Navigate the body of your creative process—

the Anatomy of Art.

A book for artists, teachers, and creative seekers by Alexandra Beller.

Every artist knows the thrill of creation—and the uncertainty that shadows it. The Anatomy of Art is a companion for that in-between space: where intuition meets structure, where movement becomes meaning.

Through stories, frameworks, and embodied practices, Alexandra Beller helps makers of every kind see the hidden patterns in their process—how time shapes intention, how space reveals relationship, how choices build form.

Whether you’re in a studio, classroom, or at your kitchen table, this book meets you where you are: offering language, clarity, and confidence for navigating the creative unknown.

Photo Credit: Steven Schreiber

Photo Credit: Kyle Froman

“This book doesn’t tell you where to go. But it maps the terrain. It helps you see the contours of the work—what questions it asks of you, what choices it offers, what patterns it might trace. It doesn’t hand you a path. It shows you what the land looks like, so you can walk it with your eyes open.”

—Marisa Tomei (from the Preface)

Photo Credit: Judith Stuart

About the Book

Art-making begins in the body: in the quiet questions we carry, the rhythms we inherit, the spaces we move through, and the meanings we assemble along the way. The Anatomy of Art invites readers into the lived textures of the creative process—part field guide, part companion, part provocation.

Drawing from decades as a choreographer, performer, and teacher, Alexandra Beller offers a practice of noticing: how time stretches and compresses in rehearsal, how environments imprint themselves on movement, how faith and doubt both shape the work, and how relationships—between artists, materials, and audiences—transform what is possible on stage and off.

With a preface by Marisa Tomei and insights from leading artists and thinkers—including Anne Bogart, Brenda Dixon Gottschild, David Dorfman, Kate Hamill, Bebe Miller, Liz Lerman, Deborah Hay, Emanuel Gat, and others—The Anatomy of Art situates individual creative practice within a constellation of artistic inquiry.

For dancers, theater-makers, and teachers—as well as anyone seeking a deeper attunement to their creative life—The Anatomy of Art offers tools to navigate complexity, nurture curiosity, and make meaning in motion.

Releasing June 25, 2026!

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Photo Credit: The GingerB3ardmen

About the Author

Alexandra Beller is a choreographer, director, writer, and guide whose work explores the meeting points of body, art, and human connection. A former member of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, she has created and directed more than 40 performance works and taught in universities and studios across the world. Through choreography, writing, teaching, and mentorship, Alexandra helps artists and students navigate the creative process with rigor, curiosity, and care. The Anatomy of Art brings her decades of experience into a form that artists everywhere can explore.

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The Chapters