A book with piano and piano-cello compositions of Rene Nikolaou; whose works ldquo; Two small canonsrdquo; and ldquo;Etude no.2rdquo; have been awarded in the competition organized by the US National Academy of Music (State of Colorado) ; with the ldquo;Finalist of the International Music Prize for Excellence in Composition 2010rdquo; and ldquo;Honorable Mention Citationrdquo; correspondingly. It includes 12 compositions; 9 for piano- Higher level and 3 for piano-cello. In
#3729021 in eBooks 2014-12-19 2014-12-19File Name: B00R8PEESY
Review
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful. A wonderful bookBy A CustomerThis book is a wonderful multifaceted combination of exercise instruction; artistic photography and the authors narrative of her experiences with Indian culture. I recommend this book for anyone interested in accessing and better understanding Indias living traditions.3 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Three in oneBy A CustomerThis book is beautifully packaged; and Ms. Gupta links Yoga asanas and classical Indian dance; something so obvious; and yet the dance masters fail to do this to any extent in the present-day Indian classical dance training. The Yoga portion of the book consists of basic gentle yoga asanas; with photos of the author doing the asanas; good especially for beginners; but a video to accompany the book would have made it more complete and easier to follow (though; as photos go; its as good as it can get without a video). Its a memoir and a journey of the authors first trip to India and how she; as an American; got interested in the East. It is full of hundreds of photos; large and small; of the author who shares her earthly and sometimes not-so-earthly experiences in words and pictures; making it a book on yoga; a biography and an introduction to Indian classical dance.18 of 21 people found the following review helpful. The first book of its kindBy K. PalaniIt is indeed the first and - so far - the only book that attempts to introduce - to the western readership - the spiritual aspects of the classical Indian dance form of Kuchipudi.So; is it about Natya Yoga? The author is clearly not a Bharata Muni; Abhinavagupta; or even a devadasi or a Siddhendra Yogi; but is obviously a very intellectual (and often a bit too philosophical) lady and made the book easily understandable for the non-Indian readership.I have never watched Roxanne Kamayani Gupta dance; but; to judge from her book; she is (and has never been) not a contemporary Kuchipudi star like Varsha Ramesh who; true; cannot boast of a PhD and is too young to understand the western mentality.To have some idea of what is inside the book:I. Intro (Understanding Yoga and Indian Classical Dance)1. Discipline and Desire (My Initiation into Indian Spirituality) - page 82. Dance of the Gurus (Meetings with Remarkable Men and Women) - page 323. Stillness at the Center (The Yoga of Indian Dance) - page 514. The Dance of Yoga (The sixty-Four Yogini Asanas) - page 595. Yoga of the Emotions (Spiritual Dimensions of Indian Dance) - page 1506. The Dance of the Yogini (Tantric Dimensions of Indian Classical Dance) - page 1627. Yoga of the Elements (Nature; Culture and Spirituality) - page 173Half of the book is dedicated to the asanas but gives hardly anything beyond the instructions for the physical body. So; where is the Kriya Yoga element here then? The author fails to establish the connection between the asanas and the classical Indian dance.Of course; nobody in India performs the yoga asanas in those kind of tights - sitting in a garden on a deer skin. And nobody in India understands what is "Yogini Asanas". Yoga Asanas is what is known. There is a bit too much of the romantic American feminism here. Roxanne does not know why the founder of Kuchipudi; Siddhendra Yogi; taught it only to men... So; why?And - my god! - "Tantric Dimensions" are of course in line with the popular western (sex-obsessed) interpretation of the Left Path of Tantra. Roxanne believes that "since the advent of the birth control pill womens sexuality no longer inevitably results in pregnancy...". Roxanne could never explain why the original devadasis were celibate and why nobody was allowed to watch them dance in the temples shrines. Explaining it would hurt the pride of the sexually active (majority) part of the potential readership in the USA; of course. It would be shocking for them to read something like the Irumbai legend portraying the devadasi Valli. After reading Roxanne; an average American woman may be lead to wonder if the ancient devadasis; indeed; used to pull condoms over the lingams in the temples!As for "Yoga of Emotions" section; there are full-page photos of Roxanne attempting to demonstrate the navarasas. While some of the expressions are ok; others (such as Raudra; Sringara; Vira; Adbhuta) are not clearly expressed. Roxanne should better learn what real expressions should be by; for example; watching the DVDs of SriDevi Nrithyalayas virtuosos.Ok; all in; if you were not brought up in India; the book is a must-read for all those interested in the yoga side of Kuchipudi. Even if 2% of the book gives you some kind of answer to the question; "Where on earth is Yoga in Kuchipudi???"; these 2% are worth gleaning from reading the entire book.I am quite satisfied with this books price.P.S. Since the time this review was written; there appeared a few interesting DVDs on Natya Yoga that make a far more successful attempt to reveal the esoteric Natya Yoga side of the classical Indian dance.
