Synopses & Reviews
The yoga and classical dance traditions of India have been inextricably entwined for millennia.and#160; The exacting hand gestures, postures and movements of Indian classical dance can only be achieved through yogic concentration.and#160; Conversely, the esthetics, symmetry, and dynamism of dance enhance the practice of yoga.and#160; These two traditions, so complementary and essential to one another, are united and explicated for the first time in andlt;iandgt;A Yoga of Indian Classical Danceandlt;/iandgt;. andlt;BRandgt;Twenty-five years ago Roxanne Kamayani Gupta embarked on a journey of dance and yoga, yearning to unlock their mysteries and discover their common origins.and#160; As a twenty-year-old student from America she was miraculously and mysteriously absorbed into Indian culture, became a Hindu, and began an odyssey so unusual and unique that the reader will be enchanted by its telling. Choosing the path of the dancer, Roxanne Gupta accomplished what no Western woman had done before: being accepted and trained by Indian masters and then performing in the Indian classical traditions--from the palaces of maharajas to the arts festivals of Europe and America--while at the same time achieving a doctorate in the anthropology of religion and being initiated into a number of yogic traditions.and#160; Having mastered the classical form of Kuchipudi dance and studied with teachers of the hatha and kriya yoga traditions, she brings together these two great streams of consciousness and practice. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;In this tantric approach to yoga and dance, expressed through the body and through a yoga of emotions, we see the traditions embodied inand#160; a manner that embraces the totality of the human experience.and#160; The result is the dance of the yogini, the sacred feminine initiatress who dances with one foot in nature and the other in the realm of the gods.and#160; With extensive photographs of innovative yoga routines, Roxanne Kamayani Gupta distills her experience into techniques for yogic study certain to assist students of all levels to achieve a dynamic, beautiful, and graceful practice.
Review
Will appeal to a wide audience from religious students to those interested in yoga and dance movements aside from spirituality. Unique and outstanding. (James A. Cox, Bookwatch)
Review
"A very interesting read."
Review
"A captivating personal narrative. This unique story is a blend of autobiography, philosophical reflection, and firsthand insight. [Gupta's] explanations of Indian dramatic theory and discussions of yoga and dance in historical and religions terms are clear-cut and informative."
Review
"Fascinating work. One of the outcomes of her creative tantric synthesis of dance and yoga is a series of 64 innovative yoga exercises that are photgraphed and presented in detail in this book."
Review
"An exquisitely presented, magnificently related story. Gupta evinces a fascinating appreciation of the many great dancers with whom she trained in the practice, drama, and philosophy of Indian classical dance. Glorious, original and inspirational book."
Review
"A very interesting read." Dance Magazine, March 2001, Vol. 75, No. 3
Review
"A captivating personal narrative. This unique story is a blend of autobiography, philosophical reflection, and firsthand insight. [Gupta's] explanations of Indian dramatic theory and discussions of yoga and dance in historical and religions terms are clear-cut and informative." < i=""> Library Journal <> , April 15, 2000
Review
"Fascinating work. One of the outcomes of her creative tantric synthesis of dance and yoga is a series of 64 innovative yoga exercises that are photgraphed and presented in detail in this book." spiritualityhealth.com
Review
"An exquisitely presented, magnificently related story. Gupta evinces a fascinating appreciation of the many great dancers with whom she trained in the practice, drama, and philosophy of Indian classical dance. Glorious, original and inspirational book." < i=""> Spirit of Change <> , Nov/Dec 2000
Review
"A very interesting read." < i=""> Dance Magazine <> , March 2001, Vol. 75, No. 3
Synopsis
A text for developing a personal yoga practice based on the author's twenty-five-year study of sacred Indian dance and traditional hatha yoga. 60 lavishly illustrated yoga and dance routines. Author is the first to unite the two disciplines of yoga and Indian dance to create a path to transcendence. Through the disciplines of dance and yoga we come to honor the body as sacred, a playhouse of the spirit. A Yoga of Indian Classical Dance is the first book to marry the purity of outer form that is characteristic of Indian Classical Dance to the inner development derived through yoga. Yoga, which can be any discipline leading to spiritual liberation, takes many forms in India, but before Roxanne Gupta's study of Indian Classical Dance as the path for that liberation this discipline had remained virtually unexplored. This book represents her own creative synthesis, developed over twenty-five years of study in India. Indian Classical Dance draws upon the sacred feminine energy of the yogini, a spiritual initiatress who dances with one foot in nature and one in culture. She is both supremely sexual and sublimely spiritual--evoking eroticism and channeling it upward into transcendence. By becoming the yogini through the "mirror" of performance, we learn to see our own inner nature. A Yoga of Indian Classical Dance teaches movement as sadhana, spiritual practice. By balancing inner awareness with outer movement, we can avoid the artificial division between mind and body, uniting the two in a practice that flows smoothly and gracefully and celebrates the forces of nature. The book contains extensive photographs of sixty yoga routines, both old and new, that the aspiring yogini can use to develop her own practice and achieve a new perfection of form and spirit.
Synopsis
A Yoga of Indian Classical Dance teaches movement as sadhana, spiritual practice. By balancing inner awareness with outer movement, we can avoid the artificial division between mind and body, uniting the two in a practice that flows smoothly and gracefully and celebrates the forces of nature. The book contains extensive photographs of sixty yoga routines, both old and new, that the aspiring yogini can use to develop her own practice and achieve a new perfection of form and spirit.
About the Author
Roxanne Kamayani Gupta is a scholar of Indian culture and comparative religion, a teacher of hatha and kriya yoga, and an initiate of the Sri Vidya tantric tradition of goddess worship.andnbsp; She holds a doctorate in Anthropology of Religion from Syracuse University and is currently Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Table of Contents
Here is a complete program for developing a personal yoga practice based on the author's 25-year study of sacred Indian dance and traditional hatha yoga. In the first book on the union of these two disciplines, 60 illustrated dance routines balance inner awareness with outer movement, drawing upon the sacred feminine energy of the
yogini,or spiritual initiatress, and leading to a union of mind and body.Roxanne Kamayani Gupta is a scholar of Indian culture and comparative religion, a teacher of hatha and kriya yoga, and an initiate of the Sri Vidya tantric tradition of goddess worship." She holds a doctorate in Anthropology of Religion from Syracuse University and is currently Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. Visit the author's web site at http://www.roxannegupta.com/.
A Yoga of Indian Classical Dance
The Yogini's Mirror
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
1. Discipline and Desire
2. Dance of the Gurus
3. Stillness at the Center
4. The Dance of Yoga
5. Yoga of the Emotions
6. The Dance of the Yogini
7. Yoga of the Elements
Bibliography<>br / > andquot;A captivating personal narrative. This unique story is a blend of autobiography, philosophical reflection, and firsthand insight. [Gupta's] explanations of Indian dramatic theory and discussions of yoga and dance in historical and religions terms are clear-cut and informative.andquot; <>em > Library Journal <>/em > , April 15, 2000 "Fascinating work. One of the outcomes of her creative tantric synthesis of dance and yoga is a series of 64 innovative yoga exercises that are photgraphed and presented in detail in this book." spiritualityhealth.com
andquot;Will appeal to a wide audience from religious students to those interested in yoga and dance movements aside from spirituality. Unique and outstanding.andquot;
<>strong > James A. Cox <>/strong > , <>i > Bookwatch <>/i > <>i / >
andquot;An exquisitely presented, magnificently related story. Gupta evinces a fascinating appreciation of the many great dancers with whom she trained in the practice, drama, and philosophy of Indian classical dance. Glorious, original and inspirational book.andquot;<>i > Spirit of Change <>/i > , Nov/Dec 2000 "A very interesting read." <>I > Dance Magazine <>/I > , March 2001, Vol. 75, No. 3