newsletter

There’s a lot cooking over the next few months – indeed, quite a lot on the boil…moving from the frying pan into the platitude.

THE UK SECTION

TRIPSICHORE CRASH COURSES
Tripsichore will be offering Crash Courses (January 7 & 14 2012 and April 7 & 14, 2012). Over the course of two Saturdays (11:00 am - 3:00 pm), we'll offer a fast track to learning the basics of the Tripsichore technique and its beautifully complex Sun Salutes. The course will be held at 41 Roundwood Road, London, NW10 9TP. Cost is £100. Maximum 10 participants. Apply by emailing tripsichore@msn.com

COMPANY CLASS

When we're in town, we have what’s laughingly known as Company Class every week day at the eccentric hours of our choosing (11:00 AM at this writing) at 41 Roundwood Road, London, NW10. It’s pretty darned advanced, but if you fancy coming along, you just do that. What’s more, it’s free. Yup, the only thing we charge for is when someone learns to do a back kickover from the wheel (Price: one good bottle of champagne…and if it’s any encouragement, I want you to know my fridge is full of ‘em). If you do want to come, it’s a good idea to give a call a day or so beforehand to make sure we haven’t changed the time – we’re a bit ad hoc in that too. The number is 0208 459-2416.

INTENSIVE 2012

In 2012, the Olympics will wreak havoc upon the Tripsichore schedule. T’would be madness to schedule anything in London at that time…accommodation and just about anything else you can think of will have a specially jacked –up Olympian sized price and transport promises to be problematic. So, the Tripsichore Intensive will be September 10 – October 5, 2012. Not a bad time to be in London. Not that you’ll be wanting to see London, of course. No, no, you’ll be hunkered down studying asana and yoga philosophy or else writing copious notes in your private journal.

These Intensives are something we are rather delighted to do – a 4 week study of yoga the way we like with none of the obscure pressures of a Teacher Training (where people get taught to teach – hopefully). It’s just good old fashioned days of intense study of yoga. This is fast track stuff, but fortunately, there is no destination at which to arrive. It is just, and justly, about going as far as you can. Nothing more – but, also nothing less. It will be hard work and a major commitment of energy, time, and intellectual engagement.

These events are the sort of thing you need to sign up for and plan for well in advance. You need to find 4 weeks in your busy life to work solely on yoga.

December 9 – 11 Torquay

We’re specialising in seaside resorts at improbable times of year this December. A fantastic venue on the English Riviera with some of the best yoga you can get in the UK. www.yogaessence.co.uk

The fall line-up for Tripsichore’s world domination is chock-a-block with far flung activities.

THE USA and MEXICO SECTION

August 25 – 28 Mexico City

A place with a high rating on the global yoga charts. Namaste – that’s the name of the studio; I’m not just greeting you – is run by extraordinary people and draws in some very fine students. This is the first module of a 5 module 500 hour vinyasa Teacher Training. This is one of the few places in the world where you can get both a rigorous technical and intellectual training in yoga. www.namaste.com.mx

September 15 – 19 Mexico City

Just the same as above except we’re on to Module 2. www.namaste.com.mx

September 22 – 25 Seattle

I wonder if it’s raining in the Pacific Northwest. Well, fingers crossed. All kinds of goodies on offer here…a secret, for-advanced-practitioners-only session (to get this sort of thing you’d have to be in rainy London instead), a rare performance of THE GALAPAGOS OF YOGA, and workshops galore. www.lizdoyleyoga.com

September 27 -- Bozeman, Montana
Performance of THE LAST BREATH at the Emerson Ballroom

September 30 – October 2 Dallas

A stellar highlight will be a performance of THE LAST BREATH. We’ve been working, performing, and re-working this show for 18 months now (it just takes that long to get something good). There’s also going to be a fantastic range of workshops on the theme of pranayama in vinyasa. www.dallasyogacenter.com

THE EUROPE SECTION

THE ASIA SECTION

Splendid times, splendid food and splendid yoga...don't you wish you were here? You can be. Don't be such a stick in the mud. Throw away your precious life wherever you are (come on, you've read about non-attachment) and run away to join the Tripsichore circus.

October 10 – 14 Bali

Radiantly Alive runs one of the most challenging 200 hour Teacher Trainings around and we are proud to be a part of it. Excellent teachers (not just talking about ourselves here) and as comprehensive a programme as you could hope for. It really addresses the kind of yoga teacher you’re going to be. www.radiantlyalive.com

October 17 – 22 Tokyo

We’re really looking forward to performing THE LAST BREATH, but we’re also delighted to be offering a Tripsichore class on the mornings of October 17 – 21 for those who are daring enough to give it a whirl. Workshops on the weekend too! www.yogajaya.com

October 24 – 30 Kuala Lumpur

Module 3 of a Teacher Training…but, we do open some of the morning classes up to members of the public. www.vincenttamyoga.com

November 5 – 9 Bali

A high level module of a 500 hour Teacher Training (or for those who just want to have an intense period of study for the heck of it). The theme for this is Yoga And Story. Hmmm, this could be interesting. Tripsichore’s 4 day contribution to this two week module is a very structuralist approach to story – not looking so much at the fascinating myths, fables, and folk legends associated with yoga (we’ll leave that to others) as to the narrative structure of a yoga class as it pertains to teachers. This will be an analysis of what constitutes a good class considering both large and small issues. What makes a good single breath? Where does the climax lie in a class? What about the denouement? www.radiantlyalive.com

November 11 -- 17 Kuala Lumpur

Module 4...graduation here we come. www.vincenttamyoga.com

November 18 – 20 Bangkok

Details still to come, but you’ll always have a warm welcome at www.yogaelements.com

TEACHER TRAINING and INTENSIVE COURSE

TRIPSICHORE INTENSIVE COURSE
SEPTEMBER 10 - OCTOBER 5, 2012
4 WEEK STUDY PROGRAMME

If a person is inclined to study yoga at a deeper level than is afforded in the studio or gym class or even during a 1 week holiday/retreat, they are left with few options. Curiously the Teacher Training has become the apex of intensive yoga training. This is odd because if you are really doing a teacher training, a goodly portion of the study time has got to be spent learning the skill of teaching, which is not necessarily the same as deepening one’s own practice.

IF you really just want to work on your own practice – what do you do? Well, the obvious answer would be to get down and do your own practice every day. Yet, self-practice sometimes leads to yogic cul-de-sacs. There is something to be said for the kind of challenge and refinement that an outside eye can provide. Furthermore, the experience of working on material with a group of people often leads one to accomplish things that are more difficult to achieve solo.

With this in mind, Tripsichore is offering a 4 week course in London that is wholly devoted to the study of vinyasa and yoga. This will be a difficult course and not just for the physical work. We contend that the study of vinyasa is still in its infancy. How it fits into the yoga lineage is still unclear, but its prospects are tantalising. In becoming physically adept, how does one develop in other respects? The purpose of this course is to develop practitioners who have both physical and philosophical depths. This is a course that will not endeavour to provide “The Answer”, but one that will also raise the kinds of questions that will help fuel your practice and investigation of the depths of yoga.

The physical side of the course will cover the Tripsichore sequences and so one can expect that a lot of attention will be paid to inversions and back bends the way the breath is intended to be used in them. We will also be looking at pranayama as a practice unto itself as well as its role in the whole of vinyasa practice. Importantly, we intend to thoroughly integrate philosophy with the physical practice and this will include both eastern and western notions on what constitutes philosophy.

While there are no prerequisites for this course, it is assumed that the students will already have studied yoga and are at a stage where a period of in depth practice will be of benefit. The course is limited to 10 people and will be held at 41 Roundwood Road, London, NW10 9TP. The cost is £2,700. For further information or an application form, please email tripsichore@msn.com.