Melbourne
In 1889, after three years in Waratah, Alexander decided to leave Tasmania to follow his aunt and uncle to Melbourne where they had moved the year before. He sought as he later put it "a wider scope of activity, not only in gaining a livelihood but in the fields of art and education in the fullest sense." He spent his first three months in the city devoting himself to culture, and spending his savings on visiting theatres and art galleries and attending concerts. According to his own account, he determined to "train myself for a career as a reciter to take a position meanwhile in the office of some company." He worked in a series of clerical jobs and took lessons from teachers such as an English actor James Cathcart, and an Australian elocutionist Fred Hill. He was inspired by the Melbourne theatrical performances Sarah Bernhardt, later claiming to have attended each one of her performances.
Alexander continued to suffer periods of ill-health, and was advised by his doctor to leave Melbourne for healthier climes. Three months of seaside air of Geelong helped him recover his health, and he returned to the city. Little information exists about much of Alexander's years in Melbourne, but from November 1891 onwards, newspapers began to report to his participation in amateur dramatic recitals, and give them positive reviews. However, Alexander began to suffer from hoarseness, and at times after performing could hardly speak. Friends also noted audible "gasping" during his recitations. As described forty years later in his book "The Use of the Self", advice from doctors and voice trainers did not have the necessary results, so he began a process of self-examination with mirrors into his speaking habits to see if he could determine the cause. With time, he found that by using "conscious control" of actions, by inhibiting wrong movements rather than trying to "do" correct ones, and by focussing on the "means whereby" rather than "the end to be gained", his vocal problems and longstanding respiratory problems disappeared. The evidence from other publications of Alexander, however, suggests that these insights came to Alexander over a much longer period and in a less systematic fashion than he described in 1932, with some terms and procedures not appearing in his writings until as late as 1924.
Freed from his vocal problems, Alexander gave up his clerical jobs and embarked on a career as a professional reciter and voice teacher. He commenced in early 1894 with a tour of his native Tasmania, which included an unhappy visit to his family. His parents' financial situation was precarious, and they had been deeply affected by the death of an infant son in 1893; his father turned to alcohol as a result. According to Alexander, father and son quarrelled, with John Alexander expressing disapproval of his son as a "vagabond and strolling player", and there is no record of them ever meeting again. Otherwise, the tour was a success, with excellent press reviews and a performance before the Governor of Tasmania in Hobart, a concert in which Robert and Edith Young, whom he had met years earlier at Watarah, also appeared. The trio developed a close friendship. Besides giving recitals, he also gave "elocution lessons". In early 1895, he set out for New Zealand where he visited various cities, giving recitals to excellent reviews and voice lessons to several prominent individuals, including Frederic Villiers and the Mayor of Auckland. Despite being advise to go to America to seek his fortune, he returned to Melbourne, with the intention of teaching his new method there. In 1896, Alexander rented teaching rooms in a landmark building on Elizabeth St, known as the Australian Building. He advertised his voice lessons in the press and with pamphlets, claiming both to develop the voice and to "cure" stuttering and throat ailments. In his pamphlets his pupils, in the early days mainly clergymen, enthusiastically testified to improvements in their voice and general health, and doctors reported that patients sent to him had improved. Within the year, Alexander invited a younger brother Albert Redden (known as A.R.) to join him as his assistant; he was followed by a sister, Amy, who came initially to receive help for medical problems, but was then also trained in the work. Back in Tasmania, Alexander's father was drinking heavily, and the family's economic situation was bleak; towards the end of the year, Alexander's mother and three of his siblings arrived in Melbourne, never to return. Alexander devoted himself mainly to his teaching and practice, with an occasional recital. In 1899, Alexander moved in with his old friends Robert and Edith Young and formed something of a menage à trois, with Edith and Alexander's affair accepted by Robert. The trio organized theatrical entertainments in Melbourne and then in Sydney where Alexander, and later the Youngs, moved in 1900. Due in part to Edith Young's ambitions as a professional actor, from 1901 to 1903 Alexander and the Youngs produced a series of Shakespearean plays, starring Alexander and Edith, and with Alexander's students in the lesser roles. Alexander spent most of his time on the money-losing plays and Shakespeare classes and little time teaching his method. However, in 1902, his approach impressed a leading Sydney surgeon, W. J. Stewart McKay, who helped him with referrals and became a close friend. Perhaps as a result, Alexander's method (and advertising) focussed more on medical issues, including tuberculosis. McKay also encouraged Alexander to develop his medical knowledge by attending classes at the medical school, but he proved a poor student. McKay recommended Alexander go to London, and offered to give him introductions to leading doctors there. Alexander was in debt, but his financial problems were alleviated when he won a ₤750 horse racing bet which allowed him to buy a passage to England, pay off some of his debts, provide some support for his female relatives, and which left a small sum to start him off in London. He sailed from Melbourne in April 1904, and was not to return.
Read more about this topic: F. Matthias Alexander