I was wondering how the tools of AT could help actors, singer and dancers to receive adequate feedback and find an optimum tone of readiness. I observed that by inhibiting and directing the muscular activity between the tailbone and the navel, we can develop an optimum muscle tone for movement. As a result, I designed an exercise I call ‘tail to navel’ (‘saba-naba’ in Estonian), involving work with the body’s central axis. It has proved effective in practice, supporting the performer in the transition from being in a neutral axis (state) to developing an active readiness, without losing his/her back.

This exercise is carried out in several phases. It is one of a series of exercises I use during the early stages of the work to create a readiness (or to prepare the student) for subsequent practice, enabling the student to cope with the physically demanding work during the first year of the drama school. In fact, it is much like the preparation that takes place in the lying down work which helps to acquire conscious inhibition and primary control. It is important to bear in mind that the exercise works only if combined with the use of Alexander’s principle.