YOGA YANTRA by Bobby Clennell
I embarked on Yoga Yantra in the late 1980s. From film footage of Guruji’s yoga performances, I traced his image over and over again. The figures were repeated and laid out to form patterns and then combined with yantras, some of which were classical and some that I made up. When an artist makes an image of yoga, they are doing more than just making an image. Yoga art is sacred and seeks more than to entertain, educate, or illuminate. Its function is also to connect the viewer to the Divine. It is also a devotional activity on the part of the artist.
Jake Clennell
The study of yoga opened a window for me into the golden age of an ancient society that was the wellspring of great art, literature, and poetry. The holy art of India, in particular the sacred symbolism of the Yantra, an (often complex) geometric design traditionally used as a tool to increase awareness, inspired me to make an animated film.
by the fluidity of his presentation and how effortlessly he moved from pose to pose. His jump from arm balance through a back bend into Hanumanasana is nothing short of miraculous.
Yantra, which leads us away from and back toward the center in stages, is a symbol of unfolding and gathering energy. Yantra stimulates us to explore and reveal the center, which in turn, links us to the cosmos. When we practice yoga, the body itself becomes a yantra. Yoga Yantra, which was made over a five-year period, was the bridge that took me from my previous life in England to my new life in America. Moving from one continent to another and letting go of my long career in the animation business for a somewhat hazy future was scary. Although I had received my certification from B.K.S. Iyengar in 1977, I hadn’t yet fully immersed myself into a life of full-time yoga teaching. Yoga Yantra, as well as my practice, was my life raft.
The yoga drawings and yantra designs were arranged to make moving patterns, and then were synchronized to the music. More than 3000 drawings went into the making of this film.
When making an animated film, the soundtrack—be it music or dialog—is always laid down first. Warren Senders, an East/West jazz fusionist and student of Indian classical singing whom I met in Pune, wrote the music for me, and he also produced and recorded it with an ensemble of Indian classical musicians.
Guruji took great interest in the making of Yoga Yantra and viewed its progress as I returned several times to Pune during its making. He also gave it its title. I have never minded that this film was never taken to its finished, polished colored state. In fact, I prefer it at this raw, pure stage. The pencil drawings flicker, evidence of my manually removing each piece of paper from the registration pegs and replacing each one with the next drawing. I shot the film on a special camera (known as a line test machine) used by animators to see how the flow and movement of a piece of animation is coming.
Yantra, which leads us away from and back toward the center in stages, is a symbol of unfolding and gathering energy. I then set about looking for some suitable film footage of Guruji in practice. Much of the material was generated from a video made by Victor Van Koutan shot on the roof of the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune. It was a wonderful experience to be immersed in the movements and rhythms of Guruji practicing his yoga. As I worked, I became very familiar with the profundity and beauty of his poses. His arms really straighten in the balancing poses. His backbends are a perfect combination of strength and flexibility. I was particularly struck
Shown here is one of the color setups from Yoga Yantra. (Another is reproduced on the inside cover of this magazine.) Had the film been completed, one of the scenes in the film would have looked like this. 9
Fall 2009 / Winter 2010
Yoga Samachar
