On Friday I got up at 3 so I could leave at 4 and take a 6AM flight to La Guardia in the hopes of attending Andrei Ram's 12-2PM Level IV class.. Despite much backup on the BQE I made it to Catesey's Park Slope abode in good time, and then took the F to the 6 to 23rd and 3rd. Instead of Andrei, though, the teacher was Dharma. What a treat! We did several 3rd series poses that I'm learning to adjust (don't tell anyone!). And the meditation afterwards was, well, amazing.
By the way, Dharma is the one doing a hands-free headstand on a Houston Street sewer cap in the new Vanity Fair spread on yoga teachers. Pattabhi Jois is the one at the end, in front of the Sanskrit College with the bicycles and staring men. Their two photos seem to be the most "real" of the bunch. Hmmmm, I wonder why......
After class I met Catesey at Astor Place and we hoofed it to my favorite serve-yourself vegetarian sold-by-the-pound restaurant, Temple in the Village. On the way we passed through Washington Square Park, where we stopped to hear some young ragtime-y musicans that Robert Crumb would approve of -- complete with washboard, homemade drum kit and dancers. Ragtime is the new pUnK rock.
Later we rode bikes to Issue Project Room, a Brooklyn silo next to the stinky Gowanus canal to see a Butoh-y performance by Vanessa Skantze called "Lucifer" and attend a birthday party. Marc Ribot was in attendance -- but not Steve Buscemi. Still, Brooklyn is the new downtown.
And today I slept in til 11:15AM.
No sleep til Brooklyn indeed....
And tonight is Maha Sadhana at Dharma's, followed by teacher training graduation and a potluck birthday party for Dharma's 68th birthday -- which runs from 10 to midnight.
Yes, til midnight.
Nope, Hatha really isn't the new Astanga. Not by any stretch....
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