Ahimsa Yoga School is the ONLY certified &
registered Yoga School in Ithaca, New York! Graduates have the
opportunity to register with Yoga Allience upon completion of
the program!
In this
course you will have the opportunity to learn how to live YOGA
and how to teach YOGA!
COMMUNITY
KIRTAN W/Damodar Das
Wednesdays
7-9pm
“Dennis Winge’s Kirtan is filled with devotion, and
enthusiasm. It is infused with a spiritual energy that makes
it both captivating and uplifting.” - David
Newman
Damodar Das (spiritual name for Dennis Winge),
was a full-time New York City jazz and studio guitarist for
over 10 years before he fell in love with kirtan in early
2010, after which he rapidly learned much about the sacred
practice. He took week-long intensive kirtan course with
the world renowned chant-master David Newman at Omega
Institute in Spring 2010. There he learned many traditional
chants, studied Sanksrit vocabulary and pronunciation, heard
stories about the Deities, and memorized several ancient Vedic
prayers as well as the 40 -verse Hanuman Chalisa. In
Fall 2010 he was initiated into Kriya Yoga by Shibendu Lahiri,
great grandson of Lahiri Mahashay. In 2011, Damodar Das
completed a 30-hour training course with American Sanskrit
Institute teacher Jo Brill, in which he learned to read
‘Devanagari’ (Sanskrit script) as well as understand and
appreciate the nuances of Sanskrit poetry.
Leading his chants on both harmonium and guitar,
he played at such well-known spiritual centers as Kripalu,
Omega, and Ananda Ashram. While living in
Westchester County, NY he was featured in Natural Awakenings
magazine: http://denniswinge.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Kirtan-article.pdf.
Upon moving to the Finger Lakes region in early 2012 he has
led kirtan at Visshudha in Binghamton, Grounded by Yoga in
Bloomfield, Ahimsa in Ithaca, and the Goldenrod Center for
Philosophic Studies in Hector, and now regularly leads a
monthly kirtan at Yoga and More in Corning and a monthly
chanting of the Hanumaan Chaaleesaa in Foundation of Light in
Ithaca.
His ensemble includes a rotating cast of
other professional musicians on traditional and
non-traditional instruments as harmonium, tabla, doumbek,
djembe, flute, violin, bass, and keyboards. Damodar Das
also founded the band "Mantra Magic" and co-lead and
co-organized the wildly successful “Rock and Roll Kirtan” in
Garrison NY in April 2011 as well as the fabulous New Years
Eve Kirtan Extravaganza 2010 in Ridgefield, CT. As a
sideman Winge has played with such kirtan greats as Sri
Kirtan, Satya Franche & Ma Kirtan, Sahaja Kathi Norklun,
Sita’s Light, Lee Harrington, BlisSing, Shivananda and
Shubalananda.
Winge has taken traditional Eastern
kirtan to a new level that continually appeals to many
Westerners by utilizing his extensive jazz and rock
background. His deep respect for and extensive knowledge of
Sanskrit chant is engagingly complemented by his jazz- and
rock-influenced style of kirtan. As a freelance guitarist for
over 10 years, Dennis is well-versed in many styles of music
and incorporates a variety of musical forms and traditions in
his kirtan. Some of his chants are based on the chord
progression to jazz standards and classic rock hits, even
including ones from Patti Smith and Jimi Hendrix!
The combination of musical familiarity and deep devotion to
the Divine Names that are sung is not only widely appealing
but also an uplifting experience for all who attend Winge’s
kirtans. Winge strikes a perfect balance between
traditional and non-traditional, as well as between inward,
meditation-fostering chants and those that are simply a
rollicking good time to sing!
Contact Improv
with David Gallahan
~certain
Sundays 2-3pm~
A recent dance form based in
improvisation with physical contact, CI is a kinesthetic mode
of communication: question & answer, statement &
response, giving & taking weight, separation & coming
together. Listening in action, it is free play with balance:
self-correcting & bringing forth physical truth about
shared movement that can leave the participants informed,
centered, & enlivened. There is an intentional emphasis
on personal responsibility and safety.
I especially
hope that we will be able to realize very interesting
experimental movement while being fully welcoming to
interested and unexperienced dancers. Looking forward to
dancing with you there! David
