OVERVIEW

Designed to help you grow your craft, connect with your body, and enhance onstage presence, these Masterclass sessions are led by three expert practitioners:

Lathika Vithanage – Baroque Violinist and Alexander Technique Teacher

Penny McDonald – Master Alexander Technique Teacher specialising in the Performing Arts

Jacob Golding – Alexander Teacher-in-Training, Producer, Director, Actor, and Singer.

The Alexander Technique teaches you to become curious about what you’re doing—and gives you the skills to do it with more ease, grace, and joy. Each day will begin with the principles of the Technique, where we will learn to reset our bodies and breath, quieten the nervous system, and warm up in an Alexander-informed way.

Each participant will then be given the opportunity to perform something or explore an activity. We will work with you to identify what unnecessary habits might be stopping you from being the best you can be—and help you learn how not to do that unuseful thing.

We will explore how you have physically “placed” yourself when you perform—for example, what you’re doing with your body. We’ll also look at breath, presence, and how to connect with an audience.

While this workshop is geared toward the performing arts, anyone can participate or audit (observe). Whether you’re a performer, support worker, gardener, teacher, or simply curious about how to move and breathe with more ease, this is a powerful chance to witness the Technique in practice and feel the shift in real time.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Each workshop is a unique exploration of Alexander Technique, with different content and activities tailored to the participants and auditors (observers) present. Whether you attend one or both days, you’ll gain valuable insights into how the Technique enhances movement, presence, and creative potential.

This masterclass showcases the dynamic Participant/Auditor format, widely recognised as a powerful learning experience. Participants will explore Alexander Technique live, guided by Lathika, Penny and Jacob, while auditors and other participants benefit from observing the transformative process from a broader perspective.

By running this masterclass with a focus on performers, we also get to explore the heightened emotional state that comes with performing.

Inspired by world-class acting coaches like Howard Fine—renowned for integrating Alexander Technique into his work—these workshops are designed to empower individuals to move with freedom and ease.

SCHEDULE AND PRICE

Monday's session will run from 2pm-6pm (with a break for afternoon tea) and can cater for up to 8 participants. Cost: $90

Tuesday's session will run from 10am-4pm (with a break for lunch) and can cater for up to 15 participants. Cost: $120

Participants can register for either Monday or Tuesday, or both days. The cost for both days is $200.

Auditors/observers are welcome on both days. Cost: $20.

A small booking fee applies to online bookings.

MEET THE WORKSHOP LEADERS

Lathika Vithanage

Lathika Vithanage is an Australian-born baroque violinist who is now based in Europe. She has a rich background in baroque music, having studied with prominent baroque violin professors, including Stefano Montanari and Amandine Beyer. Her performing career includes solo and chamber music projects, as well as collaborations with several high-profile European groups. These include Accademia Bizantina, Concerto Italiano, La Cetra Barockorchester, L'Arpeggiata, La Fonte Musica and Cappella Mediterranea.

For the last five years she has dedicated herself to the study of the Alexander technique and is passionate about sharing this holistic approach to life and music with the world. From September 2025 she will be the baroque violin teaching assistant of Amandine Beyer at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.

Penny McDonald

Penny has been teaching the Alexander Technique for nearly 30 years and works predominantly in the performing arts, helping performers realise their full potential. Since graduating in 1996, she has taught in private practice and at institutions including the Australian National Academy of Music, 16th Street Actors Studio, Howard Fine Acting Studio, the Alexander Teacher Training Course, Victorian College of the Arts, Brave Studios, Cooper Screen Academy, and the National Drama School. Penny is currently teaching, conducting workshops, and running a teacher training program to train Alexander Technique teachers in nipaluna/Hobart.

Penny McDonald has worked for over 40 years in the theatre and event industry. She began performing in Hobart in the 1970s before moving to Sydney to study acting at the Q Theatre. She performed with Death Defying Theatre from 1984 to 1987, worked with Rock n Roll Circus, and ran a CEP Youth Theatre Program with Liverpool City Council. Penny moved to Melbourne in 1989 to take up the position of Artistic Co-Coordinator for Melbourne Workers Theatre.

In 2022 Penny directed and performed in True West by Sam Shepard, and in 2024 directed This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan at the Theatre Royal. In 2025 she performed a one-woman show—Kafka’s Monkey by Colin Teevan—at the Peacock Theatre.

Jacob Golding

Jacob Golding is a Hobart-based creative and Alexander Technique teacher-in-training. He first encountered the Technique in 2018 while working as an actor and quickly realised it would become a foundational part of his life and work. Since then, Jacob has integrated Alexander into every layer of his creative practice—across acting, directing, producing, and teaching.

Jacob is currently training under master teacher Penny McDonald and is set to graduate as a certified Alexander Technique practitioner in 2026. Alongside his training, he runs a thriving creative studio, GOLDINGcreative, and produces live theatre and community-driven arts experiences across Tasmania through his platform, The SESSIONS Project. His most recent directing credits include Kafka’s Monkey at the Peacock Theatre.

Jacob brings a deep curiosity, performer’s insight, and a lived understanding of embodiment to his Alexander work—supporting students and creatives to move, breathe, create, and live with more presence and ease.

Presented by Lathika Vithanage, Penny McDonald and Jacob Golding in association with VDB.