Please note that CityATS and the Alexander Teaching Centre is now permanently closed. 

Brita Forsstrom, Head of Training

Brita, born in Sweden, came to Alexander Technique from a background of librarianship and journalism. Her first exposure to the Alexander Technique was when working on an issue of a quarterly journal dedicated to the Technique and was inspired to try it for herself on a residential course. What started as a journey of self-discovery led to her train as a teacher.

She has been running a private practice since qualifying in 1984 at ATA with Don Burton and Lizzie Atkinson, in London, where she also taught for two years. She has extensive experience of group introductory teaching including at The City Lit (Drama and Music Dept), gives workshops and consultations in the work place and has worked with choirs in Sweden and Singapore. She has been a Council member and Chair of STAT and served on STAT committees. She is co-author of The Alexander Technique for Pregnancy and Childbirth (1995). She assisted on a training school in London for 12 years and since 2014 has run AT teacher training at the City Alexander Technique School, together with Kamal Thapen, in London. She presented a Continuous Learning session at the 10th International AT Congress in Limerick. She is co-author of The Alexander Technique for Pregnancy and Childbirth (1995), contributed an article in Connected Perspectives (2015) and has written articles and features in magazines and newspapers.

Kamal Thapen, Assistant Head of Training

Kamal, born in Kenya, comes from a background in engineering and business and has been teaching the Technique since qualifying in 2000. Suffering from a persistent non-specific low back pain for many years, Kamal found the Alexander Technique the only way to obtain long-term relief. The personal benefit and growing interest in the technique led him to train to teach others at The Constructive Teaching Centre with Walter and Dilys Carrington.

He has experience of teaching on training courses and experience working with groups at the City Lit and South Thames College. He has been a Council member and Chair of STAT and served on STAT committees. Kamal is also a qualified Tai Chi teacher. His latest foray has been into publishing, with two books on the Alexander Technique (‘The Ground Rules’ and ‘Playing with Posture’) and more on the way.

Antonella Cavallone

Originally from Puglia in Italy, Antonella came to the Alexander Technique while completing her degree in Art History at the University of London; suffering from debilitating neck pain, she sought out the Technique. Thus inspired, she trained as a teacher herself at the Victoria School for the Alexander Technique in London and has taught fulltime since.

Antonella teaches to both individuals and groups, acting as a consultant on using the Technique for postural education in the health sector in NHS hospitals around the United Kingdom and private corporations. She has extensive experience in leading workshops on strategies to improve posture at work for the Society and College of Radiographers and in a variety of other professional environments. She has served on STAT’s council and remains on various committees, and is a registered CNHC practitioner. She has written about and been a voice for the Technique in media including Woman Magazine, the Daily Mail and Natural Health.

Seán Carey

Formerly a researcher and lecturer in social anthropology, he qualified in 1985. He became interested in the AT after breaking his leg in a motorbike accident. He now runs workshops for doctors and members of the British Dental Association. He is co-author of five critically acclaimed books on the AT including the most recent one, Alexander Technique in Everyday Activity (HITE 2015).

Seán has worked on four Society of the Alexander Technique (STAT)-approved teacher training courses in London. He has written for The Guardian, The Independent, Mauritius Times and New African. Sean is also honorary senior research fellow in the School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester. Other regular teachers will include: Claire Rennie and Diana Aubrey.