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Obituary for Cheryl Dawn Herbert (nee Gottwald), 1961-2024

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It is with great sadness that the Alexander Technique teaching community of South Africa mourns the loss of Cheryl Herbert who passed away on 18 May of this year, 2024. Cheryl’s teaching of the Alexander Technique was as inspired and intuitive as it was precise and masterful. The words of individual Alexander teachers which follow this tribute attest to how transformative an Alexander Technique lesson with Cheryl was and the great pleasure those of us who knew her took in her company. Cheryl also offered her remarkable dynamism to SASTAT through serving on the Council from 2010 to 2019 and as Chairperson from 2012 to mid-2016. Her energy, drive and dedication were a source of inspiration to those on Council. She led the renewal of our old original website and established SASTAT on social media through Facebook. She took great care and consideration as to how SASTAT and the Technique were presented online and as a society we were the lucky recipients of Cheryl’s extraordinary organisational abilities and perseverance applied to seeing the website project fully and exceptionally realised.
Cheryl was born in a small, rural town in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) on 23 August, 1961, and would have turned 63 this year. She moved to Johannesburg with her family in 1976, attending Benoni High School briefly before leaving school to start work. She gave birth to her only child, Bronwyn, at 17. Cheryl worked in various capacities before developing in her early twenties what was to become the first arc of her career: working in the corporate world offering business consulting, corporate marketing and in-house training and professional development programmes. Cheryl’s creativity and thoroughness were ever-present and she was much in demand for the services she offered. Bronwyn describes her as having been a ‘workaholic’, up until 3am finishing detailed and insightful reports far beyond what her clients expected and then up again and ready to go early the next morning. Along the way of this work she did a counselling course and was honing and consciously understanding her innate ability to perceive people, their struggles and how to unknot them into freer ways of being.

By her late forties, Cheryl was looking for something more, something different to her corporate work, exhausted from its demands and the high standard of delivery she held herself to. She discovered the Alexander Technique and that became the next major arc in her life’s work. Reading every book she could find on the Technique and finding different teachers to work with wherever she happened to travel while still working as a freelance business consultant, she came to the decision that she wanted to train as a teacher herself and started on the training programme run by Nanette Andersen in Johannesburg, qualifying in 2010. In 2013 she did a postgraduate course at the Teacher Training Centre in Galway, Ireland.

Cheryl ran a lively Alexander Technique practice called MoveInMind in Johannesburg and continued to augment her Alexander teaching with training in other practices. In 2015 she did a course to teach Trauma Release Exercise (TRE), in 2017 completed units 1 and 2 of the Lyno Method training and, also in 2017, a fascial release technique course. The Alexander Technique remained her core practice for helping people facilitate the free and easy use of their psychophysical selves. Although drawing primarily on her counselling skills, Cheryl’s one-on-one ‘Creative Conversations’ life-coaching sessions were informed by the Technique’s mind-body awareness. For those who Cheryl knew well or with whom she had developed a rapport , her AT session would be what she called, ‘Alexander Plus’. Caryn Katz describes these sessions well below and, in a broad sense, they were a combination of the psychophysical explorations of the Technique with the psychodynamic processes the psychophysical connects to.

Cheryl’s fascination with the conscious use and expressive capacity of our moving selves was voracious, shown in her active recreational participation in the expressive movement and contact improvisation communities and explorations for her own pleasure in modalities like the Feldenkrais Method.
In 2019 Cheryl was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, though she herself was reluctant to name what she was experiencing as this. I (Alex Halligey) asked her in the March of 2022, drawing on the words of Tommy Thompson, if she was ‘consciously not giving a western biomedical definition’ to what she was going through in order ‘for the experience to be less defined and limited by definition’. She replied that this did resonate, adding, ‘Even I do not have an absolute reason for withholding open and general sharing of my condition, yet I am respecting and honouring my own process’. Later, in the July, she wrote to me, ‘I have been having a tough time. Still, I feel inspired on my healing journey and every day I practice ways to be in this living-dying balance’. We can only but stand in awe of Cheryl’s profound willingness and capacity for accessing the attentiveness to being that is the Alexander Technique’s foundational offering and resource.

Cheryl’s wisdom, empathetic humanity, creativity and capacity to connect were deep and rare. We will miss her greatly.

By Alex Halligey and Tom van Hove, with grateful thanks to Bronwyn Gottwald for sharing information and insights into Cheryl’s life

Cheryl, photograph by Refia Sacks
Cheryl, photograph by Refia Sacks

Personal Tributes to Cheryl

I had many Alexander Technique lessons with Cheryl over the years and these spaces were always so rich with wisdom and gifts that she shared so freely. She was never ‘on the clock’ with you. I remember looking at the garden from her studio once and she asking me to notice and enjoy the small movement of leaves gently on their stems. Then allow that in myself. Small releases and allowances. Nothing and everything.

Her teaching room was cosy and cool and I always felt free to be myself exactly as I was.
I remember bumping into her once at the Bryanston organic market. I was with my mom. The surprise of seeing her there and the shock of her beauty and warmth. I thought – Yoh! Who is this incredible woman? I felt so lucky to call her a teacher and friend. She embodied the Alexander Technique as one of the most graceful, intelligent people I knew. Thank you, Cheryl, for teaching me. I am a better Alexander Technique teacher and person because of you.
Caryn Katz

BREATH OF FRESH AIR

After Cheryl’s brief – one day only, but meteoric – visit as the Chair of SASTAT to our training school with Walter Vaughan-Jones in Cape Town , we agreed at once: “CHERYL IS A BREATH OF FRESH AIR” to the Alexander Technique community in South Africa.

Her style was clear, she emanated excellence, effectiveness, and professionalism. It would have been difficult not to be inspired by her. In her time as chairperson, she fostered inclusiveness, drawing in everybody with any connection to the AT community in South Africa. She also turned the AGM into an enjoyable event with opportunities to meet, engage and learn from each other. Being newly qualified, I felt encouraged and understood and in no way intimidated.

Most important of all she brought a sense of love, understanding and compassion into the SASTAT community.

Thank you, Cheryl, for being an inspiring role model.
Andrzej Wall

Some ten years ago, or so, an ‘Alexander teacher from South Africa’ whom I didn’t know, turned up in London and asked if she could stay with me. That was Cheryl. Luckily it was holiday time and my teaching rooms were not in use. So she camped there and very soon we were firm friends. Her openness, ease, lightness and generosity were instantly there to be shared. On one of her several visits to me in Cape Town the first thing she did was go to Woolworths and come back laden with huge quantities of fruit and a very large pack of toilet paper. Though we didn’t work much together we had fun times and her lovely spirit will remain in my memory.
Refia Sacks

The Spirit of Cheryl, photograph by Refia Sacks
The Spirit of Cheryl, photograph by Refia Sacks

Cheryl had a radiant spirit and a generous heart. She always made it a priority to encourage others, and honour people’s contributions so that they knew their gifts were acknowledged and appreciated. When Cheryl served as the Chairperson of SASTAT, it was her joy to bring teachers together at the AGM and promote a spirit of unity, shared learning, and growth. I recall her enthusiasm when she planned the first AGM she chaired in Cape Town. She glowed with the excitement of her idea to combine it with a special ceremony to honour the senior teachers in our society for their significant roles in setting the cornerstone of the Alexander Technique in South Africa. Unfortunately I couldn’t be present at this wonderful occasion, but Cheryl invited me to write a tribute for our late teacher, Nanette Andersen, that she read at the ceremony, which I thought was a lovely way of allowing me to be included. It was Nanette’s training course that connected my path with Cheryl’s.

It makes me smile when I recall the first day of our acquaintance. It was a lovely sunny day. Cheryl and I were chatting in the garden over a cup of Nanette’s special brew of homegrown herbal tea when we discovered our remarkable ability to ruffle each other’s feathers completely unintentionally. It was a relationship dynamic that had a remarkable effect on me because when the feathers settled again they would be arranged a little differently with a new perspective or awareness that was refreshing and necessary for growth. Those moments will continue to resonate in me with love and gratitude for the myriad insights they brought, as well as how they highlighted our inclination to truly respect and remain attuned to the very best in each other at all times.

Cheryl was a seeker in every sense, and her presence on the training course initiated deeper reflections and greater expansion of our enquiries. She had a natural eloquence that illuminated our group discussions, and an elegant way of meeting various explorations that revealed her high-minded approach to life. We were enriched by the vast realm of life experience she carried into the learning space, the questions she asked, and the support she gave through her words, hands and heart.

While listening to the beautiful eulogy for Cheryl on the 21st May, I was aware of the subtle peace and grace permeating the church and flowing through my heart like a gentle confirmation of the blissful current that ensues from a life well lived. Cheryl deserves all the honours and special tributes she bestowed on others. Hers was a life that shone with purpose and glittered with many facets of exploration and discovery. I can imagine her joy now as celestial vistas and cosmic waves beckon her to dive as deep and soar as far as her boundless soul desires. A new journey has begun, Cheryl is in her element, and blissfully on her way.
Heather Marti

Alexander Technique Workshop Johannesburg

SASTAT Posted on by

Join Caryn Katz and Alex Halligey for an in-person workshop exploring sitting, standing, lying down and all the ways we move between these positions. This workshop is an ideal introduction to the Alexander Technique as well providing valuable explorations for experienced learners.

Date: Sunday, 21 August 2022
Time: 14:30 – 16:30
Place: Caryn Katz’s beautiful garden studio in Norwood
RSVP to book and for location details: carynkatz5@gmail.com

 

Mary Hatchuel Obituary

SASTAT

Mary Hatchuel
19th August 1948 – 9th December 2020

Mary Hatchuel – Being with Mary – Cheryl Herbert
Mary’s quiet presence is with me now as I remember her and Nanette Brislin (nee Andersen). As I write this, it is Nanette’s birthday (8th July) and it is also extraordinary that Mary and Nanette shared their date of death of 9th December – Nanette in 2012 and Mary in 2020.

Mary Hatchuel came to the Alexander Technique relatively late in life, turning 60 while on the training course. Mary and I both began our training with Nanette in March 2007 and completed it in March 2011. Apart from the Alexander Technique and Tai Chi, Mary was dedicated to her family and was fulfilled as a mother and grandmother. Mary’s husband, Albert, passed away from cancer in 2004. She is survived by her three children, Jason, Simon and Lara, and her six grandchildren Tristan, Connor, Trey, Eli, Jake and Issy. While she is welcomed by her dear departed, those left behind miss her and the constant support and love she shone on them.

Mary was a wonderfully warm and easy person to be with. She was gentle, kind and careful in her approach to people. She studied and practised meditation and mindfulness throughout her life and this showed in all her habits which were guided by being healthy, present and loving as possible. Speaking to her a few months after her diagnosis of cancer in November 2019, she was calm and accepting. She faced her illness the same way she faced life, by being wisely philosophical and gracious. Her soft smile and voice were very reassuring, as were her hands when we worked together during our training.

A particular trait I appreciated very much was Mary’s ability to reserve judgement. She wanted the best for everyone, and her practice of inhibition was primarily on her inclination to step in and help where she saw a need. Most of her life was in service in some way or the other. She had a sense of peace about her – whether she was knitting her beautiful scarves; making an observation – sagely or with her wry sense of humour; reading Proust, Eckart Tolle, Thich Nat Naht Hanh; sipping her daily coffee. She enjoyed ritual but always brought freshness to her activities. I remember her describing making her bed each morning as a revelation!

Mary did not like anyone making a fuss about her preferring to be in the background. Though her beauty shone and she always stood out from the rest. I am so glad to now think about Mary and let her qualities come to the fore as these live on in my and others’ memories of her.

Illustrative

From Left: Heather Marti, Mr Skelly, Mary Hatchuel, Cheryl Herbert (2009)

Illustrative

Mary as our model for learning spiral patterns (2008)

Mary Hatchuel – Honouring Mary – Heather Marti
It was a great pleasure to train alongside Mary Hatchuel, and I am very sad to hear of her passing. I always admired how Mary carried herself with tremendous poise and grace as though learning the Alexander Technique was a refresher course in certain principles she innately understood and elegantly embodied very naturally. Her exquisite charm, calm demeanour, quiet strength and wisdom were beautiful qualities that brought a harmonious energy to our training school. Mary was a true lady in every sense. I valued her gentle, kind and respectful approach in our work together. I can only imagine Mary, with her distinct aura of refinement and dignity, gliding peacefully along the pathways of eternity where wonderful new journeys beckon, and good friends like Nanette await.

Illustrative

Mary giving Nanette a table turn at Nanette’s family farm in the Midlands (2010)

Mary Hatchuel – Memories – Thea Kreft
Beautiful, elegant, regal and upright, is what struck me, when we first met. As I got to know her better, I realised her great love and concern for the wellbeing of her entire family. That is, how I experienced and remember our lovely Mary.

Mary was an Alexander Teacher in training when we met first. When she had qualified, her enquiring mind still had many questions – without answers, which is not bad to suffer from. It was fun and very satisfying to work on discovering new land together. In her teaching she was caring and thoughtful. She worked mainly within her family circle.

Mary was a busy person with many diverse interests. She liked the Theatre, did Tai Chi, looked after her house in Port Alfred, helped with the grandchildren etc. Labour of love! It was not that she had to do things ~ she wanted to do them. I think it gave her pleasure and satisfaction to have achieved, what she had set out to do. I think you achieved it all!

Dearest Mary, for your journey on the other side I wish you well and accompany you with loving thoughts, Yours Thea ❤️🙏

Mary Hatchuel – In Remembrance – Desylee Selkirk Colomb
I met Mary in 1997 when she started having Alexander lessons with me, we reunited when she joined the Alexander training course 10 years later.

I loved being with Mary, apart from her physical beauty and elegance she was wise, gentle, inspiring and really good company. I had the pleasure of going to the Alexander Convention in Lugano with her and Cheryl and thoroughly enjoyed sharing our experience of the work and the many hours of discussing the technique and its application to life, always trying to find the deeper meaning of it.

Whatever Mary did was done with grace and dignity, she exuded the Alexander Technique, her inner stillness and connection to self. She was beautiful inside and out, she was delightful!

Illustrative

Desylee Selkirk Colomb, Assistant AT Training Teacher, Cheryl and Mary (2011)

Mary Hatchuel – in Fondness – Marguerite van der Merwe
I have a great memory of meandering with Mary during the International Alexander Congress in Lugano, Switzerland, 2008 – walking, talking, enjoying beautiful calm lake Lugano on a warm day – and eating our first ICE-CREAM – using up precious Euros on our last day of Congress.

Such a sense of her innate, gentle, and intelligent dignity and instinctual empathy and compassion. All of which was embedded, practically, in her life, her choices, and within her family. She will continue to live in our hearts and in gratitude for her life ‘well lived’.

Mary Hatchuel – RIP – Marisa Wijtenburg (mutual friend of Jana Cilliers and Mary and fellow Tai Chi Practitioner)
Mary’s path first crossed mine when our children were at Saheti in primary School and the headmaster Morgan Ellis invited parents to join a discussion group where he shared insights on philosophy and literature and stimulated us to think out of the box. We were a relatively small group and we met for a couple of years.

Our paths then diverged until I was fortunate to meet Mary again at Tai Chi. By this stage she had lost her husband Albert to cancer and had focused on training in the Alexander technique which had caused her to take a break from Tai Chi for the duration. It was easy to reconnect and share interests in books and outlook on life. Her gentleness was always an outstanding characteristic as was her independence of thought. She had journeyed from her Anglican- Christian roots through a harmonious marriage with her Jewish husband to including Buddhism in her spiritual realm and mindfulness was the constant thread. She chose to tread gently in the world and to focus on the present moment and to honour her feelings through journaling so that even in the last difficult months she retained her overall peacefulness.

In some ways it came as no surprise to hear that she had been a successful model when young as she retained her elegance and style to the end. However the more lasting testament to her, was the warmth and creativity of her large extended family and friends who so obviously loved and appreciated her and shared their appreciation of the many facets of her beautiful spirit at her memorial and left us grateful for having known her.

Mary Hatcheul – With gratitude – Jana Cilliers
I qualified as a teacher of the Alexander Technique in May 2007. I was about to turn 57. Living in Johannesburg and training in Cape Town under Walter Vaughan Jones, I was in close contact with Nanette Andersen who honed and helped me through my intrepid start as a teacher after the loss of my husband. It was there that I met the long-legged and soft-spoken Mary. She was a quietly keen and dedicated pupil. She wanted to learn more than what life had taught her. Our mutual ground of both being widowed and loving Tai Chi somehow enhanced our interest in Alexander work. We often discussed how the Alexander way is a healthy prerequisite to anything one enjoys doing. Even as an older person. We both experienced how the work played out in our daily lives, family and grandchildren – the essentials of life. Mary had a naughty inquisitive streak though and she knew far more than what came across. To me her deep voice became a sign of how clear her thinking skills were. She finally settled for teaching and engaging with those essential ingredients in her life, her family and friends. I’m today reminded of how important that realisation is, not to force-feed ourselves with what we think the outcome should be. Rather to be on high alert for what is being communicated in the moment through the work. I think Mary innately understood the hidden complexities and subtleties of Alexander hands-on work and the responsibility it brings to teach without endganing. Also, to live a life with consideration in hand, never with effort. And to think independently. Her nature remained gentle until the end. And her inner energy to engage stayed with her until she passed peacefully, surrounded by her family. Rest well Mary.

Illustrate

April 2013 – Johannesburg Teachers’ Workshop
Back Row, L to R, Marion Makepeace, Jana Cilliers, Mary Hatchuel
Front Row, L to R, Thea Kreft, Sharon West, Lucia Walker, Atsuko Yamawaki (visiting teacher from Japan)

Academic Recognition of the Alexander Technique

SASTAT

Alexander Technique Teacher receives Chancellor’s Award from University of the Free State

On 30th June 2016 the University of the Free State awarded Alexander Technique teacher Marguerite van der Merwe a Chancellor’s Medal, recognising her eminent work achieved outside the usual frontiers of academia. Click here to read more.