Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Yoga teachers that I have known - The Exotic Dancing Shakti

Contrary to some, this was not based on Shiva Rea since I didn't know who she was when I wrote this in 2007. Instead this was from a class in DC in a studio that I went to a few times before I ran into this teacher and decided to move on with my explorations of yoga...


You will recognize this type of teacher by the beads and bangles they will be wearing when they show up for class. They will look and sound like a belly dancer and usually calls their style of Yoga 'Fusion something or other'.

The Exotic Dancing Shakti will start their class off in the fetal position. There will be soft sounds playing through the studio sound speakers; a womb like sound of gurgling and the sloshing of water. A slow rumbling noise will begin to grow until there is a grand eruption into an explosion of sound. They will reach their hands up to the sky and start to shudder and shake. They will become possessed with the heebie-jeebies and do a Saint Vitus Dance. The Exotic Dancing Shakti will then begin to move like a hyena, slither like a snake, do a war dance like an Native American warrior while wrestling with cave bears, mastodons and snow leopards. The Exotic Dancing Shakti will eventually transmute into a trance state like that of a Haitian Zombie. All the while there will be the beat of primal drumming playing through the speakers.

You'll hear the Exotic Dancing Shakti singing in strange languages, emitting reptilian and chirping sounds and may even start speaking in tongues. If you happen to look at them at this point, you might notice that they have dressed in an ethnic costume of the world or even be naked while riding a white horse through the studio. They will end the class with a Jig, a Polka or do the hokey-pokey while howling like a wild banshee. You will feel a bit foolish as you try to follow them through their movements in this Yoga class. You will also wonder what this has to do with Yoga.