Biography

I have always loved acting, singing, learning, and helping people. As a teenager I sang, acted, observed my physician father in the operating room, and assisted him in his pain clinic. These experiences were the perfect foundation for a career that helps people improve their expression, confidence, comfort, and mobility both onstage and in their daily lives.

In high school and college, I studied acting and singing and performed as much as I could. Eventually I was one of the founding members of The Children’s Theater of Massachusetts, and I acted in regional theater and in New York City. My life trajectory changed when, in a career-counseling course, I realized I wanted to teach. So I studied for a Masters of Fine Arts in Acting at the University of Virginia, where classes in speaking voice helped my acting more than anything else. While there, I received critiques that my voice would sometimes become “strident” and that I “thought too much and tried too hard” when I performed. But no one could tell me what to do about that.

In response to that feedback, I resolved to help myself (and my future students) by overcoming my vocal difficulties. I studied with Arthur Lessac, took graduate level speech pathology to understand vocal anatomy and physiology, and studied the Alexander Technique. The Alexander Technique taught me that my habits of thought and movement are connected and that I have choice over my habitual physical, mental, and emotional responses to the activities and stimuli of my life. I learned how to recognize the causes and physical symptoms of trying too hard. I adopted a way of working with myself with less effort that feels great and produces vastly improved vocal, physical, and expressive results. It helped me so much that I was convinced that everybody could benefit from the Alexander Technique.

Multi-year voice and body training with Arthur Lessac was inspiring. Arthur was one of the most caring, joyful, passionate, and engaging teachers I have met. Lessac work centers on using physical sensations, familiar experiences, and inner “body wisdom” to improve vocal and physical functioning. Arthur’s musically creative text work taught me to explore and love the expressive possibilities of the spoken word. I am also very grateful to Lessac Master Teacher, Sue Ann Park (recipient of the 2006 American Theater in Higher Education Lifetime Achievement Award), who took me under her wing and taught me to identify and expand on the basic principles of the Lessac System. Under the tutelage of Arthur and Sue Ann, my speaking voice grew strong, healthy, resonant, expressive, reliable, and enjoyable to use.

After training, I opened a studio for private students and taught Alexander Technique, speaking voice, dialects, stage movement, and acting in colleges and universities. After a few years of teaching, I realized some of my students would benefit from discovery through comparative movement experiences. That is how I came to study the Feldenkrais Method®. It was unlike anything I had previously studied. Feldenkrais® allowed me to learn at my own pace, focus on cause and effect, and work with myself in a manner that is both creative and scientific. As I explored a variety of movement options, I grew curious about how one body part coordinates with another. Learning to work with myself in this way made me a more curious and creative person.

My first workshop in Estill Voice Training® was exciting! Estill gave me a scientifically based and kinesthetically accessible understanding of the various resonance and range options available to the human voice. I thrived under the tutelage of Kim Steinhaur, who mentored me with solid voice science, boundless humor and enthusiasm, and a genuine belief in Jo Estill’s motto that “everyone has a beautiful voice.” Now when I speak or sing, I know which coordination of my mouth, throat, and body produces that sound. And if I don’t like what’s being produced, I can access various choices to change it. Estill training has taken my singing to a whole new level and has made me a far more confident and versatile vocal performer. With Estill training, I can hear how a voice is being produced, and offer specific physical options to improve vocal health, increase range and volume, change resonance, produce a specific singing style, create a character, or make an interpretive choice.

When I was in New York, I discovered Hatha Yoga. Much later, I turned to Yoga teacher training as a way to regularly dedicate time to self-care and take my yoga practice to a deeper level. Breath-based Hatha Yoga is a calming and centering experience that cultivates awareness of mind, body, and breath while challenging flexibility, strength, and balance. Yoga is something I do for myself that I love sharing with other people. There is something about practicing mindful-movement together – something about working with yourself physically with an intention of growth, self- acceptance, and nurturing – that is very rewarding. Frankly, it just feels good.

Currently, I teach classes and am a vocal and movement coach for shows at Temple University and Arcadia University. I maintain a studio for private students online and in person in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA, and I teach workshops regionally, nationally, and internationally. I believe in these methods because I have seen them help people, and I use them to help myself and foster growth in my teaching. The work has made me more process-oriented. It’s made me more creative. I am less interested in getting something right, and more curious about how something is being done, the choices available to me, and the influence of habit, and of cause and effect. I love solving problems, learning with my students, and discovering how to help them function at their best. The work provides tools to help them understand their challenges, coordinate differently, and experience increasing skill and possibility. I feel lucky to be able to help people do what they love, move towards a pain-free life, and express themselves more fully, authentically, and joyously.

Like most performers, my career started because I felt an indefinable something that needed to be expressed. In teaching, I found my message: Whatever you are capable of today, it is not the end of your story – you can learn to help yourself to a better tomorrow.