Congress Directors & Team
The directors for the 13th Alexander Technique International Congress are Michaela Wohlgemuth, Kamal Thapen and Michael Frederick. They are responsible for overseeing, planning and implementation of the Congress in Dublin, Ireland.
Organising a Congress
Organizing a Congress is a major commitment requiring several years of collaborative work to carry the process through thoroughly. The current directors are dedicated to fulfilling this commitment to bring the world body of Alexander Technique teachers together.
They are currently establishing contacts with the many Alexander groups around the world to get the word out about Congress 2025 and have been researching and inviting special guest presenters, securing University College Dublin as a venue in Dublin, researching hotels, tourist information, and restaurants that will hopefully make booking, travelling, and attending the Congress 2025 as easy and enjoyable as possible for participants.
They have constructed a workable budget, and have created the structures to notify, register, and inform the attendees, and are continuing to work with the hundreds of details that arise as we move forward.
They are extremely grateful to all the previous Congress directors who have freely given such wonderful advice and guidance. They have listened intently to the feedback given from the last Congress attendees and are shaping the 2025 Congress to be inclusive, safe, and enjoyable, incorporating as many of their suggestions as possible.
Michaela Wohlgemuth
Michaela Wohlgemuth (Dublin Congress Director) brings over 25 years of experience as an educator and performance coach to her work. She trained in ATI Los Angeles 1999 and has worked in California, Germany and for 21 years in Ireland. She was an assistant-director at the AT Training School in Galway for 13 years. For the past eight years, she has served as the lead teacher for Alexander Technique at The Lir Acting Academy of Dramatic Art at Trinity College, Dublin.
In this role, she imparts invaluable skills to acting students, fostering their confidence both onstage and in various aspects of their lives. She not only instructs acting students on cultivating confidence onstage and in their broader lives but also emphasizes the importance of authenticity, transformation, and safety.
As a trauma coach, she is particularly interested in employing the Technique in a trauma-informed manner, prioritizing the creation of safe environments for emotional learning and processing.
Michaela is deeply passionate about teaching the integration of mind, emotions, and physical intelligence through the Alexander Technique, enabling individuals to lead balanced, embodied lives.
Kamal Thapen
Kamal Thapen (Dublin Congress Director) trained to be an Alexander Technique teacher with Walter Carrington after a long career in business. On top of his private practice of teaching Alexander Technique and T’ai Chi, he was the assistant to Brita Forsstrom for ten years at the City Alexander Technique School in London, which has now sadly closed.
Kamal has presented workshops to businesses and organisations such as Accenture, Chanel, BAA and Southwark Council. National Charities such as the Philadelphia Association and the Voluntary Services Overseas. He also teaches at two Adult Education colleges, City Lit in Holborn and South Thames College in Wandsworth, London.
Passionate about getting the Alexander Technique more into mainstream education, business, industry and healthcare, Kamal became a founding co-director with Claire Rennie of HITE Ltd.
An Alexander Technique based training and publishing company. HITE has published ten books on the Technique and a T'ai Chi DVD. HITE runs workshops and lessons for Alexander teachers, trainees, and pupils at Harley Street in London.
On a voluntary basis, Kamal has been both a director and former Chair of the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique (STAT) and is currently a director of the Friends of Alexander Technique, the Charity for the F Matthias Alexander Technique. He is also the Chair of trustees of the FM Alexander Trust and was a founding member and director of The European School of T’ai Chi Ch’uan.
Michael Frederick
Michael Frederick (Dublin Congress Director) is an internationally recognized teacher in the field of psycho-physical re-education. He trained as an Alexander Teacher in England with Walter & Dilys Carrington and in America with Marjorie Barstow (all master teachers trained by F.M. Alexander in the 1930s).
He studied in the U.S. and Israel as a Feldenkrais Practitioner with Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais and has extensive training in the Yoga tradition of TKV Desikachar from Chennai/Madras, India. Michael also trained as an actor at The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Bristol, England. As founding director of the first three International Congresses on the Alexander Technique, he has organized and taught over 250 workshops in the USA and Europe since 1978.
Michael worked for two years at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute and taught for over a decade in The Old Globe Theatre’s MFA Acting Program at the University of San Diego. From 1994 to 2000, Michael organized Alexander Technique Master Classes with Marjory Barlow (F.M. Alexander’s niece) and Elisabeth Walker in San Francisco, Basel, and Paris. He has also conducted presentation skills seminars for upper-level corporate management in companies such as Du Pont Corporation, Merck Pharmaceuticals, and AMOCO.
He is the former Chairman of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT). He is now Co-Director and on the Alexander Training Institute-Los Angeles (ATI-LA) Board of Directors. Michael teaches in Los Angeles, Ojai, and Santa Barbara, California.
Michael was voted the best Alexander Teacher in Los Angeles Magazine’s "Best of LA."
Valentina Sciutti
Valentina Sciutt (Congress Admin & Support) with 20 years experience in customer service in Italian, English and German, brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the Congress Team.
Her interest in yoga, swimming and meditation, combined with the appreciation of the benefits of the Alexander Technique, make her very effective in understanding the needs of our profession and in creating different forms of versatile support.
After working with translation, Valentina is keen in creating connections and participating in a network of projects, but also into supporting individual professional in developing their own business and in collaboration to create online visibility and professional development.
Mary Hill
Mary Hill (Congress Admin & Support)
was introduced to the Alexander Technique by her violin teacher at university. She worked in reference book publishing and as a School Business Manager before being trained by Brita Forsstrom and Kamal Thapen at the City Alexander Technique School on London.
Mary teaches in Southeast London and is the STAT representative for CNHC and the Integrated Healthcare Co-operative (the IHC). She enjoys applying the Alexander Technique to various activities such as playing the piano and violin, as well as to everyday movements like walking and cycling.
Ruth Hommelsheim
Ruth Hommelsheim, (Congress Photographer and Social Media) a teaching member of STAT, brings a unique blend of Alexander Technique expertise and professional photography to the Congress. Her journey with the Alexander Technique began as a solution to lifelong severe headaches, leading to a transformative career change.
Trained in London by Anthony Kingsley at the Alexander Teacher Training School (ATTS), Ruth underwent an intense process of self-development and integration. Her training emphasised a trauma-informed approach to the Alexander Technique, equipping her with skills to guide others through their own transformative journeys.
As a professional photographer and visual artist with many years of experience, Ruth's work is informed by her passion for the Alexander Technique's holistic and non-invasive approach
Having served as the official photographer at the 2022 Berlin Congress, Ruth brings both her Alexander Technique insight and photographic expertise to capture the essence of the upcoming event.
Rossella Buono
Rossella, (Congress Photographer and Social Media) born in Italy in 1975, lives and works between her adoptive home in the UK, Italy, and Australia, where she trained with David Moore in Melbourne.
As well as running a busy practice as an Alexander Technique teacher in Canterbury, UK, and online, Rossella also teaches the technique at the School for FM Alexander Studies in Australia. She co-directed the Berlin Congress in 2022.
Rossella is the author of For the Love of Games with Anne Mallen, with beautiful illustrations by Melbourne artist Isobel Knowles. This collection of games and activities, some original and some gathered over the years, offers a resource for AT teachers to begin working with groups, or add depth and variety to an existing group-based practice.
Helen Ball
Helen Ball (Social Media Marketing) is a multi-passionate person whose vision is to leave the world a tiny bit better than she found it. Her passions are helping people speak up, building personal resilience and building community.
Her own path to the Alexander Technique was like many, a painful one.
‘I was attracted to the Alexander Technique for the back-pain relief, after an absolutely debilitating episode of back pain when I was 27. The training showed me this practice is far more than pain relief, I feel empowered by my body now, and am excited to age and become at each step more confident to be myself. Sharing this practice with others and watching them gain results is a wonderful feeling’
Helen is Mum to a toddler and also divides her time between her 2 businesses:
AT your best move; offering AT, both 1-2-1 and group courses, face to face and online.
The Audience Friend; an arts marketing platform working to ensure greater access to the arts.
Anna Bosatta
Helpers Team Manager: Anna finished teacher training in the Alexander Technique earlier this year, and is excited to continue exploring what it means to be a practitioner as she offers her AT experience to other people. She trained with Tom Vasiliades in New York and with Anthony Kingsley in London.
It is really important to Anna in all her work (and indeed in all her life) to offer spaces where vulnerability and authenticity feel safe, which in turn enable curiosity and creativity. Professionally, she also offers spiritual accompaniment in daily life and on retreat, and leads community music-making and other arts projects.
Anne Mallen
Head Editor: Anne lives and works between Melbourne and Daylesford. She was for many years a sub-editor on a newspaper, but now dedicates herself to teaching the Alexander Technique full time. She especially enjoys working with people who have major postural challenges and chronic pain, because she faced these same issues herself before discovering the Alexander Technique.
Jana Boronova
Web Development: Jana trained at David Moore’s Melbourne school and was certified as an Alexander Technique teacher and Smart Yoga teacher in 2015. She was working at the Melbourne Alexander School before returning to Europe in 2019. Afterwards she stayed in touch with David and during lockdown helped him set up his Smart Yoga Online Teacher Training. At the same time she was working with Rosella Buono on Authors – Not Your Usual Book Club series which will be back for season five this autumn.
An avid snowboarder and skier, she has been part of the Ease on Skis project for many years. Together with Erik Bendix and Christoph Bacher she has been teaching regular EOS workshops in Austria.
Jana is also a certified Shaw Method teacher and loves working with swimmers of all levels.
