Nearly instantaneous

Inspired by my initial explorations with Richard Ehrman and Anastasi Siotas many years ago and developed by the extensive explorations of another group of teachers from around the world, we built the Lesson Locator, the first search engine for searching for titles, texts, and positions of Moshe’s Awareness Through Movement (ATM) lessons.

The first versions of the Locator relied on position data included in a table published accompanying the original recordings of Moshe teaching his public classes on Alexander Yanai Street in Tel Aviv. Because that information was incomplete and inaccurate, position searches were unreliable and, therefore, not as helpful as they could be.

During the pandemic, Naffie Fischbacher, the project manager, and I initiated a project to tackle this issue. An international team of committed colleagues — Barbara Kronsteiner (Austria), Lindy Ost (USA), May Nasser (Canada), Patricia Lewy (Switzerland), and Stéphanie Menasé (France), generously volunteered their time and expertise to help us. This collaborative effort is a testament to what we can do when we work together for the benefit of our professional community.

Thus far, the Locator contains the 550 lessons in the Alexander Yanai collection, along with those from Feldenkrais’ Awareness Through Movement book and the 1978 Peter Brook/Bouffes du Nord workshop Moshe taught in Paris. We divided the lessons amongst the members of the project so that we could analyze each one. To ensure the new position data was as accurate as possible, we carefully checked each other’s work. We also met regularly over two years to address the discrepancies and questions that came up, ensuring the highest level of accuracy and reliability in the Locator.

After we verified all the position data, Trey Donovan, Mind in Motion’s web wizard, revamped the Locator with the latest indexing software and created a new, streamlined search interface. The new version is significantly faster than the previous one, offering lightning-fast, almost instantaneous results. We are thrilled to present this improved version to you and hope you will find it as exciting as we do.

The new Lesson Locator is now available to anyone with a Mind in Motion Online account. If you don’t have one yet, you can sign up for a free account here.

Naffie and I are excited to invite you to two online information sessions. These sessions are designed to address any queries you may have about the Locator and, more importantly, to gather your valuable feedback and suggestions. Your input is crucial to us, and we eagerly await your participation. To join us, please register by clicking here.

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