An account of her cello study with Pablo Casals in the 1950's and her discovery of the resonance between his teaching and the principles of the Alexander Technique.

"'Just Play Naturally' by Vivien Mackie, in conversation with Joe Armstrong, goes very deep into the creative process by recounting the steps by which Pablo Casals taught Mackie, as a young woman, to go beyond all her formal training in order to become a real musician, and it goes on to show how an artist, in this case a performing artist, may continue going deeper all the rest of her life.

"The dialogue between Vivien the cellist and Joe the flautist, both of whom are skilled and devoted teachers of the Alexander Technique, could profit any practitioner of the arts, but it penetrates beyond art into life itself.

"This book illustrates the evolution of a sense of rhythm, of a connection to the breath, of the ways in which the self combines the resources of the mind and the body, of motion and stillness, of pitch and meter. Even more than the above, this book tells how to change your life, how to get in touch with the reality beneath learned experience." Peter Davison, Poet, Editor

"... extraordinarily moving - an important account of artistic discipleship, dedication, communion - as well as a deepening revelation of the Alexander Technique." Rosanna Warren, Poet, Professor of Comparative Literature, Boston University

"I can think of no other [publication], except Alexander's own writings, where anyone has described how they learnt the Technique, put it into practice in their professional work, and reaped the results that were to be anticipated." Walter Carrington, Master Teacher of the Alexander Technique, London

DUENDE EDITIONS
March 2002; reprinted by Xlibris.com, 2006.
ISBN 0-9717004-0-0 - 165pp - 2 illustrations.