Crete. 1998 Ashtanga Primary series demonstration Kristina Karitinou, Derek Ireland (without the five breaths in the asana)

This made my day, Kristina Karitinou demonstrating Primary series with Derek Ireland  introducing it just off camera. Admittedly Derek's questionable music taste makes it seem more like 1988 than '98.

Kristina just told me that this was how they used to demonstrate the series to a new group of students, one breath a posture, the whole series in half an hour.

I love this video, such an honesty to it, an innocence....



This was at the practice Place in Crete, here's another video  from there, this time Derek leading the class through Primary.



The class above was turned into a Led primary series CD, I have it, it's excellent, a few surprises. See this post for a review of the CD as well as Derek's Pranayama CD also excellent, in fact I was practising along to  it earlier in the week.

Derek Ireland Ashtanga Led Primary CD and Pranayama CD

This post is of the tribute to Derek Ireland in Fusion magazine

Crete - Derek Ireland tribute in old edition of Fusion magazine also Ashtanga.com article links

and another post

Crete - Derek Ireland and the British/European school of Ashtanga

Here's a link to the interview I posted with Kristina Karitinou a few months back.

Entelechy : An Interview with Certified Ashtanga Teacher Kristina Karitinou

Anthony: Tell me about ‘The Practice Place’, the Ashtanga community in Greece at that time?

Kristina: The Practice Place, was the first Ashtanga community in Europe. Set up in the UK it had its shala in the South of Crete. This was the place where teachers and students had the possibility to study with Derek and Radha. Derek was the one working mainly with the Mysore advanced practitioners and helped them evolve their practice. The place combined three important features, good practice, good food and accommodation in great surroundings. Most of us had to work our way through our studies there in an effort to learn to offer to this community as this was part of a Karma yoga training. Derek made this possible for us in order to deepen our knowledge and shape a correct attitude towards a dedicated practice.



And I can't resist the Ashtanga and Zen video filmed by Alessandro while I was in crete at Kristina's shala for manju's TT course. Watch it to the end for Kristina singing 'The Song of Seikilos'

"This song is one of the earliest examples yet found of a complete musical composition from the ancient world. Although other songs have been found that pre-date 'The Song of Seikilos' by many centuries, they only survive in fragments.