La Bayadere

Posted on November 14, 2013 by admin

My career as a performer with the Boston Ballet is in the rear-view mirror but the lessons learned from this amazing experience will take months if not years to process. In many ways it completed a circle begun years ago during my yoga days in San Francisco.

(The priests and high brahmin have the stage to ourselves for about 10 seconds at the beginning of Act 2. I was cropped out of the picture!)

Iyengar’s approach to hatha yoga with its discipline, dedication to practice and precision of alignment has strong parallels in other realms of the somatic world. Structural integration or ‘Rolfing’ is one that has provided me with many long lasting relationships.

Another, amazingly enough is with ballet. When I was teaching in San Francisco in the 1980’s, Rodney Yee was just ending his dance career with the Oakland Ballet and beginning his yoga teacher training. Around the same time, an ex- dancer from the American Ballet Theater, John Leech, appreciating the clarity of Iyengar’s approach, had begun taking my classes. He was teaching at the San Francisco Ballet school and brought me in to teach a yoga class there. Soon two of the SF Ballet’s principal dancers began coming to my classes, joining several other dancers who were regulars. They were an easy group to teach as they were already deeply embodied and knew how to practice. Because I was living in Oakland at the time, I bought season tickets to the Oakland Ballet and became fascinated with the parallels with yoga.

(what the audience never got to see!)

Many years later, about 4 years ago, and now living in Arlington, I received a mailer from the Boston Ballet featuring a special evening ‘preview’ performance with excerpts from several up coming programs. Kate, Sean and I went and I was immediately hooked. The mailer worked! I signed up for a season pass and became a big fan. One of the great surprises was the breath of BB”s repertoire as many modern and cutting edge choreographers were also included. And as I now had lots of experience with movement through my studies with Emilie, Bonnie and Caryn, I was taking this in on a whole new level.

Several months later I receive a call from a old student from San Francisco who I had not heard from in 25 years or so, Jennifer Karius. She was one of the San Francisco Ballet dancers who eventually went on to live and dance in the Netherlands. She kept up her yoga practice and after retirement, became an Iyengar Yoga teacher. She was calling to tell me she was now all psyched to be teaching in the US and wondering why I wasn’t still involved in the Iyengar scene. I told her of my newly rediscovered excitement with the Boston Ballet and how complementary ballet and yoga were. So Jen says “well you’ll have to get in touch with Mikko”. And I say “who?” And she says “Mikko Nissinen, the guy who told me to come to your class back in San Francisco. He is now the Artistic Director of the Boston Ballet.” I go, the other dancer, omg, wow!

(Lia Cirio as Nikiya, shows how to levitate in ‘hanumanasana’ as Lasha Khozashvili, as Solor, stares in amazement)

So I contacted Mikko, went to visit the BB home down on Clarenden St. got the tour, sat in on the company master class, met his assistant Liz Olds, talked yoga and dance, and was invited to watch rehearsals whenever the schedules fit. A year or so later, I ran into Liz Olds at a Boston Ballet performance where there were ‘non-dancers’ participating and asked her how these ‘supernumeraries’ were chosen. She told me she would put my name on the list if I was interested and I said absolutely. All was quiet until this past August when I received an invitation to ‘audition’ for La Bayadere, which would open Boston Ballet’s 50th anniversary season.

A classical ballet from1870’s Russia, La Bayadere is known in the west primarily because of Rudolf Nureyev, who in 1963 presented revitalized version in Paris. Nureyev eventually defected from the Soviet Union and took up residence in Paris. A full performance La Bayadere, produced by Rudolf while he was dying in October of 1992 can be seen on youtube. (I practiced to this version, although the super’s choreography is slightly different.)

La Bayadere takes place in a forest in India. The bayaderes are the temple dancers, who along with the priests, fakirs and the high Brahmin, are in charge of the temple and the fire ceremony.

(The priests get to join the bayaderes and the fakirs around the fire pit while the High Brahmin makes his move on Nikiya. This was the high point of our participation. )

Solor, a famous hunter has recently saved the life of the head bayadere, Nikiya by killing a dangerous tiger that has been terrorizing the area. They fall in love. But the Rajah has decided that Solor will marry his daughter, Gamzatti. And the High Brahmin is in love (or lust) with Nikiya. To make a long story short, Nikiya is betrayed by everyone and dies a nefarious death at the end of act 2, but returns in act 3 with the ‘shades’ or ghosts, in one of the most famous scenes in all of ballet.

In “the Kingdom of the Shades”, One by one, ballerinas appear from the wings atop an 8 foot high ramp and perform a series of arabesque penchees while slowly descending a ramp, moving totally together, as a single organism, zig-zagging back and forth until all 24 reorganize into a grid and continue to move in synchrony. It is an amazing and demanding feat of focus, integration, relaxation, balance, co-ordination.

Having never participated in anything like this, it was a blast to be back stage, in the wings and out on stage, weaving in and out of these amazing dancers. From the high of opening night to the many ‘oopses’ of live performances, it was non stop fun. The Ballet Orchestra was wonderful and kept me on my toes, as live performances are always different. Just about every dancer in the company was involved and many had multiple roles that changed from night to night. My appreciation of their skill, discipline and dedication was high before, but is off the charts now. Special thanks go to our dedicated teacher Larissa Ponomarenko, who took us amateurs and whipped us into a finely tuned organic whole. Larissa, who recently retired after 18 years with the Boston Ballet, moves like and has the heart of an angel. She was wonderful with us and working with her was certainly one of the hi-lites of the month. My fellow supernumeraries, the priests and guards, spent many an hour, waiting for our call to visit the costumes ladies, plotting how to ‘individualize’ our performances. But in the end, professionalism won out. (We’d all love to be invited back!)

And, as most of you know, while all this was going on, the Red Sox were winning the World Series. The back stage crew had all of the games on which amped up the energy even more. The last of our 14 performances came too quickly, as I was ready for a few more weeks. But BB is on to the Nutcracker where they will put on 41 performances in 5 weeks. Wow. That why they are pro’s and I am not.

Samyama in Asana (pt 1)

Posted on September 6, 2013 by admin

Summer of 1984 saw two major conventions happening in San Francisco. The Democrats were first, in July, nominating Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro for the ticket to run against Ronnie Reagan and George Bush the elder. Ferraro was the first female ever nominated for either President or Vice President, but, unfortunately it was a Republican world and they had no chance.

Later that summer, the world wide Iyengar community descended upon the Bay Area for the first (and only!) International Iyengar Yoga Convention. (Check out the hairy guy with Judith Lasater in the flyer!) During one of the question and answer sessions at the convention, Ramanand Patel asked B.K.S. Iyengar “what is ‘samyama in asana?” As asana is the main focus of the Iyengar system, Ramanand’s question was designed to link posture with the meditative depths of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. We recorded the sessions on those old fashioned audio cassettes and I transcribed Iyengar’s answer word for word. Carol Cavanaugh and I edited it for punctuation and clarity and we published it as the lead article in the Iyengar Yoga Institute Review in October 1985.

I wish I could include the audio but I cannot find it. I listened to this so many times back in the 80’s his voice has burned into my brain cells. Even as I write this I hear his animated voice. After almost thirty years of my own enquiry I find his words ringing with amazing genius and depth. Words are not his strength, but he was inspired that day. As you read the transcript, recognize that the words were being spoken to an audience. This first part will include the article in full, as it first appeared in 1985 and I have also added some photos and charts that were not part of the original publication. In part two, coming soon, I will integrate my own commentary from the perspectives of neuro-science and my personal practice.

****************

Note: the following is a transcript of a discourse given by B.K.S. Iyengar at the First International Iyengar Yoga Convention in August, 1984. Unfortunately, Mr. Iyengar’s first sentence or two were not recorded and the text begins in mid sentence. However, his ensuing discussion strongly implies that the missing segment introduces the five gross elements: fire, air, earth, water and ether. These elements compose part of the 25 principles of the Samkhya model of reality. Samkhya is the philosophical foundation of yoga. (See accompanying chart.)

In this model, the evolution of consciousness proceeds from the most subtle aspects of mind to the grossest aspects of matter. Mr Iyengar describes the use of asana to retrace this process from the gross level back to pure consciousness. This requires the integration, the uniting of all the diverse aspects and elements into a single harmonious flowing consciousness. The yogic term for this integrative process is Samyama. Samyama is the simultaneous practice of Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi, the last three limbs of Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga and is described and discussed in Chapter Three of the Yoga Sutras. Kofi Busia’s succinct translation of the first few sutras of this chapter may be of use to the reader who is unfamiliar with these terms.

“Concentration (Dharana) consists of keeping the attention centered in one area. Keeping the attention uninterrupted in that state is meditation (Dhyana.) Enlightenment (Samadhi) comes when the attention-keeping ability shines forth as an entity in its own right, quite separate from the means or objects first used to create or draw it forth. These three together are called insightful perception (Samyama). Achievement of it brings the very highest wisdom. It is used to discover higher and higher planes of wisdom.”

Mr. Iyengar’s discourse begins … “have peculiar qualities known as touch, form, sound, taste and smell. Our body is made up of these five elements with these five qualities of the elements; it comprises flesh, bones, bone marrow, blood, and so forth. Along with the five elements and five qualities of elements, each human has in their system to know five organs of action and five organs of perception. Legs, arms, excretory organs, generative organs and mouth are known as organs of action. Eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin are known as organs of perception. The elements are felt by action from the organs of action. There is tremendous communication between the organs of action and the organs of perception. While performing the asanas, the flesh, the marrow of the bones and the bones are organs of action, The skin, the feeling, the smell, the touch, the vibration, the movements are all connected to the organs of perception.

While performing the asanas, you and I, we have to very carefully observe that if the muscles are extended strongly, heavily, or with speed, the organs of perception cannot receive the action done by the fibers, by the cells, by the spindles, or the muscles. Hence they do not receive the actual functioning of the inner system which can only imprint on the organs of perception – the skin – to be felt later by the other parts: the eyes, the ears. So, when performing the asanas, one has to be very careful. The spindles of the physical elemental system (the fibers of the muscles) should act so as to not disturb the fibers of the organs of perception, the inner layer of the skin. If they are not overstretched, naturally the organs of perception can receive the exact action done by the flesh. So when we are performing the asanas, we have to adjust in such a way that the fibers of the flesh do not protrude toward the skin more than what is essential.

(In making contact between the movement and the organs of perception, all the elements become involved.) The power of intelligence you use to make contact is the element of air flowing in the system. They call it bio-energy, we call it prana. The will, the mind that you use, is the fire; the circulation which take place is connected to the element of water, and the mass of flesh within is nothing but the element of earth. And, while performing, as there is a pause between two sounds, a pause between two actions, as there is a space between two words, so also in the system there is an inner space, which is known as the element of ether.

When the asanas are performed, the power of intelligence, the element of air, should be spaced in such a way that the spindles of the organs of action, the flesh, allow the movement to come in contact with the spindles of the organs of perception, the inner layer of the skin. Then you understand the perfect balance of the presentation of that asana. If there is an overstretch, they are hard; you hit the organs of perception so strongly that they become insensitive. If there is an under-stretch there is no feeling; the organs of perception do not perceive the action. So when the organs of perception maintain their sensitivity, the fibers of the flesh, the organs of action have to be carefully handled inside, using the intelligence so that the fire, the mind, may not burn or move the fibers too fast or extinguish them.

And if you can do that way, than you know the contacting and balancing of the cells of the organs of perception through the cells of the organs of action; the ligaments, fibers and so forth. When they commune while performing, when you have understood the tremendous inner balance, without aggravating the organs of perception or of action, then you have mastered the asana. Only that asana! So the communication between the organs of perception and the organs of action should commune to the intelligence a certain rhythm and balance while performing. When that is performed, that asana is mastered. Sometimes we overstretch, sometimes we under-stretch, sometimes we use with will, sometimes we use the force of our body. These are known as imbalances in our presentations. When these are removed, the asana is perfect.

Now, there needs to be tremendous reflection because the elements have no reflection at all, they only act; but in acting they send a message to the organs of perception, triggering them to feel the essence of the action. In order to feel that, the organs of perception, which are connected to the brain, which is connected to the mind because the flesh is connected to the bone, and intelligence which is connected to the consciousness, must be intermingled to create the exact mixture, the exact blending of the fibers of the flesh with the fibers of the organs of perception. This requires tremendous repose, rethinking, reflection. Flesh acts, so it is a forward action from the flesh. Organs of perception should receive, should draw back. In order to draw back you have to create a pause, a space for the action, or the force of action which has been used, to be received by the organs of perception. That receiving movement is meditation in asana.

The acting movement requires skillful action. You have to create even more skillfulness to receive that skillful action with skillful organs of perception. That is why I said you have to communicate with each cell, with the air which is intelligence. So the intelligence acts as a bridge to bring the space, the ether, through vibration, sound, so that the organs of action and the organs of perception are brought very near, without hitting each other. Each cell of the skin, while performing an asana, should exactly face level to the top layer of the flesh, or the cells of the flesh should be exactly facing the cell of the skin. One head of the spindle actually facing the other head of the spindle of the organs of perception. If that is done, that is known as integration, Samyama: that my cells of the body are completely one with the cells of the organs of perception. When the cells of action and the cells of perception have become one, the intelligence dissolves in those two, and makes these three vehicles of the consciousness as a single conscious movement in the entire body – this is samyama, or samadhi in that pose. I hope you understand – it is very difficult.”

The I Ching … on presenting the I Ching

Posted on August 24, 2013 by admin

I love the circularity, or pehaps the cyclicality of the universe. I have been immersed in a Taoist phase of practice for quite a while now, exploring all levels of reality through the lens of embodiment (spirit becoming flesh) and the yin/yang polarities of the cosmos. (By the way, Patanjali is also a Taoist. The very first practices he introduces, early in the Samadhi Pada come as a pair, abhyasa and vairagya. He also refers to the dvandvas, the pairs of opposites, in Sutra II-48, his third sutra on asana.)

Back in my college days, I was introduced to the I Ching, also known as the “Book of Changes” by Huston Smith in his class on Eastern Spirituality and for several years after I immersed myself in exploring the radical wisdom unfolded in the I Ching. On a shamanic adventure in Sedona Arizona a few years ago I was reintroduced to the hexagrams and had an immediate re-awakening to its importance to the somatic explorations in my practice. I recently pulled out my old copy from college, started some enquiries and have been further blown away by how alive, dynamic and relevant it is! I decided to do a blog post on the basics of I Ching, and asked the I Ching to comment on my decision.

I will explore the answer in a minute, but want to mention that in reading the introduction to get some background info, I found that Carl Jung, when asked to write a preface to Richard Wilhelm’s famous translation, (and the one I use) had a similar idea. He asked the I Ching to comment on his idea of presenting the I Ching to the Western mind. I will include the answer he received a bit later as well.

It is difficult to explain the I Ching to Westerners as there is no obvious correlate in either Western spirituality or science. The modern world tends to see a universe of independent, or even isolated causality. The I Ching emerged from an understanding of absolute wholeness or interconnectedness, at every level, at all times. Dating from as early as 1000 BCE, the hexagrams are essentially ways to explore how your sub or unconscious is aligned with the fullness of what is unfolding in the present moment. As the universe is in constant motion, life conditions are constantly changing. Is it time to move, or time to wait? Move with caution, with joy? Many layers and nuances are enfolded into the teachings of the I Ching, allowing you to have a cosmic perspective on decisions or choices you may be making and on the overall dynamics of the natural world. The I Chng immerses you in a world of fire, water, earth and wind, of safety and danger, of growth and decay, of teaching and learning, leading and following, of fundamental creativity and fundamental receptivity.

You approach it by first asking a question, then building a hexagram composed of 6 lines, each either yin (divided) or yang (solid) and finally reading the commentaries that accompany that hexagram in the book. The hexagram is seen to be composed of 2 trigrams, each representing an aspect of the natural world, the seasons, or the mother, father, 3 daughters and 3 sons. There are 8 possible trigrams, 64 possibles hexagrams.

The interpretation of the hexagrams in the I Ching involves both comparing the two trigrams and their aspects to each other as well as the relationship of each line to each other line.

The classical approach to constructing the hexagram uses either a bundle of 49 yarrow stalks or three coins. Using coins are easier to explain. Heads are assigned the yang number 3, tails the yin number 2. The coins are shaken and tossed and the sum is calculated. Three heads gives 9, three tails gives 6. These lines are called old yang and old yin. They are known as moving lines and add relevance in the commentary. The sum can also total 7, young yang, or 8, young yin. These young lines are static and do not invite further commentary. The first line is the bottom line of the hexagram and you build up to line six at the top.

In asking the I Ching about my presenting it in the blog, I threw 8, 7, 8, 6, 6, 9, corresponding to hexagram at the left. This is called Mêng / Youthful Folly and is addressed to students and teachers. (Uncanny is a good word!) The upper Trigram is Kên, Keeping Still, Mountain; the lower trigram is K’an, The Abysmal, Water. The commentaries following come from the edition of the I Ching shown above, Bollingen Series XIX from the Princeton University Press.

“The Judgment: YOUTHFUL FOLLY has success. It is not I who seek the young fool; The young fool seeks me. At the first oracle I inform him. If he asks two or three times, it is importunity. If he importunes, I give him no information. Perseverance furthers.”

(my commentary: The I Ching waits for students to come. It is happy to answer an honest question. But it won’t waste time on foolishness.)

“Commentary: In the time of youth folly is not an evil. One may succeed in spite of it, provided one finds an experienced teacher and has the right attitude toward him. This means, first of all, that the youth must be conscious of his lack of experience and must seek out the teacher. Without this modesty and this interest, there is no guarantee that he has the necessary receptivity, which should express itself in respectful acceptance of the teacher. This is why the teacher must wait to be sought out instead of offering himself. Only thus can the instruction take place at the right time and in the right way.
A teacher’s answer to the question of a pupil ought to be clear and definite like that experienced from an oracle; thereupon it ought to be accepted as a key for the resolution of doubts and the basis for a decision. If mistrustful or unintelligent questioning is kept up, it serves only to annoy the teacher. He does well to ignore it in silence, just as the oracle gives one answer only and refuses to be tempted by questions implying doubt.”

The Image: A spring wells up at the foot of the mountain: The image of youth. Thus the superior man fosters his character by thoroughness in all that he does.”

The Lines: Six in the forth place means: Entangled folly brings humiliation. For youthful folly, it is the most hopeless thing to entangle in empty imaginings….Often the teacher, when confronted with such entangled folly, has no other course but to leave the fool to himself for a time, not sparing him the humiliation that results….
Six in the fifth place means: Childlike folly brings good fortune. An inexperienced person who seeks instruction in a child like and unassuming way is on the right path, for the man devoid of arrogance who subordinates himself to the teacher will certainly be helped.

Nine at the top means: In punishing folly, it does not further one to commit transgressions. The only thing that furthers is to prevent transgressions. Sometimes an incorrigible fool must be punished. He who will not heed will be made to feel. The punishment is quite different from a preliminary shaking up. But the penalty should not be imposed in anger; it must be restricted to an objective guarding against unjustified excesses. Punishment is never an end in itself, but serves to restore order.”

(My commentary: The I Ching is a teacher and advises both students and teachers on how to be in a healthy relationship.)

Carl Jung received hexagram 50, Ting, the Cauldron with nines in the second and third place, in response to his question about presenting the I Ching to the West. The Cauldron represents nourishment. The trigram Li “Fire” sitting above the trigram Sun, “wood/wind”. “Nine in the second place means: There is food in the Ting, my comrades are envious, but they cannot harm me. Good Fortune.” Nine in the third place means: “The handle of the Ting is altered. One is impeded in his way of life. The fat of the pheasant is not eaten. Once rain falls, remorse is spent. Good fortune comes in the end.”

Jung goes on to say that the I Ching was observing that although the spiritual nourishment is available (food in the Ting), it was being neglected (the fat of the pheasant, the most valuable part, is not eaten). But perhaps the new audience will appreciate what it has to offer. (Good fortune comes in the end.)

Here’s hoping good fortune comes to all. Wisdom is everywhere, but there are places where the essence of wisdom is highly concentrated. For those of us immersing ourselves in the natural world, this several thousand year old masterpiece is one such place. May it offer you insight and guidance on your journey through life. Remember ‘youthful folly’ can be the beginning of learning.