Eric N. Franklin (born February 28, 1957) is a Swiss dancer, movement educator, university lecturer, writer and founder of the Franklin Method, a method that combines

creative visualization Creative visualization is the cognitive process of purposefully generating visual mental imagery, with eyes open or closed, simulating or recreating visual perception, in order to maintain, inspect, and transform those images, consequently modi ...

, embodied

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

, physical and mental exercises and educational skills. He lives in

Wetzikon Wetzikon is a small town in the Zurich Highlands (Zürcher Oberland) area of Switzerland, in the district of Hinwil in the canton of Zürich. Geography The municipality Wetzikon has an area of . Of this area, 42.4% is used for agricultural p ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Biography

He earned his Bachelor of Science from the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

and his Bachelor of Fine Arts at the New York University's

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

. After many experiences as a dancer and a choreographer, and ''Breakdance'', a dance book written with William Watkins in 1984, he has founded the Franklin-Method Institute in

Uster Uster (High Alemannic: ''Uschter'') is a town and the capital of the Uster District in the Swiss canton of Zürich. It is the third largest town in the canton of Zürich, with almost 35,000 inhabitants, and is one of the twenty largest towns ...

. He is a member of the

International Association of Dance Medicine and Science The International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS) was formed in 1990 with the goal summarized in its mission statement: IADMS is an inclusive organization for professionals who care for those who dance by evolving best practic ...

. He has taught at the Zurich Neurological Institute, the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, the Royal Ballet School, the

Royal Danish Ballet The Royal Danish Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Danish Theatre in Kongens Nytorv, Copenhagen, Denmark. It is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world and originates from 1748, when the Ro ...

, the Ballet School of the Zurich Opera, the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, the

American Dance Festival The American Dance Festival (ADF) under the direction of Executive Director Jodee Nimerichter hosts its main summer dance courses including Summer Dance Intensive, Pre-Professional Dance Intensive, and the Dance Professional Workshops. It also hos ...

. He has coached both world and European athletes that became champions, and

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...

artists in the Franklin Method.

The Franklin Method

The Franklin Method (in German Franklin-Methode) was founded in 1994, and was originally for dancers. It was inspired by

Mabel Elsworth Todd Mabel Elsworth Todd (1880 – 1956) is known as the founder of what came to be known as ' Ideokinesis', a form of somatic education that became popular in the 1930s amongst dancers and health professionals. Todd's ideas involved using anatomic ...

ideokinesis Ideokinesis is an approach to improving posture, alignment, and fluency of movement through structured guided imagery that uses metaphors, such as visualizing an object moving in a specific direction along various muscle groups throughout the body, ...

, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen's Body-Mind Centering and

Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined the ...

's Integral Yoga. Extended from

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

field to every kind of human movement, this method combines dynamic science-based

imagery Imagery is visual symbolism, or figurative language that evokes a mental image or other kinds of sense impressions, especially in a literary work, but also in other activities such as psychotherapy. Forms There are five major types of sensory ima ...

, touch, anatomical embodiment and educational skills to create lasting positive change in body and mind, using a range of simple tools, like balls, Theraband, and other daily life objects. Th
Franklin Method
activates body and mind function through the use of imagery, experiential anatomy and reconditioning movement to improve function. The principal goals are how to obtain dynamic body alignment and how to move the body with maximum efficiency . In every moment, the ideal combination of limbs,

joints A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

, moving parts,

connective tissue Connective tissue is one of the four primary types of animal tissue, along with epithelial tissue, muscle tissue, and nervous tissue. It develops from the mesenchyme derived from the mesoderm the middle embryonic germ layer. Connective tiss ...

, and

muscles Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscle ...

must be found and directed by the brain and

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body. The nervous system detects environmental changes th ...

by help of appropriate imagery. Imagery promotes a neurogenic changement of muscular condition which allows immediate results, before any myogenic (muscle tissue) one. Connective tissue and inner organs are also directly stimulated, with touch and visualization, in order to change posture and to obtain an inner and outer balance. The exercises have a considerable impact on lowering structural stress, too. The method is taught all over the world, including the Universities of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

, The Boston Conservatory and the Juilliard School in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It is recognized by the health providers in

and courses are regularly offered at Dance,

Pilates Pilates (; ) is a type of mind-body exercise developed in the early 20th century by German physical trainer Joseph Pilates, after whom it was named. Pilates called his method "Contrology". It is practiced worldwide, especially in countries suc ...

Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

and

Physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

conferences.

Publications

Eric Franklin is author of 18 books, mainly in the mind/body field, which have been written in German and English and translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Czech, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Here are mentioned the publications in English: * ''Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance'', Human Kinetics (1996)] * ''Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery'' * ''Relax Your Neck Liberate Your Shoulders'', Princeton Book Company (2002) * ''Conditioning for Dance'' * ''Pelvic Power'', Princeton Book Company (2003) * ''Inner Focus Outer Strength'', Elysian Editions (2006) * ''Franklin Method Ball and Imagery Exercises for Relaxed and Flexible Shoulders, Neck and Thorax'', Orthopedic Physical Therapy Products (2008) * ''Beautiful Body, Beautiful Mind'', Princeton Book Company (2009) * ''Happy Feet – Dynamic Base, Effortless Posture'', Orthopedic Physical Therapy Products (2010) * ''The Psoas – Integrating Your Inner Core'', Orthopedic Physical Therapy Products (2011) *

Filmography

''The Franklin Method: Pelvic Power for Core Integration''
DVD (2010)

External links

Franklin Method official website

Bibliography and Press

* ''Review of Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery'', ''

Dance Research Journal Congress on Research in Dance was a professional organization for dance historians in the United States and worldwide that was founded in 1964 and then merged in 2017 with the Society of Dance History Scholars to form the Dance Studies Associati ...

'', Autumn, 1997, vol. 29, no. 2, p. 105-108 * ''Imagery Movement and the Dynamic Dance of Life'', by Keith Eric Grant, 1998 * ''Conditioning for Dance: Training for Peak Performance in all Dance Forms'', by Gigi Berardi, ''

Journal of Dance Medicine & Science The International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS) was formed in 1990 with the goal summarized in its mission statement: IADMS is an inclusive organization for professionals who care for those who dance by evolving best practic ...

'', April 2005 * ''The mind/body connection and the practice of classical ballet'' by Emma Dixon (née Burrows) in ''Research in Dance Education'', Volume 6, Issue 1-2, 2005, pages 75–96 * ''Teaching Modern Technique through Experiential Anatomy'' by Jennifer Salka, ''Journal of Dance Education'', Volume 5, Issue 3, 2005, pages 97–102 * ''Inner Focus Outer Strength: Using Imagery and Exercise for Strength, Health and Beauty'' by Gigi Berardi, ''Journal of Dance Medicine & Science'', Oct 2007 * ''Book Review: Inner Focus Outer Strength: Using Imagery and Exercise for Health, Strength, and Beauty'', by Glenna Batson, ''Journal of Dance Education'', Volume 7, Issue 2, 2007 * ''A brief history of somatic practices and dance: historical development of the field of somatic education and its relationship to dance'' by Eddy, Martha, ''Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices'', Volume 1, Number 1, 1 June 2009, pp. 5–27, Intellect * ''Mindful Learning'' by Virginia Johnson, ''DanceTeacher Magazine'', August 2007 * ''Free Your Shoulders'' by Paul Fox, ''Spectrum'', August 2007 * ''Seeing Improvement'' by Virginia Johnson, ''

Pointe Magazine ''Pointe'' is an international magazine aimed at ballet dancers and students. Releasing four times a year, ''Pointe'' covers international news on company debuts, competition results, and rising stars. Pointe also contains reviews, company profil ...

'', April 2007 * ''Eric Franklin: transforming technique through science-based imagery'' by Rachel Straus, ''

Dance Magazine ''Dance Magazine'' is an American trade publication for dance published by the Macfadden Communications Group. It was first published in June 1927 as ''The American Dancer''. ''Dance Magazine'' has multiple sister publications, including ''Pointe' ...

'', Jan, 2008 * ''Franklin Method Images' Effects on Jumping'', by Theresa Heiland et al.,

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

; College of Communication Studies & Fine Arts; Dance Program; Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2008. * ''Imagery takes wing'' by Robin Westen, ''Pilates Style Magazine'', December 2008 * ''L'Approccio olistico al personal training'', ''Personal Trainer Journal'', January 2009, Italy * ''Which images and image categories best support jump height?'' Heiland, T. Rovetti, R.In: Solomon R, Solomon J (eds): ''Abstracts of the 20th Annual Meeting of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science'' 2010. Birmingham, UK: IADMS, 2010, pp. 74–75. * ''The Franklin Method in the Pilates Studio''''The Franklin Method in the Pilates Studio''
by Marguerite Ogle,

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, l ...

, December 2010, * ''The Franklin Method: A Revolutionary Approach to Movement'' by Rosalind Gray Davis, Inner ''

IDEA Fitness Journal IDEA Health & Fitness Association is a membership association for fitness and wellness professionals. The association’s approximately 22,000 members hail from over 80 countries, with most members living and practicing their craft in North Americ ...

'', March 2010 * ''Method Man'' by Robin Westen, ''Pilates Style Magazine'', January 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Eric Swiss writers Swiss male dancers Living people Dance and health Body psychotherapy Tisch School of the Arts alumni 1957 births University of Zurich alumni Somatic therapists People from Wetzikon