CRA’P Collaborations 2024
The Centre KALARIGRAM of Auroville, India, comes back to CRA’P. With them we organise three weeks of activities based on Kalaripayattu, a millenary tradition of knowledge and practices about martial arts, health and spirituality.
Between the 9 and 28 September, with the collaboration of Mollet del Vallès City Council, we will venture into this ancestral tradition and its legacy guided by Lakshman Gurukkal, one renowned master in this art form.
CRA’P hosts this proposal by Esther Freixa of having the opportunity to share with her Kalaripayattu Master in a residential format.
KALARIPAYATTU RETREAT WITH THE MASTER LAKSHMAN GURUKKAL
From 13 to 15 September in Valle del Llémena, Girona, Spain.
Kalaripayattu is an ancient martial art from Kerala, in southern India. It is based on the observation of nature and especially of some animals and their movements. Its practice allows the opening of energy channels by taking the body to its limits. It is a discipline that strengthens, relaxes and balances physically, mentally and spiritually.
During the weekend we will have the opportunity to delve into this ancient tradition with Kalari and meditation practices and spiritual rituals such as the pooja of the Sri Vidya Tantra tradition, led by one of the most renowned masters from Kerala, India.
The food will be vegetarian.
The place: A farmhouse from 1318 in the Vall del Llémena.
We will be hosted at a farmhouse specially prepared for retreat activities. A few kilometres from the city of Girona and surrounded by nature, warmth and peacefulness. The beds are individual and the rooms are shared in small groups. It has common areas, a practice room with views of the mountains. A cosy family atmosphere with all the comforts.
With Lakshman Gurukkal and Esther Freixa
All levels. No previous experience is required.
We have the possibility to have two groups of practice: one introductory and another advanced.
Arrival: Friday, September 13 at 4:00 p.m. It is necessary to be punctual to distribute the rooms, make the introduction of the retreat and be able to start punctually with the practices.
Departure: Sunday, September 15, around 3:00 p.m., after lunch.
Very limited places.
Fee:
275€ Includes accommodation, food and practice (250€ CRA’P collaborators and associated members)
250€ before 20 August (235€ CRA’P collaborators and associated members)
Discounts for people who sign up for the workshops inn Mollet:
235€ Includes accommodation, food and practice (220€ CRA’P collaborators and associated members)
215€ before 20 August (200€ CRA’P collaborators and associated members)
More information and registrations: info@cra-p.org / 666 763 504
Lakshman Gurukkal is one of the few rare and revered Gurus of Kalaripayattu, Ayurveda and Tantra. Following the tradition of family lineage, he had started learning Kalaripayattu at the tender age of 5 under the tutelage of his father Guru Veerasree Sami Gurukkal. In his growing years, he also learnt from his father the art and science of Ayurveda. He has been awarded by the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India, with the title of Senior Fellowship (in Kalaripayattu and Natyashastra). He has a post graduate degree in Advaita Vedanta from Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, at Deemed University under the Ministry of Human Resource Development in New Delhi. He worked as a Lecturer in Martial Arts at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, Kerala. He is the director of Hindustan Kalari Sangam, the family centre in Calicut, Kerala. In 2010 he founded Kalarigram in Auroville, Tamil Nadu, an international research centre on the applications of Kalari for empowering the younger generations with the core principles of the ancient wisdom and its tools to develop an engaged and responsible human being.
The Kalarigram centre is based in Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India. It is structured as a holistic Kalari gurukulam, and was founded by Lakshman Gurukkal in 2010. It trains artists from all over the world. Kalarigram’s visit aims at imparting traditional Indian wisdom of body-mind training, performing arts and spiritual practice.
Esther Freixa is a performer, stage creator and actress, with a degree in drama from the Barcelona Theater Institute. She continues to train between Barcelona and Berlin, going deeper mainly through Body Weather and Biovoice. Her interest in Indian culture and knowledge led her to study at the Jaume Grau Yoga School, in the tradition of T.Krishnamacharya, from 2005 to 2013. There she studied yoga, Vedic chanting, meditation and the Yoga Sutra text of Patanjali. Since 2012, she regularly travels to India to learn kalaripayattu in Hindustan Kalari Sangam and Kalarigram. Since 2007 she has collaborated with the actor and director Toni Cots with whom she investigates the scenic language and has traveled through different countries in Europe and Latin America giving workshops and touring her works from 2013 to the present. She accompanies and directs the creation processes of different artists. Since 2016 she has collaborated with the NLP coach and trainer Lourdes Gironès in her TransformArte project, developed mainly in Spain, Argentina, Uruguay and Mexico. She is a founding member of CRA’P, artistic creation and research practices in Mollet del Vallès, Barcelona. Since 2015 she teaches the practice of Kalaripayattu in Spain with regular classes, intensive workshops and in 2020 she creates this retreat, where she integrates Kalari with other disciplines in an intense and moving experience.
