Exploring Systems of Balance through Alexander Technique & Functional Awareness®
with Nancy Romita
Saturday April 25, 2026
9:00 -10:OO AM US Eastern Time
Zoom
Balance is not a station you arrive at, it is a way of traveling
This workshop explores balance through Alexander’s principles of sensory appreciation, inhibition and direction. Each person navigates balance through a unique body construct and varied learning styles. This workshop honors these learning differences and provides Functional Awareness® verbal, auditory, visual, tactile, and proprioceptive cueing prompts to help support Alexander’s ‘thinking processes’ and encourage stability. Functional Awareness® is a somatic approach that draws on current research in functional anatomy and motor learning to design strategies easily integrated into one’s Alexander Technique practices to deepen body understanding, improve movement skills, and foster self-agency.
Nancy Wanich-Romita (MFA, RSME, M.AmSAT RYT) is an Alexander Technique Teacher, dance educator, yogi, keynote speaker, & co-author of Functional Awareness and Yoga and Functional Awareness Anatomy in Action for Dancers published by Oxford University Press. Romita is a Teaching professor at Towson University, former director of Alexander Technique Midatlantic Teacher Training, initiated Johns Hopkins Hospital (https://www.hopkinsmedicine.
This workshop is offered as part of ATTGP‘s monthly series of low-cost online workshops for the public. Nancy is a teaching member of ATTGP (Alexander Technique Teachers of Greater Philadelphia).
Cost: $10
To register for the session and receive the Zoom link please email: functionalawareness@gmail.com
Functional Awareness® Mindfulness Practices in Embodied Anatomy for the Dance Educator
Asynchronous Online Learning:
Summer Course: June 8-July 17 2026
Course Description:
Functional Awareness® (FA) is a practical approach to dance pedagogy using anatomical imagery and reflective practices to enhance movement potential, facilitate ease in action, and improve dynamic alignment. This 6-week course curriculum is an opportunity to reinvigorate teaching practices and renew personal movement practices for self-care.
The course utilizes engaging lectures, readings, and active movement explorations that present current research on motor learning skills for core strength, improving standing leg balance, and other dance skills. The course is conducted as weekly sessions. The sessions include asynchronous webinars and optional opportunities to meet synchronously with the instructors and cohort to share insights and questions. Learning outcomes include the ability to utilize FA verbal, tactile, & visual cues to enhance efficacy in action, employ FA rubrics to assess student learning, and acquire a language for providing feedback to students that encourage student agency. Each week, participants learn strategies to improve movement skills while employing tools for dancer wellness and injury prevention. The course content is appropriate for all movement populations and is applicable for all dance styles. The modules integrate practical applications in functional anatomy and somatic mindfulness practices to support inclusive learning and diverse perspectives in dance.
