Faculty

Profile

Teva Bjerken teaches the Alexander Technique to performers, bringing her career in dance to the art of performance. She trained and was certified by the American Center for Alexander Technique (ACAT) and served as an assistant teacher at both Juilliard and Mannes School of Music. She is also faculty at Fordham University Theater Program and Tisch School of the Arts, NYU. Her dance training included the scholarship program at American Ballet Theater, the high school division of North Carolina School of the Arts, and Sarah Lawrence College. As a member of Codanceco (NYC), she served as both collaborator and performer of many dance/theater pieces. She has performed at the American Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Los Angeles Opera, Dance Theater Workshop, La Mama, The Kitchen, and P.S. 122. At the 1989 "Bessie" (Dance/Theater) Awards she was cited as a collaborator/performer in a work by Margerita Guergue. Teva has collaborated with fellow AT teacher Belinda Mello in the writing of, "Cultivating a Lively Use of Tension: The Synergy between Acting and the AT." which appears in the Routledge journal 3.1, Theater, Dance and Performance Training.  She was instrumental in developing and producing the inaugural "Freedom to Act; Acting and the Alexander Technique" conference in January 2012 in New York City and alternates between presenting at and attending it since its inception.  Teva is currently working towards a CMA certification at the Laban/Bartieneff Institute for Movement Studies in NYC.  Each summer she teaches "Devising Skills for Actors" workshops with longtime collaborators Peter Richards or George Russell.  This past summer she was invited to attend "Deepening Your Teaching Artist Practice" with Lincoln Center Education. Teva contnues to develop her somatic practice knowledge and dance technique through ongoing studies.