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

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.

PERFORMANCE at Triyoga London (Chelsea Studio)
No doubt you are already filling up your 2013 calendar, but I happen to know that very few of you have made plans for February 22. Tripsichore will return to Triyoga's Chelsea studio for a show on that very date! So, now your social life is potentially complete. We’re doing a performance of Fuelled By Breath Too (and we hope it leaves you gasping…just like us).
Tripsichore is particularly pleased to be showcasing new works that have been composed by world renowned pedal steel guitar player BJ COLE and writing partner MARK VERNON. "Best Pedal Steel player in the World I'd say .." Sting www.triyoga.co.uk

INTENSIVE 2013

The next Tripsichore Intensive will be July 8 - August 2, 2013. 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.

This may be something you'd like to note for we are, (subsequent to the Intensive) offering the Tripsichore Plus Practice in the form of a Course and the requirements are strict. You must have completed an Intensive or a Tripsichore Teacher training to qualify.

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

THE USA and MEXICO SECTION

February 1 - 5 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 a module of a 4 module vinyasa Teacher Training. If you wish to do this course, you'll need to go to Namaste's web site and see about doing the Curso propedéutico. 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

THE EUROPE SECTION

March 2 - 3 Munich

A fabulous weekend is in store at the Air Yoga studio. The highlight will be a performance of Fuelled By Breath on Saturday night. Saturday and Sunday will feature a series of workshops in Tripsichore’s vinyasa technique. Expect a lot of detailed pranayama coupled with unusual inversions and back bends. www.airyoga.de

March 8 - 10 Zurich

Remarkably similar to the entry immediately above! Geez, why don't you come and do both of them? www.airyoga.ch

April 5 - 7 Izmir
This is a weekend workshop we've been craving. We are going to do what we do at home in London (no, not sleep late and avoid answering the phone). In each "workshop" we will be doing a Tripsichore class (so, not like a workshop, you see) followed by choreographic sessions. Do you know how we work? We get warm by doing class and then we start doing crazy stuff that we work around until we can get it to look like good choreography. People love this stuff. Should you be looking for a really, really new direction for your yoga, you would do well to check this weekend in Turkey out! www.izmiryoga.com

April 12 - 14 Thessaloniki
It is with great pleasure that we are heading off to Anahata Yoga in Thessaloniki. We are going to give a show there on Friday night and then crack on with some of our notoriously challenging workshops on the weekend. www.anahatayoga.gr

May 10 - 12 Aachen and Cologne
Alright, so we've put two places together in one entry. Deep down, I'm hoping you'll do both of them. Friday night is in Aachen at Yoga Worx www.yogaworx.de and the rest of the weekend is at the salubrious Soboco Yoga in Cologne (where they do hard core practice...in the Tripsichore approved style!) www.sobocoyoga.com

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.

April 19 - 21 Kuala Lumpur
Unbeknownst to much of the yoga world, there are some incredibly fine practices happening in Malaysia. Handstands and unusual inversions are the norm and there is an incredible rigour in the discipline at the Pro Yoga studio. Plus, they are just a whole lot of fun. If you are looking for a great weekend of challenging Tripsichorean activity, check out the web site at www.proyoga.com.my

April 22 - 27 Bali
On April 22, we're giving a performance of Fuelled By Breath Too at the sumptuous Radiantly Alive studio in Ubud (oh come on, you know...right across from Bali Buddha) before we embark on our part of their Teacher Training programme. Oh, we do love to do shows in Ubud. I mean, considering it is a pretty arty community, there's remakably little in the way of entertainment at night so it is very cool to be able to showcase some new(ish) work for the cognoscenti.
The Radiantly Alive Teacher Training is a rare example of a training that seriously addresses a multitude of questions regarding what it is to be both a teach and a practitioner. It boasts a stellar faculty (of which we are honoured to be a part) and it takes place in a location that is pretty darned close to most peoples’ idea of paradise. It is a month long course and we’re here giving a Tripsichorean take on all this for a week of it. (www.radiantlyalive.com)

May 29 - June 2
Five full days of Tripsichore technique in Taiwan. Gee, we love doing these sessions – you just get so much further in 5 days than you do in a weekend workshop format. It is possible to address more complicated technical matters and to learn some of the more complex sequences. For information write: z7805010@email.ncku.edu.tw

June 6 - 9 Hong Kong
Finally, Tripsichore gets a chance to go to the world famous Asia Yoga Conference. What a great team they have on the faculty this year! (And I'm not saying that just because we're here) If you have Lappa, Mohan and Mitra all on the same bill, you have an incredible line up. www.asiayogaconference.com

June 11 - 16 Tokyo
We love doing work at Yoga Jaya in Tokyo...we get to do such a curious range of things...immersions, workshops, and even lectures! www.yogajaya.com

INTENSIVE COURSE

TRIPSICHORE INTENSIVE COURSE
Next Course JULY 8 - AUGUST 2, 2013
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.