Only Connect

Elizabeth Langford (1929–2009) was an accomplished and experienced violinist. She trained in the Alexander Technique 1967–69 and taught the Technique for the rest of her life.

This collection of talks, papers and letters on teaching and presenting the Alexander Technique spans nearly 30 years.

Langford is meticulous in her use of words and language in communicating the Technique. She appeals to teachers of the Technique to teach with clarity, using plain and lucid language. In particular she covers how to present the Technique to the public and provides examples of her own public presentations. As Langford taught at the Alexander Technique at the Guildhall School of Music in London she writes with authority on teaching the Technique to musicians. She also writes on the importance of the procedure known as ‘hands on the back of the chair’ and comments on Alexander’s instructions.

Part One contains ‘Verbal communication’ (a talk given to her first training course in the 1970s), ‘Personal responsibility’ (from a 1982 letter to a group of physiotherapists), ‘Speech as a function of the whole person’ (an article for speech therapists translated from a 1987 article), ‘A talk for physiotherapy students’ (given at a Brussels hospital in 1994), ‘A presentation at the Flemish Institute for Health Promotion’, ‘Parents, children and “posture”’, ‘Reflections on Only Connect: Theme and variations’ (first published in the Journal of the British Performing Arts Medicine Trust in 2001), and ‘The basis of stress’ (written for the syllabus of a course organised by the University of Leuven and its university hospitals). Part Two contains published as well as unpublished letters and two articles: ‘On teaching the Alexander Technique to musicians’ and ‘Educating the public’ (lecture given at the 6th International Congress of the Alexander Technique in 1999).