STEPHEN Anthony profile picture

STEPHEN Anthony

Art washes away from the soul, the dust of everyday life. (Pablo Piccaso, 1881-1973)

About Me

I am a classical pianist (solo and collaborative) and (mostly Ashtanga Vinyasa) yogi (...on the way to teaching; I have practiced for most of my life.) My closely related hobbies are composition and contortion/circus arts. I am sometimes opinionated (not extending to politics, about which I find myself sadly apathetic), with a keen personal aesthetic sense. I am constantly working to satisfy ideals I set for myself; I judge myself more than I do anyone else. I regret I often can't sum up the energy to meet my lofty goals, but I do my best with the path that unfolds before me. I find astrology fascinating from the perspective of personality traits/behaviour and interaction/compatibility.
MY PIANO PLAYING:
MY YOGA/CONTORTION PERFORMANCE/PRACTICE (19 videos):
"EVERYTHING'S A SIGN OF MY ASTROLOGY (Rufus Wainwright)":
I believe in reincarnation--in the existence of a greater/summative aspect of the self that has assimilated the lessons of previous lives. We enter each life with limitations that are designed to inform that archself. I believe in 'faith'--in having something in which to believe. I think religion acts as metaphor for the Truth--a condensation for our limited wordly understanding. I don't believe in the proselytization of any particular religious faith above another. Any belief system may be used for good or illl; we each have the responsibility to think how what we might want for ourselves may cause another hurt.

My Interests

music, classical piano, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, contortion, hand-balancing, composition/arranging, aerial hoop (lyra/cerceau), Universal Yoga as taught by Andrey Lappa, Dharma Mittra Yoga, mantra, Sanskrit, astrology, languages, India, counter-tenor, AcroYoga

I'd like to meet:

...contortionists/acrobats, yogis, physical culture enthusiasts

...people as obsessed with music as I am I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)

Music:

FAVOURITE CLASSICAL COMPOSERS:

Franz Liszt

Maurice Ravel (Give me Ravel above Debussy anyday!)
Samuel Barber
Camille Saint-Saens
Frédéric Chopin Robert Schumman
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Give me Mozart above Beethoven anyday!)

FAVOURITE ARTISTS:

Jeff Buckley

Regina Spektor
Ben Folds
Radiohead
Sigur Ros
Tori Amos
The Arcade Fire
The Dresden Dolls
Rufus Wainwright
Jon McLaughlin
Bjork
Mercury Rev
Vampire Weeekend
Clap You Hands and Say Yeah
Antony and the Johnsons
The Gabe Dixon Band
David Bowie (up until Ziggy Stardust)
Wilco (since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot)
The Flaming Lips (since Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots)
Grandaddy
The Magnetic Fields
Golfrapp
Turin Brakes
Hot Chip
Daft Punk
Basement Jaxx
The Avalanches
John Legend
D'Angelo
Outkast
Nina Simone
Weezer
Green Day
Citizen Cope
The Cranberries
Edith Piaf
Bob Marley (fellow Jamaican AND fellow Aquarius)

SUMPTUOUS GUILTY (not really) PLEASURES:

WICKED! (Stephen Schwartz is a genius!)

My Chemical Romance
Queen
Muse (since Absolution)
Scooter
Kylie Minogue
Tarkan
Janet (since Damita Jo)
Missy Elliot
Sean Paul (fellow Jamaican)
Abba
The Carpenters
Rihanna
Jason & deMarco

Movies:

SHORTBUS

Dancer in the Dark
Kill Bill
The Chumscrubber
Brokeback Mountain
Velvet Goldmine
Legends of the Fall
La Vie en rose (La Môme)
Lemony Snicket's: A Series of Unfortunate Events
Fighting Tommy Riley
Stranger than Fiction
Lord of the Rings
Farinelli: Il Castrato
Edward Scissorhands
Making Love
Enchanted
Ma vie en rose
Pauline et Paulette
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Muriel's Wedding
Little Voice
Love Actually
American Beauty
The Lady in the Water
Lagaan: One Upon A Time In India
X-Men: The Last Stand
Jawbreaker
The Prince of Egypt
The Never-Ending Story (childhood favourite)

Television:

SIX FEET UNDER

Ninja Warrior
Frazier
Family Guy
Ugly Betty
Kyle XY
America's Funniest Videos
America's Got Talent
Star Trek: The Next Generation Noah's Ark
Queer as Folk
...whatever's on LOGO

Books:

Edmund White: A Boy's Own Story / The Beautiful Room is Empty / The Farewell Symphony
Gregory Maquire: Wicked--The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Peter Cashorali: Fairy Tales--Traditional Stories Retold for Gay Men
Plato: Symposium
Yogacharya B. K. S. Iyengar: Light on Yoga
Swami Vishnu-Devananda: The Sivananda Companion to Yoga (my introduction to Yoga!)

Heroes:

COUNTER-TENOR:

Philippe Jaroussky

MUCH RESPECT TO THE ABSTRACT BBOYS:

Fanantic vs. Freakazoid and Rubberlegz vs. Law

YOGA TEACHERS WITH WHOM I HAVE STUDIED (long- or short- -term):

Noah Williams

R. Alex Medin
William Duprey
Andrey Lappa
Darren Rhodes
Noah Mazé
Dharma Mittra

OTHER YOGIS I ADMIRE:

Matej Jurenka

Vladimir Kalabin
Yogananth Andiappan
Wang Xiangdong
Olaf Kalfas

CONTORTIONISTS:

Jonathan Nosan

Vadim Petchinski
Mukhtar Gussengadgiev
Dmitry Bulkin
Lazaru Gitu
...a fellow-Jamaican contortionist (How cool is that!?):

..

PIANISTS:

Georges Chiffra

Leopold Godowsky
Sir Arthur Rubinstein
Martha Argerich
Marc-André Hamelin