James Kanal

James Kanal is a certified Alexander Technique Teacher, Licensed Body Mapping Educator and Training Mentor, and Suzuki violin teacher based in the New York metropolitan area. He is the Assistant Director of the Arts at the Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, NJ and maintains a private studio in Montclair, NJ, working in-person and remotely with emerging artists, performers, and teachers.

As an expert in movement education, James is sought-after as a clinician on the benefits of Alexander Technique and Body Mapping in performance and pedagogy. He offers private lessons, workshops, and masterclasses to performers, teachers, and students on how understanding the body’s natural design can improve movement, leading to performance enhancement as well as injury prevention. James has presented masterclasses and workshops at numerous school and organizations including the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, Mannes School of Music, Ithaca College, Montclair State University, New Jersey City University, Luzerne Music Center, Biennial Association for Body Mapping Education Conference, and the Suzuki Association of the Americas National Conference. He has also served on the board of the Association for Body Mapping Education.

James studied violin performance at Montclair State University, the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Graz, Austria, and Ithaca College. While at Ithaca, he completed long-term Suzuki teacher training (Books 1-10) with Carrie Reuning-Hummel and was licensed as a Body Mapping Educator in 2014. In 2018, James finished the three-year teacher certification program at the American Center for the Alexander Technique in New York City.