Connected Lives

This is the third in a series of articles about women who played important roles leading to the founding of the American Center for the Alexander Technique (ACAT). The first article in this series, “Connected Lives,” AmSAT Journal, no. 17 (Fall 2020), was devoted to Ethel Webb, who taught in Alexander’s practice in New York from 1914 to 1922 and participated in the training of Frank Pierce Jones. The second article, “Margaret Naumburg and the Alexander Technique, Part 2,” AmSAT Journal, no. 18 (Spring 2021), focused on Naumburg’s introduction of the Technique into New York classrooms and the early history of the Alexander Technique in New York City. This article explores the life of Irene Tasker, who met Naumburg and Webb in Rome in 1913 at the first international Montessori Training. Tasker was F.M. Alexander’s assistant, and she and Webb edited Alexander’s books. She introduced the Technique into childhood education, and she was the first to teach it in a group, using everyday activities.