“Benefits to be gained from the Alexander Technique include release of restrictions, increased coordination, effortless movement, fuller capacity of breath, improvement in the use of voice and speech, increased tone in the musculature, and a stronger sense of presence.
JEAN-LOUIS RODRIGUE & KRISTOF KONRAD
Who is Alexander Techworks?
Jean-Louis Rodrigue and Kristof Konrad are the team that make up Alexander Techworks. They are internationally known as two of the most sought after acting coaches and performance experts, collectively teaching the Alexander Technique in theater, film, television, and beyond for the past 38 years.
They have worked with many top actors, directors, and writers, including Leonardo Dicaprio, Margot Robbie, Ang Lee, Christian Bale, Hilary Swank, Lawrence Kasdan, Josh Brolin, Rachel McAdams, Chris Pine, and many, many others.
JEAN-LOUIS RODRIGUE
Founder
Born in Casablanca, Morocco, Jean-Louis Rodrigue is a movement director, acting coach, and senior teacher of the Alexander Technique. For over 40 years, he has worked professionally in Los Angeles and New York in theatre, film, television, and digital media; his unique approach to character movement and improving the levels of performance has brought international recognition.
Jean-Louis is also a world-renowned speaker. He has given talks at the Berlin International Film Festival, Generation Campus in Moscow, Verbier Festival in Switzerland, Universidad de Comunicacion in Mexico City, Berlinale Talents in Guadalajara, USC School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney, and DLD Women (Digital-Life-Design) in Munich.
Jean-Louis grew up in Milano, Italy, and was inspired to be an actor in 1959 when he attended one of the first performances of Ferruccio Soleri in “Arlecchino, Servant of Two Masters” at Piccolo Teatro di Milano.
Jean-Louis began his formal actor training in 1967 with Herbert Berghof at the HB Studio and with Sonia Moore at the American Center for Stanislavski Theater Art in New York.
In 1970, William Ball awarded Jean-Louis a full scholarship to study in the Advanced Training Program at the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco. During his training at ACT, he discovered the Alexander Technique, and stayed three more years training as an Alexander teacher with Frank Ottiwell and Giora Pinkas at the American Center for the Alexander Technique, San Francisco.
Post-formal training, Jean-Louis studied extensively with master Alexander Technique teachers Marjorie Barstow, Walter Carrington, Patrick McDonald, and Dilys Carrington. Jean-Louis is also a certified teacher of Jessica Wolf’s The Art of Breathing.
Jean-Louis has worked extensively in film and TV, and his most notable work includes: I, Tonya, Vice, Mary Queen of Scots, Love and Mercy, Bill and Ted Face the Music, J. Edgar, W., Passion Fish, The Time Machine, Seabiscuit, The Normal Heart, Bee Season, and The Cat’s Meow. He collaborated with director Ang Lee and screenwriter David Magee in the development of the tiger movement for the Academy Award-winning Life of Pi, and he choreographed the period movement for The Affair of the Necklace starring Hilary Swank. Jean-Louis has coached hundreds of actors in developing their character’s physicality and movement. Some of his clients include Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, Rachel McAdams, Matt Bomer, Josh Brolin, Juliette Binoche, Scott Speedman, Patricia Arquette, Zoey Deutch, Paul Dano, Luke Kirby, Helena Bonham Carter, Jonathan Pryce, Simon Baker, Joely Richardson, Lynn Redgrave, JoBeth Williams, Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, Tate Donovan, Julia Sweeney, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Sally Kellerman, Sir Ian McKellen, Kirsten Dunst, Mary McDonnell, Elizabeth Banks, and Jurnee Smollett-Bell.
In theater, Jean-Louis has most recently worked with the cast of Long Day’s Journey into Night starring Alfred Molina at the Geffen Playhouse. He was awarded a Fellowship grant from the Montalvo Arts Center to develop and direct a play adaptation of Bernhard Schlink’s best selling novel The Reader. He coached Chris Pine in The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Mark Taper Forum, and collaborated with Rita Maffei, Pamela Gien, and Larry Moss in an Italian production of Gien’s The Syringa Tree at the Teatro Stabile di Innovazione in Udine and at Il Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Italy. For her performance, Maffei won the Gold Medal from the President of the Italian Republic.
Jean-Louis has also worked with Gulu Monteiro on The Bacchae at the Getty Villa, the circus artists of Cirque du Soleil’s Ka at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and he has collaborated with director Joanna Settle and Heather Raffo in her acclaimed play Nine Parts of Desire at the Geffen Playhouse. He has collaborated with Larry Moss on April Daisy White’s Sugar, Pamela Gien’s Obie award-winning play The Syringa Tree at Playhouse 91 in N.Y., and Bo Eason’s Runt of the Litter at the 37 Arts Theater, N.Y., in fall 2007.
He has coached actors working at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Mark Taper Forum, Geffen Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, and on Broadway, as well as the artists of Cirque du Soleil's La Nouvelle Experience on improving their performance and preventing injuries.
He is currently a member of the faculties at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, while also teaching regularly for Larry Moss.
Jean-Louis works with leading orchestras and music conservatories, and coaches world-renowned musicians:
2017-Present | UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
1998-2017 | UCLA Department of Music
1998-2007 | Verbier Festival and Academy, UBS Verbier Orchestra (Verbier, Switzerland) | Martin T:son Engstrom and Miguel Esteban, Founders and Artistic Directors
1989-1997 | USC Thornton School of Music
Summer 1988 | New World Symphony | Michael Tilson Thomas, Music Director
Summer 1986 | Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts, Wheaton College | Michael Tilson Thomas, Music Director
1985-1988 | American Center for Music Theater Training, Opera Intensive, Los Angeles Music Center | Paul Gleason, Director
1983-1989 | Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, Orchestral Training Program | Jeffrey Babcock, Program Director
1980-1983 | San Francisco Symphony | Michael Steinberg, Artistic Advisor
OPERA
Jean-Louis coaches individual singers with physical and vocal preparation:
La Boheme | Julia Migenes | L.A. Opera | Dir. Ross Hunter
Nixon in China | Kaitlin Hopkins | L.A. Opera | Dir. Peter Sellars
The Abduction from the Seraglio | Catherine Naglestad | Hamburg Opera
La Clemenza di Tito | Catherine Naglestad | Stuttgart Opera
Cosi Fan Tutte | Richard Bernstein | L.A. Opera | Jennifer Foster-Smith
A Midsummer Night's Dream | Jonathan Mack | L.A. Opera
Reuters Foundation | Maria Rey-Joly Castellanos | Verbier Festival | 1999 Scholarship Winner
Lucia di Lammermoor | Noelle Richardson | San Francisco Opera
Alcina | Catherine Naglestad | San Francisco Opera
Alcina | Alice Coote | San Francisco Opera
KRISTOF KONRAD
Partner
Born in Poland, Kristof Konrad is an actor, acting coach, movement director, teacher of the Alexander Technique, and co-director of Alexander Techworks with Jean-Louis Rodrigue. For over twenty years, he has successfully worked as an actor in both the United States and Europe, which gives him the unique opportunity to better understand and serve his students as both a teacher and fellow actor.
Kristof trained as an actor at the National Dramatic Academy in Warsaw, Poland (M.F.A. in Theatre) and the Alexander Fersen Academy in Rome, Italy. While in Poland, he studied and worked with theatre and film masters Jerzy Grotowski and Andrzej Wajda. Kristof discovered the Alexander Technique while working in the USA. He was fascinated by its effectiveness in improving the level of acting and coping with the stress associated with performing and everyday life. He spent three years training as an Alexander Technique teacher with Jean-Louis Rodrigue and many others at Alexander Training Institute of Los Angeles, where he also received his certification.
Kristof helped Lymari Nadal to embody Eva, the love interest of Denzel Washington in American Gangster. Past and current students include: Kenneth Branagh, Cobie Smulders, Justin Chatwin, Michael Welch, Jennifer Siebel-Newsom, JoBeth Williams, Eric Dane, Sharon Lawrence, and many more.
Kristof worked with the cast of King Lear and The Seagull of The Royal Shakespeare Company; helped Sharon Lawrence to create Vivien Leigh in Orson's Shadow at the Pasadena Playhouse; worked with the cast of Electricidad at the Mark Taper Forum; and worked with the artists of Cirque du Soleil’s Ka on improving performance and preventing injuries.
Kristof has taught for the Berlin International Film Festival, Verbier Festival & Academy in Switzerland, and the UBS Verbier Youth Orchestra.
For the past ten years, Kristof has successfully worked as an actor in film and television in the United States and Europe. Some of his TV credits include: Scorpion, Zoo, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., House of Cards, Nikita, Scandal, Undercovers, E-Ring, Alias, The Unit, The Agency, JAG, Gilmore Girls, and many others. Some of his film credits include: Red Sparrow, Angels and Demons, Independence Day, Hotel California, Chernobyl Diaries, and Operation Samum. In the U.S., Kristof has worked with directors Kenneth Branagh, Francis Lawrence, Ron Howard, and Roland Emmerich. For a complete list of credits, visit his IMDB page or personal website: www.kristofkonrad.com.
Jean-Louis and Kristof are not only experts in the theory and application of this incredible technique but they also pursue their work with a vibrant, contagious love. They create a beautiful work environment: safe, rigorous, personal — and sprinkled with a healthy dose of humor.
Kristof works with you at such a core level that you are bound to grow as a human being and artist all at once. He is so caring and sensitive to my needs and how to help me. I carry our work together throughout the day/week, regardless of whether or not I am working as an artist. I recommend his work to anyone serious about a future in the arts.
Whether Jean-Louis and I are exploring the physicality of a character, the emotional landscape of a scene, or the textual insights of a script, in every scenario, he possesses a depth of curiosity, sensitivity, and expertise that have helped me, time and time again, breathe real life into the characters I’ve played on-stage and on-screen.
