Gerda Alexander

Gerda Alexander (February 15, 1908 – February 21, 1994) was a German / Danish teacher who developed a body-based method called Eutony. Her parents were enthusiasts of Dalcroze Eurhythmics, passing on to her a similar interest in arts and movement. She studied in Blensdorf-Schulen in Wuppertal and was graduated in the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin in 1929.

Her studies about movement and relaxation, add to the rheumatic fever and endocarditis that she contracted when she was young, inspired her to find ways to look for a more economic form of movement. She found a way of regulating neuromuscular tone, what was confirmed later with the discovery of Gama System. [1]

By means of observation and reflection on her students, their own ailments and difficulties in mobility, and the investigation of the neuropsychological bases of human movement, she molded her own method. The name, "eutony" (from Greek Eu: good, - and of Latin Tonus: tension, the grade of tension or elasticity of muscle fibers) was coined with the help of the Dr. med. Alfred Bartussek to express the idea of a harmoniously balanced "tonicity in constant adaptation to the state or activity of the moment". She postulated that "it is important, in treatment, not to give and do more than is necessary, so that the other can rely on himself. It is not that I am a great master who gives you help. Rather, I can introduce you to my work for your own self-discovery."[2]

She died on February 21, 1994, six days after her 86th birthday.