Performing Arts

by Thomas Dimopolous

For much of the 20^th century, the second floor space inside the brick building at the corner of Broad and Front streets housed the Ackshand Knitting Company, manufacturers of unique gloves. In October 2016, Carol Dimopoulos re-opened the space as the GypsYoga Center to promote health and wellness through movement, meditation and the arts.

“The goal is to provide a loving and welcoming environment and community for students of all levels, and to train teachers in the hatha yoga lineage with yoga masters who come from the yoga capital of the world,” said Dimopoulos, a certified yoga teacher and president of Perillo’s Learning Journeys, an educational travel company.

A handful of master teachers at GypsYoga provide regular classes in hatha, kundalini, and bhakti disciplines for kids, adults and families. Specialized workshops provide opportunities for a variety of freelancers – from master teachers providing gong meditations, to photographers, poets and musicians—who stage collaborative events focused on movement and the arts.

“Giving back is also at the core of what we do,” said Dimopoulos, referring to community yoga events centered on class donations which raise funds to support local and global NGO communities.

GypsYoga is the international teaching center of Yoga Vedenta in India – one of the most prestigious schools of yoga, and located in the ancient spiritual city of Rishikesh. The center promotes journeys and retreats to global destinations, and as an international teaching center offers Yoga Alliance Certified RYT 200 and 300-hour yoga teacher trainings with yoga masters brought to the center from Rishikesh.

“The mission is to bring people inside of themselves and explore their inner world through the holistic teachings of yoga and meditation, pranayama, lifestyle and the creative arts,” Dimopoulos said.

Contact:

GypsYoga Center, 120 Broad Street, Schuylerville

(518) 260-9305  //  GypsYogaWebsite

by Thomas Dimopolous

After traveling across the world, Chelsie Henderson thought the village of Schuylerville, located near her native Easton in Washington County, was an unlikely place for her to open a business and organize community-wide events.

“It’s about starting a community and making a community our children will come back to,” said Henderson, whose background is in classic voice and piano (despite the occasional live performance, she considers herself more teacher than performer). “I love teaching and where I’m most comfortable is transferring that knowledge,” she said.

Her business, Rural Soul Studio, originally opened in Greenwich in 2012 and expanded to include the Broad Street space in Schuylerville in 2013. The studio regularly hosts teachers instructing on a variety of instruments, such as voice, piano, strings, woodwind, brass, and African drumming, among them, as well as staging master classes and workshops for visiting teachers.

Henderson also organizes and collaborates with other businesses. When she saw the number of independent ventures growing in the village, Henderson began coordinating what has become the Schuylerville Small Business Association. The association’s monthly meetings are attended by dozens of local business owners, and the association has grown to organize collaborative, community-wide events. Schuylerville’s first-ever Fall Festival, held in October 2016, incorporated local businesses, street vendors, fun and instructive games, and local foods.

“I didn’t intend to be running a business. I thought I would be teaching, but I just jumped into it. I’d like to collaborate with other businesses even more. No one place can do it all, but when we band together we can cover a lot of ground,” Henderson said. “I’m starting to feel that surge of pride of people coming together and seeing them in all their beauty.”

Contact:

Rural Soul Studio, 90 Broad Street, Schuylerville

(518) 852-1329  //  Rural Soul Studio Website