COLIN PIP DIXON (Teacher)

Short Bio

Colin Pip Dixon is both a performing violinist and a fully trained and experienced Feldenkrais practitioner (Guild Certified in 2007).  He uses his own experiences as a performing musician to help build the bridge for students between the movement-based work of Feldenkrais and the work of musicians. He has worked with music students from Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, CUNY Graduate Center, Stony Brook University (DMA), Paris and Lyon Conservatories (CNSM), University of Oregon and Pacific University, as well as many high-level professional musicians and actors. 

Detailed Bio

Feldenkrais Background

Colin Pip Dixon teaches Feldenkrais specifically for musicians, but also for the general public. Most recently, he has been invited to give workshops for musicians (students, performers and educators) at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance (for the viola, cello and horn studios) as well as at Pacific University outside of Portland. He will be presenting his work at the ASTA (American String Teachers Association) National Conference in March 2019. He also gives private lessons and teaches group classes periodically at Eugene Yoga.

Previously Colin organized private Feldenkrais workshops for Musicians in Paris (beginning in 2006) and New York City (beginning in 2012) and was invited to teach workshops in France at the National Conservatory of Reims, the music school of Noyon, the Café des Arts in Grenoble, for the Baroque Theatre company La Fabrique à Théâtre, at the Trianon Theater (Paris), and the Ranelagh Theater in Paris. In NYC he taught music instructors at the Third Street Music School, a workshop for Masters and Doctorate music students at Stony Brook University,  and was on staff to teach general public Feldenkrais classes at the West End Fitness Health Club. In Paris, Colin often  collaborated with  actress/Feldenkrais teacher Cécile Nicolon

Colin Pip Dixon first encountered the Feldenkrais Method® during his violin studies in France in 1998. He immediately felt the strong effect of the work on his playing. Questioned  by these subtle changes, he continued taking Feldenkrais workshops for his own personal development as a musician until he decided to begin the Professional Training Program in 2004. From January 2004 – November 2007 he did his professional training at Accord Mobile in Paris (as part of the class “Paris International”),  under the direction of Myriam Pfeffer and Paul Newton. Myriam Pfeffer was one of the original first group of 13 who were trained personally by Moshe Feldenkrais over a period of ten years, and also one of his personal assistants for the rest of his life. The effects of this training were revolutionary for Colin both as a musician and as a human being and confirmed the necessity for him to teach and share this work with others. After finishing his professional training, he continued to deepen his experience of the Method through advanced trainings both as a student and often as an interpreter (English/French) for the trainers. He completed Larry Goldfarb’s “Trilogy” advanced training in Paris, as well as advanced trainings by Alan Questal (for actors), Jeff Haller, Jerry Karzen, Paul Newton, among others. Other trainers that he’s studied with include: Julie Peck (Australia), Richard Corbeil (Canada), François Combeau (France), Angel DiBenedetto (USA), Jeremy Krauss, Carl Ginsberg, among others.

Musical Background

As a musician, Colin began his studies at the Mannes College of Music Prep. (NYC) where he studied violin with Barbara Krakauer. He went on to earn a BA in music at the Liberal Arts school Haverford College (PA) while studying violin with Carol Stein Amado (daughter of Lillian Fuchs). After that, he spent one year on a full scholarship as an invited scholar-musician at the European Mozart Academy in Poland where professors included: Aurèle Nicolet, Bruno Pasquier, Michel Lethiec, Sergiu Luca, Gabor Takacs, Mark Kaplan, Grigory Zhislin, Sara Laimon, Imre Rohmann, Laura Kaminsky (director) etc. In 1998 he moved to Paris where he spent three years in the program “Formation Supérieure au violin et sa pédagie” with violinist Patricia Reibaud.

He has worked extensively throughout France as a violinist and a composer. Having grown up with parents who were actors, the relationship between music and text and the theatre has always been essential in his work. As composer and/or violinist/actor on stage he worked and toured many years in France with the Théâtre de l’Arc-en-Ciel www.theatrearcenciel.com , along with other theater companies. In 2012 he established a group of musicians and actors called the Elsewhere Ensemble, which has performed in New York City, Eugene and Portland, Oregon, France, Belgium, Edinburgh, Montreal and Lebanon. Works include: Chekhov Triptych – three Chekhov stories in concert, Letter to Brahms, His Majesty, the Devil – a play with music, The Happy Prince, among others. Highlights in his experiences as a violinist have included performing Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata at Les Invalides (Paris) in honor of the centennial memorial of Leo Tolstoy’s death, and a concert with singer Anna Mayilyan (singer) in Yerevan, Armenia.  Opera News’ senior editor Louise T. Guinther wrote of his Kreutzer Sonata “… surely Beethoven was well served […] the thrilling connection they made with […] music lovers on those […] nights rendered them worthy present-day votaries to the same muse that inspired Handel and Beethoven so many years ago.”

Teaching Background

As a violin teacher he has taught privately and at the Great Neck Music Conservatory in New York. In France he taught at the National Conservatory of Reims – CRR (longterm replacement), as well as replacements at the National Conservatories of Verseilles (CRR) and Rueil-Malmaison (CRR) and the conservatory of Orsay. In New York City he was a teaching assistant to Barbara Krakauer for a year.

As a teacher he hopes to be able to help build the bridge for his students between the movement-based work of Feldenkrais and their work as musicians. He also feels indebted to his violin teachers Barbara Krakauer and Carol Stein Amado who were both deeply immersed in an extraordinary musical culture, combined with a deep love of music which he hopes he can help to share through the transformative work of Feldenrkais.

Colin Pip Dixon is a certified Feldenkrais teacher, having received his International Practitioner’s Certificate from l’EuroTAB (Comité d’Accréditation des Formations Feldenkrais pour l’Europe et Israël) on conclusion of his training at Accord Mobile, Paris, France. He is also certified by, and a member of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America.