Jay Foote (M.M., M.AmSAT) has been teaching private lessons and groups in the Alexander Technique since he was certified to teach in 2013. He taught at the Balance Arts Center in New York City and worked as a Senior Assistant Trainer on the center’s Teacher Training course from 2015 to 2020. From 2018 to 2020, he served as a Member-at-Large for the American Society for Teachers of the Alexander Technique Board of Directors.
While the Alexander Technique can help anyone interested in moving more efficiently, Foote specializes in physical and mental wellness, assisting students in reducing or eliminating pain by cultivating flow and ease in their bodies while performing. During 17 years in New York City, Foote completed a Master’s Degree in Jazz Bass Performance from William Paterson University and maintained an active performance schedule that included Broadway’s “Hamilton,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “The Band’s Visit,” and “Waitress.” He also performed, toured, produced, and recorded albums with musicians and songwriters in New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles. Since living in Des Moines, he has performed with The Wellpennies, the Des Moines Symphony, Des Moines Big Band, and The Mind@Large.
Foote has studied extensively with Ann Rodiger, Eva Karczag, and Rebecca Brooks. He has taken lessons with Jean-Louis Rodrigue, Alex and Joan Murray, Jessica Wolf, Pedro de Alcantara, June Eckman, Billy LeGrand, Joe Armstrong, Alan Philips, John Nichols, Rebecca Robbins, Mary Eagle, and Kathryn Zimmerman. Since May 2023, Foote has worked with Anthony Kingsley in London on embodying what is and teaching from a place of grounded acceptance.
In July 2020, Foote moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where he teaches Alexander Technique private lessons and groups in person. Foote was a voting member of the NARAS Recording Academy from 2017 to 2019. He is a member of the Local 802 NYC Musicians’ Union, a charter member of the New York City chapter of the Jim Keltner Fan Club, and a member of Alexander Technique Iowa. Since 2023, as a mental health therapist in Des Moines, he has worked with clients to find greater groundedness, balance, and embodiment while learning to regulate their nervous systems.
Foote worked as an Alexander Technique Coach on the faculty of the “AT Singing” intensive opera workshops in May 2019 and served on the AmSAT Research Committee from 2017 to 2020. He presented workshops at the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Freedom to Make Music Conferences and directed classes for musicians during the Balance Arts Center’s Alexander Technique Online Intensives in 2020 and 2021. For two years, he also helped facilitate a weekly meditation class in Des Moines.
He has presented Alexander Technique and mindfulness workshops and participated in panels about voice, emotion, and communication for the Balance Arts Center Worldwide Virtual Conference. He has worked with students at the University of Northern Iowa String Festival and served as a guest teaching artist at Iowa State University. His workshops have also reached the University of Iowa School of Social Work in Des Moines, Drake University’s theater and music departments, counseling and chiropractic practices, and community outreach programs.