in and week out, for more than a year- without getting sick, without getting injured, without having drop offs of energy or focus. If she had succumbed to any of these afflictions the play would have suffered, my investors would have lost money, and it would have closed. That’s all just Jean Louis’ work, and the effects of his work. What none of this gets at is the pleasure Jean Louis is to be with; what a generous, supportive spirit he is to have around a production. Jean Louis is not just a remarkably talented man, but a remarkable man.”
“I think we need a variety of skills…the Alexander Technique helps to integrate the individual dancer plus all the systems that he or she has been exposed to. It is important to tell a student that there is a different way of moving free of grit force, interruptions, habitual patterns, of tension. They need to learn to stop that.”
– Trisha Brown, Choreographer
