Klein Technique is a living and growing body of work developed initially by Susan Klein in 1972. Her mentors, and greatest influences were Steffi Nossen, Martha Graham, May O’Donnell, Gertrude Shure, Don Farnworth, Colette Barry, Barbara Mahler, Dr. Barbara Vedder, D.C., Irmgard Bartenieff, Dr. Fritz Smith, M.D., Dr. J. R. Worsley, D. Ac. and many others taught her invaluable lessons; something to push against to spark change.

Klein Technique was developed within the context of Susan’s personal search to heal serious and devastating injury which occurred in 1971. She began dancing at the age of five. At the age of 19, about to join a major modern dance company found herself to be considered useless, unimportant, replaceable. The injury abruptly ended her professional career as a dancer. Her quest to recover expanded into a passion to develop a new dance technique and that in turn developed into wanting to change the TRAINING of dancers to to way of TEACHING dance - for them to learn their own way, and respect themselves, and be respected by others.

Barbara Mahler began studying with Susan Klein and Colette Barry in 1977, and began teaching in 1979., when the school’s name changed to the Susan Klein School of Dance. Beginning her dance career at the age of 20, she was Initially inspired by the pioneer anatomist/kinesiologist Dorothy Vislocky, Ph.D., to search for new ways of working to stave off the constant frustration, and injuries incurred by attempting (desperately) to achieve the “modern dance” status quo body. , Looking to find,her own way of learning, and her own way into “body:, led her to the Colette Barry and Susan Klein School of Dance, where she began studying passionately in 1977, and teaching in 1979. Using the principles of the technique, Barbara since has added exercises, expanding the work, and the methodology of teaching,,delving into the depths in order to help others as she had helped herself learn to dance. She is responsible for the continuity of both the school and the technique, and teaching the majority of the classes, is the “motor” (Diane Madden, soloist for the Trisha Brown Dance Company) of the school. Barbara is a brilliant teacher, gifted in her ability to see, understand and create. She also aided the development of the teaching methodology: teaching to the individual, and aiding them in finding their own unique way of learning. She has helped Klein Technique live and grow with her tremendous contributions over the last 20 years. At 50 she is still dancing with passion, grace and the ease of a connected body expressing itself in movement and space. Barbara’s dancing is both athletically challenging and poetic at the same time. In 2001,the school’s name was changed to the Susan Klein and Barbara Mahler School of Dance and Movement Studies in acknowledgment of her contributions.

Klein Technique is a body of work; of knowledge, but it is also a way for dancers to be treated, respected and to be seen as individuals. The main thrust of the work is for dancers to find their own essence, their own identity and integrity and take that into movement. In order to do that we work at the level of the bone, not the traditional level of the muscles. Klein Technique is not a release technique in that our goal is not to release, but to move. In order to move most efficiently it is necessary to release or let go of the muscles that hold us back from moving and fix the body into a set and locked configuration. We aim at releasing the muscles so we can get down to the deepest tissue, the bone, where we can learn to move from the true essence of our individual nature. When the bones are aligned we become connected, we become powerful and strong. The body becomes efficient and alive, and injuries often heal.

We align the bones by using the muscles most responsible for the transfer of forces through the body - the psoas, the hamstrings, the external rotators, and the pelvic floor. We do not work to “exercise” these muscle but rather to “wake them up”; to use them for support for and realignment of the bones. We work, and teach, for the body to be elastic, responsive, open to choices, and expressive. Movement, and the treatment of each individual student’s body, mind and spirit with kindness, respect and generosity is our ultimate goal. And finally and most importantly, the body does not exist alone but in connection to the ground, the space, and to others.

All certified teachers need to have this deep understanding and embodiment of the principles and pedagogy so they too can add to the depth fo the work.

Susan Klein and Barbara Mahler 2001



Ammendment:

Klein Technique is much more than a series of exercises, a form of study. It is a set of principles which have the potential to engage the participant in a process of change and learning..........in technical or pedestrian movement, dancing, acting, living; to be fully engaged in one's self on the deepest level of knowing. To feeling the ground, and be grounded in all the physical and metaphorical ways.
I encourage all that travel through both Susan's and my life to understand that this work began from a passion, a desire to respect, encourage, and TEACH, rather than TRAIN.
Susan Klein's journey began when she was 19, almost 30 years ago, on the cusp of moving into a strong modern dance company. Training was tough, and without any understanding of her own body - it's strengths and weaknesses, she injured herself numerous times in the same place in her body, in a short period of time. The advice then was to forget dancing, get married, and have babies. Her "big inspiration" came from a surgeon that thought, and vocalized, that dancers were stupid because they were so self abusive and often injured. His thought was that they should figure out what they were doing wrong. That was the beginning. Susan pursued many venues and paths in order to figure out her problem. She was able, over time, to formulate her ideas both physically and theoretically so as to help others. My studies began with Susan over twenty-five years ago due to my own frustrations learning to dance, and led me to more creative ways of working, learning to use my body, gaining technique, and facility. I also continually injured myself in my efforts to copy, create, and fit. I became involved in a process of self-discovery, of learning and self-knowing. I could "pick-up" movement by actually understanding how it went through my own body. As I continued to "learn" I suffered fewer injuries - I could avoid them by being aware and smart. By actually learning who I was as a mover I could learn to dance, my biggest and still ever present, passion. I began teaching at the studio, The Susan Klein School of Dance in 1979, (later to become the Susan Klein and Barbara Mahler School of Dance and Movement Studies). I was the motor of the school, teaching 80% fof the classes, 1983- 2003
I have since moved on to teaching on my own, having embodied this work, knowing it's beginnings and its most vital intention/ work- honoring the student, and maintaining the integrity of both the body and the person.

-Barbara Mahler 2007-updated 2009

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BARBARA MAHLER, formerly of the Klein/Mahler School of Dance and Movement Studies, is a widely respected dance innovator, very active in the development of post modern dance technique. A Master teacher in Klein Technique she has taught daily class for 27 plus years, educating an entire generation of performers and choreographers. She received her BA in dance from Hunter College, NYC, under the tutelage of Dorothy Vislocky., and her MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Barbara, a noted teacher and choreographer of international reputation has had her work presented at many festivals and venues across the nation, as well as in Canada and Europe. She has danced with many renowned choreographers, but has primarily pursued her own choreographic vision and passion. She draws upon her life experiences and artistic exposures to create moving solo dances of clarity and design for herself and other artists. She has created work for UnderFoot Dance (NYC), for Janet Oxley (funded by the Council des Artes et des Lettres du Quebec, the School for Contemporary Dance in Copenhagen, Denmark, Hunter College, NYC, Ohio State among others. Barbara has been a recipient of the Sage Cowles Land Grant Guest Artist (University of Minnesota), and was an artist in residence with Movement Research for the 2001-02 and 2006-08 seasons. She is on the advisory board at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange. as well as maintaining a private practice in movement therapy and bodywork as a certified practitioner and senior teacher of Zero Balancing. www.barbaramahler.com
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Articles About Klein Technique:

Somatics 101
Dance Magazine
July, 2006
Article by Nancy Wozny

Why do some dancers fully inhabit their bodies, creating a seamless whole between the dancer and the dance? Can we attribute this to a kind of somatic intelligence? Dancers have heard the term somatics tossed around for three decades, but few know the exact origins of the practice. And yet, dancers have been a driving force in the field. The somatic movement was already well under way when the philosopher Thomas Hanna coined the term in 1976. Somatics derives from the Greek word for the living body, soma, and is the study of the body experienced from within. The roots of somatics can be traced back to the late 19th-century European Gymnastik movement, which used breath, movement, and touch to direct awareness. Francois Delsarte, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, and Bess Mensendieck encouraged a kind of inside-out expression that questioned the traditional nature of movement training. They seemed to be saying, "The body is the person," thus joining mind and body in a celebration of the human form.

American somatic thinkers also made significant contributions. Mabel Elsworth Todd's classic text, The Thinking Body, introduced dancers to the role of the mind in dance training in 1937. Her student, Lulu Sweigard (who later taught at Juilliard), developed "ideokinesis," a process of activating the imagination to affect movement. Somatic pioneers Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (Body-Mind Centering), Emily Conrad (Continuum), Joan Skinner (Skinner Releasing), Elaine Summers (Kinetic Awareness), Susan Klein (Klein Technique), and Judith Aston (Aston-Patterning), all hail from the dance world.
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Mark Messer
Dynamic Alignment
Professor J. Neiman
SCP 201
2007, 2008, 2009 Mark Messer
"Do you want to move or do you want to stand still?"

In the early 1970s, Susan Klein was poised to begin a career as a performing modern dancer. However, a recurring knee injury was severe enough to preclude this move. She engaged in finding a path to recovery and healing. She discovered a different way of functioning that yielded different results. She discovered how to use the body in accord with nature. This yielded healthy function and the possibility of recovery rather continued injury.

Recently, while riding the subway in New York, I met Julio, an orthopedic surgeon from Mexico who had moved to the United States to further his career. I told him of my interest in employing what I have learned from study of Klein/Mahler Technique in the practice of physical therapy. I am completing prerequisites for a physical therapy program which I plan to attend in the coming years. Klein/Mahler Technique advocates dynamic alignment, prominently exemplified by putting the pelvis on top of the legs; dynamic alignment responds to the body's continual change of shape with ongoing adjustments that keep directing forces in the body to the support of the skeletal system. Julio commented that the old school was more grounded in these fundamental principles of support through the skeleton. As we talked further, he remarked that "the hip cries at the knee."
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Lecture Demonstration
Siomara Bridges "Cee Cee" Fall 08 Niles, Alumni Report
Barbara Mahler: Alumni Report

All the Hunter Students may be familiar with this alumnus Barbara Mahler. She is no stranger to Hunter College dance space, Barbara continues to call hunter her home. She uses the space to create her magnificent work. Barbara graduated as a dance major from Hunter College in 1977. She got her Masters degree from University Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In her biography it was found that she was not extremely talented in dancing, but she was a determined student, and she agreed that she would not only learn how to dance but also that she would it well. And from the looks of it she has worked to be an outstanding dancer and choreographer. Barbara Mahler's solo and groups' work have been seen worldwide and she has been a guest artist at many dance festivals across the Unites States Europe and Canada.

However it took Barbara sometime to get to where she is today. She discovered throughout her years at Hunter that her passion for dance was there, but she seemed to figure out her interest and passion was the body. It was found in her Biography on her website www.barbaramahler.com that her studies at Hunter College really impacted her way of seeing dance. It was her professor Dorothy Vislocky who was a pioneer in anatomy and kinesesiogy. Barbara then realized that there must be a way to use her body properly; she knew that there was way to get those beautiful turns a shape, and fluid movement. Barbara began to study with the Susan Klein School of dance in 1977. It took her sometime to understand her process of learning; this is sitituation I feel all dancers may relate to. Including myself I feel we work our selves up, by getting frustrated over us not getting movement right. But as Risa Steinberg a Jose Limon technique teacher, said, "We are not slow learners, we just haven't learn how we learn just yet." Barbara discovered that she was to first relax inside, and she would no longer be a just a body that needed to obey the rules. After that she noticed her process of learning had changed, she began to realize her body movement was slowly improving.
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