I spend a lot of time explaining to people that Kripalu (the school that I am doing my training through) is not some woo-woo hippie cult. And it really isn't! I like to say that Kripalu is a methodology that can be used for all different kinds of yoga. Yes, it can be gentle and restorative, but it can also kick your ass in classes just as vigorous as any Ashtanga power flow. In fact, I get my ass kicked quite regularly in classes with Jay Karlinski in my teacher training.
That being said, if you had seen me and my fellow teacher trainees on Sunday doing a YogaDance session with the lovely Jurian Hughes...it may have looked a little bit like we were in a woo-woo hippie cult.
Here is a clip from the British comedy Peep Show where Mark (Dave Mitchell) goes to a dance flow class to give you an idea about how someone might feel about YogaDance. To give you some context here is how Mark feels about dancing: "Dancing? Yes, dancing, I love dancing....Because it makes me look like a coma victim being stood up and zapped with a cattle prod." ETA: The following clips are kind of NSFW. Headphones!
But actually, YogaDance is an incredible experience. More on it after the jump.
Hello dear readers (as in the three people that read this),
You may have noticed my lack of posting recently. Well, was due do a number of factors. First of all, I am no longer funemployed. Which is great because I have money for things now, but also sucks because I have no time for things now. I am also doing my yoga teacher training through http://kripalu.org/. It is the first year they are doing a YTT in New York. It has been such an intense, amazing experience. I "graduate" from the program in June and will be a CERTIFIED YOGA TEACHER! I am also wrapping up a six week beginner ballet workshop next week.
I will be blogging about all of this again soon, stay tuned!
I took my boyfriend, sister and best friend/roommate to see ABT's Giselle this Saturday. It was incredible and we all enjoyed it (or so they told me afterwards). We saw it with Diana Vishneva in the title role. You can read a glowing review of her in this New York Times article, which also includes a discussion of the other two dancers doing the role this season (Natalia Osipova and Alina Cojocaru). You can also read my sister's take on her experience at her blog. I completely agree with all of the sentiments about how Vishneva is incredible, amazing, etc. In fact, I do think she is one of my favorite dancers of all time. However, I was also blown away by Polina Semionova as Myrtha, Queen of the Willis, which are these vengeful lady virgin ghosts. I was captivated from the moment she bouréed across the stage in her entrance in Act 2. She just seemed to glide effortlessly. The corps did a very good job too!
Sadly, I could not find a video of Semionova dancing the Myrtha role, but below is a video of her dancing as Giselle in the pas de deux with Albrecht at the end. Also, an additional video of Myrtha and the Willis from a 1983 performance at the Kirov after the jump!
Yesterday I decided to take a break from watching 90s sitcomes and C-list Korean horror movies on Netflix streaming to edutain myself with a documentary instead. In Ballerina (2006), filmmaker Bertrand Normand provides an intimate look at five ballerinas from the Kirov Ballet. Oddly enough, Netflix tagged this as heart-warming and feel good. I would characterize this as an untrue statement. To get into the Vaganova Academy (the school of the company), ten-year-olds are poked, prodded and twisted in front of a panel of people who are judging them for their build and flexi-stretchi ways. If you get in, you get to be yelled at for eight years about your thighs. This part of the film made Dance Moms look heart-warming and feel good. Then, if you get into the company, you get to be yelled at some more and compete with a hundred other girls in the corps. Oh you'll say you have great relationships with everyone, but it's as believable as the same sentiments when spoken on a Real Housewives reunion episode. Can you tell I'm also watching a lot of reality television in my funemployment?
This video has been floating around the interwebs for a while, but it is new to me. Check out this guy combining his awesome skills in breakdancing and yoga. If you check out the Vimeo channel, you can also see his awesome skills in acrobatics, Parkour, etc, etc.... I really have to start doing my daily arm balance and inversion practice again. Namaste, yo!
The title of this post may be a little misleading. Because I don't actually work out. Sure, I'll go to any class named after a pastry, do any kind of yoga you throw at me, and I'll even embarrass myself in dance classes on a weekly basis, but in my mind these are just activities that happen to be a good work out. I mean that stuff is fun; it's not like the real exercise that people who go to gyms do on scary looking machines and with personal trainers. I've never been a member of a gym (apologies to the gym salespeople that I exploit for guest passes so I can go to free yoga and dance classes). I don't think I've ever lifted a weight in my life. I am unsure because I may have had to move one from under my roommates bed once to get to her stash of clean sheets, since I don't do my laundry very often either. I'm not quite sure what an elliptical machine does. I was a runner for a while, but my asymmetrical, overpronating, flat feet guaranteed that I was constantly injured. In school, I went straight from playing kickball and steal the bacon in gym class to having cool electives like Tai-Chi. In summary: not a person who "works out."
