Academy of Art, Creativity & Consciousness

Under the direction of renowned spiritual artist Dana Lynne Andersen, the Academy of Art, Creativity and Consciousness is being established at Ananda Assisi. The purpose of the Academy is to use all of the arts as instruments for awakening higher consciousness in the individual and transmitting that consciousness into society.

This year’s courses include painting, sculpture, theatre, music, dance and poetry and are open to all levels of experience. Except for the Painting Intensive, no artistic experience or talent is required. For those who wish to discover and express their creative nature, weekend introductions offer a playful yet profound experience. All of these programs are useful tools for those in teaching, healing, counseling and art education professions.

Dana Lynne Andersen is known in the United States and in India as one of the foremost spiritual artists of our times. She has distinguished herself in the realms of painting, writing and playwriting, book illustration, and as a curator of art exhibits. Her paintings have been exhibited on three continents, and some of them have been chosen by Swami Kriyananda as covers for his book. She is the founder of “Awakening Arts”, an international network of artists committed to the creation of art that is inspiring and transformative, and is known as a loving and inspiring teacher. Dana received her bachelor’s degree cum laude in philosophy, and her Master’s Degree in the Study of Consciousness from John F. Kennedy University. For more information, please visit AwakeningArts.com.

Dana offers these insights about the place of art in our times:

“Art can be used to degrade or to uplift the Human Spirit. In these challenging times, the Arts must reclaim their power to bring hope and vision to the world. Society is shifting out of the Information Age, dominated by left-brain modes of thinking (logical, binary, sequential, reductive and analytic). The future demands the whole brain- integrating the left-brain with the creative and intuitive modalities of our right-brain.

“At the Academy we cultivate holistic, intuitive and ‘super-conscious’ capacities that utilize the full spectrum of human potential.”

Participants describe their experiences with Dana and her courses:

“I am profoundly grateful to Dana for the course from which there has been positive effects not only in my art, but also in unexpected areas of my life. The course is about allowing; it is about trust; it is about entrusting; it is about surrender; it is about peace; it is about serene joy; it is about healing; it is about re-alignment; it is about Truth. Thank you very much for the profound teachings for Life.” – Piercarla

“The last time I went to a modern art museum, I came out feeling angry and aggressive, and I thought I would avoid contemporary art from that point on. But when I saw Dana Lynne Andersen’s paintings I felt hope for the future of Art. Dana’s paintings are modern and alternative but they always have a message which comes from intuition and the heart. This way of painting, where the painter enters in an inner flow becoming an instrument of a greater power, is astonishingly well taught in her courses where people can directly experience this creative process and see not only its beauty but also its healing power and the doors it opens to oneself.” – Mihai

The Inner Divine Dance with Patrizia Gigo

Between Music and Poetry with Darshan (Jan) Lotichius

Sacred Dances
With Vairagi Lavermicocca

6-8 August 2010 (in Italian only)

Divinity is a flow of consciousness that pervades the universe and pulsates in every fiber of our being. Sacred dance is a technique used in many spiritual traditions for enabling the individual to feel this flow of divine energy in a tangible way—Celtic, Sufi and Dervish, Jewish and American Indian traditions use sacred dance as a spiritual practice.

During this weekend you will learn simple movements and dances through which you will feel a superior consciousness moving within you and expressing through you. The music used will be the “Songs of Divine Joy” by Kriyananda, and classic Indian mantras. These dances will help you to open your heart and to experience beauty, grace and harmony. Weather permitting, some of the dances will be out-of-doors. Also included are walking meditations in the wooded paths around Ananda.

Vairagi (Paola) Lavermicocca teaches English in middle school, and throughout her life she has enjoyed many forms of art, including painting on textiles and sacred dancing. She recently graduated from the Ananda Yoga Academy, and has lived at Ananda for several years, where she leads yoga sessions and evenings of sacred dance.

The Inner Divine Dance
With Patrizia Gigo, professional dancer and choreografer, dance teacher and Ananda Yoga instructor

Dates to be determined.

A unique experience with a dancer/yoga teacher of great sensitivity and ability to communicate and involve participants in movements that open new roads of awareness.

You will be guided in a harmonious method of prayer, relaxation, control of breath and life force, concentration of the mind, and movement of the body. You will experience an elevation of the inner energy flow that will bring you naturally into a meditative state.

Poetry in Movement

This weekend will include an inspiring evening delving into the marvellous poem Samadhi, written by Paramhansa Yogananda. It will be an inner voyage where music, movement and visual perception will be the instruments towards the reawakening of divine memory.

Between Music and Poetry
With Darshan (Jan) Lotichius

Dates to be determined.

Sounds and words play an important role in our inner life. In music and poetry these two great activators often come together, giving strength to their powers of communication.

During this course, we will discover new ways of being receptive to classical music and Italian poetry. With yoga meditation as a key, we will listen and read intuitively, and try to feel how both music and poetry are able to communicate with our most intimate essence.

We will discover how our own voice can awaken latent spiritual energies in our heart, and how an intuitive relationship with the strength and music of words can enrich and renew our intuitive and sensory perceptions, guiding us to write our own poetry and prayers.

The course, which is based on the book by Swami Kriyananda, Art as a Guide to Self-Realization, does not require any musical or literary preparation, only a willingness for research and love of music and poetry.

Supplemental Fee: € 40.00

Darshan (Jan) Lotichius is a violin teacher and has a degree in the Humanities from the Università Roma Tre. Since 1981 he has practiced yoga and has followed the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda and Swami Kriyananda. Darshan has tried to find ways of bringing together these teachings with his original love for music and literature. He is currently living at Ananda Assisi where he teaches at the first European “Education for Life” school.

For information and reservations:
info@ananda.it   Tel: +39 0742-81.36.20   Fax: +39 0742-81.35.36

Ananda is located in the tranquil hills of Umbria, Italy on “Strada Statale 444” between Assisi and Gualdo Tadino. It is the largest retreat center in Europe for Yogananda’s teachings.

Travel Directions

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Ananda Associazione • Via Montecchio, 61 • I-06025 Nocera Umbra (PG) • ITALY