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We are so grateful to our Teachers!
At the Crib, we do not ask our teachers to give us detailed class descriptions. Instead we invite them to show up and share what is fresh and appropriate for the yogis who land in their classes. The titles serve as general headers of what might happen. So we encourage you to pick classes based more on a sense of connection with a teacher than a class title.
The Crib has remained intimate and small through the years because we believe that the experience of Yoga happens in the magic of relationship. We encourage the teachers to feel free enough to show up as they are for real and we hope you will also feel safe to do the same.
Here you will find descriptions of the teachers and links to their websites, videos and books for further investigation.
Take a look at an overview of the schedule to help you design your flow.
If you are taking the Thursday Immersion, we ask that that you pick 1 teacher and an alternate. For the Main Event, we ask that you pick 5 top choices.
We try to provide some direction below, and we are more than delighted to talk with you and design the perfect schedule together. Meeting you is one of the reasons we host this event every year, so do not hesitate to call us.
- Kira: 8O5.798.17OO
- Betsy: 8O5.272.5622
- Erich Schiffmann: Freedom Style Yoga
- Saul David Raye: Yogic Healers Immersion
- Kira Ryder: Primal Longings of the Heart
- Chandra Easton and Scott Blossom: Yoga and Ayurveda for Women's Health
- John Hickey: The Spirit in Acupuncture: Exploring the Daoist roots of Classical Chinese Medicine
- Ravi Ravindra: Buddhi Yoga as the Central Integral Yoga in Bhagavad Gita
Good Combinations
Just like when you create a good meal, we recommend pairing spicey teachers with mellow ones, selecting favorites and trying someone new.
It is incredibly difficult and tricky to label teachers by "Levels". As many of you know, the ability to sit and relax can be more difficult and "advanced" than the ability to bring your toes to the back of your head. So we have done our best to generalize styles and approaches. All teachers of course could fall in any of the categories.
How much asana?
If you do not want to move at all, we suggest signing up for Ravi's sessions. If you want sessions in which you do not do any physical yoga postures but might incorporate some movement like dance, qi gong and breathing or chanting practices, we suggest signing up with Uma, John, Carroll and Michaela.
If you want to do as much asana and physical movement as possible during your Crib Weekend, we suggest feeling into practicing with Dana, Jason, Saul, Scott and Sean.
If you are looking for sessions that will blend breath, meditation, asana and maybe even some discussion, investigate Patricia, Kira, Laura, Erich, and Chandra.
Of course, mixing and matching is recommended.
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Erich Schiffmann is Love. And when you are with him, you realize that you are too. His practice will most likely be a combination of easy effective asana, meditation and a talk.
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Patricia Sullivan generously offers powerful subtle details of the internal movements of the body allowing for personal insight and revelation.
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Laura Tyree's creative play with mantra, mudra and vinyasa directs you toward the deep and powerful source of healing within.
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Chandra Easton holds the space for keen attention. Her deep ease allow you to slip into the same and know a new landscape within.
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Scott Blossom weaves the energetics of Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda through his asana teaching offering a deep sea in which to allow the awareness to sink. You will feel full and inspired.
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Jason Crandell is a mechanical yoga engineer. He removes the mystery of complex postures through his simple, clear, smart and entertaining communication of actions and details.
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Ravi Ravindra's astounding facility with the spiritual traditions of East and West allow him to weave a deep and powerful understanding of the meaning of the texts.
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John Hickey's deep reverence for and intimacy with the meridian system of the body will allow the rivers of qi to be revealed within you.
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Kira Ryder offers the space and instruction to connect and feel the subtle currents moving within us encouraging a connection with the quiet inside.
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Carroll Dunham's generous and enthusiastic sharing of her 25 years of exploring the Tibetan Yogini Practices from the Himalayas will open the channels for these teachings to find purchase.
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Michaela Boehm offers the space and techniques to connect to the wild feminine in each of us.
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Uma Goswami will introduce us to the stories and bhakti practices female mystics of Southern India. Her session will combine lecture, chanting, singing and dancing.
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Saul David Raye is a generator of warm fuzzy love. Soft and groovy and deep he holds the space to connect inside and dance and celebrate our beautiful lives.
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Sean Johnson's bhakti-vinyasa practice will invite you to dive into your soul and allow your Self to wash up on the shores of your heart. His classes are accompanied by the funky grooves and mystic melodies of The Wild Lotus Band.
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Dana Flynn electric combination of creative sequencing, the best music ever and her soulful wisdom give you permission to let your love light shine bright.
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Click on the teachers' names to meet everyone. Pay attention to whom you feel drawn. Allow your instincts to help you pick. Connect in if you would like help.
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Erich Schiffmann has been practicing yoga for over 40+ years. He is his own teacher and gently encourages you to do the same. He is the author of one of the best modern books on yoga, 'Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness'
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in which he writes, "Yoga is a way of moving into stillness in order to experience the truth of who you are...It's a matter of listening inwardly for guidance all the time, and then daring enough and trusting enough to do as you are prompted to do." He films, edits and produces his own collection of yoga videos, “The Backyard Series”. In addition to workshops, Erich will offer an Immersion on Thursday: Practicing and Teaching Freedom Style Yoga.
Erich's Teaching Schedule:
- Thursday Immersion: Practicing and Teaching Freedom Style Yoga
- Saturday 2:30pm: Freedom Style Yoga
- Sunday 9:30am: Freedom Style Yoga
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Patricia Sullivan's teaching springs from a broad study of the yogic tradition. Breathing practices, Sutra study, directing the flow of energy through the body, and meditation happpen in her classes. Her style is
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non-dogmatic and non-judgemental.She emphasizes process rather than end result, curiosity rather than "knowingness", and always brings to her classes a feeling that yoga is not only a vehicle for self transformation, it's fun.
Patricia's Teaching Schedule:
- Friday 2:30pm: Meeting the Feet: Taking Refuge on the Earth
- Saturday 9:30am: Finding Pelvis and Sacrum: Discovering Primordial Trust
- Saturday 2:30am: Neck and Shoulders: Opening and Supporting the Heart within the Heart
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Ravi Ravindra, PhD is a spiritual visionary, scholar, and leading international speaker on religion, science, and spirituality. A native of India, he emigrated to Canada
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and is Professor Emeritus at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he served for many years as a professor in three Departments: Comparative Religion, International Development Studies, and Physics. He was a Member of the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton, a Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, and Founding Director of the Threshold Award for Integrative Knowledge. He was a member of the Board of Judges for the presitigous Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. Ravi’s spiritual search has led him to the teachings of J. Krishnamurti, G. Gurdjieff, Zen, and a deep immersion in the mystical teachings of the Indian and Christian traditions.
We adore Ravi Ravindra. You feel that you are receiving teachings directly from the Source. Facile between the Eastern and Western Traditions as well as within the field of Science, his lectures are generously and richly woven with poetry, heart and soul. He is a true Yogi.
Ravi's Teaching Schedule:
- Thursday Immersion: Buddhi Yoga as the Central Integral Yoga in Bhagavad Gita
- Saturday 9:30am: Actionless Action
- Saturday 2:30pm: Knowledge and State of Unknowing
- Sunday 9:30am: Mindfulness in Action and Mindlessness in Love
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Teaching since 1990, Laura Tyree's personal approach to the eight-limb path, japa and meditation practice, and the study of ayurveda, anatomy, physiology, and psychology all blend beautifully
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with her life experience and teaching skills. Introspection and sincerity along with her warm humor encourage students to utilize the practice to deepen their awareness, and to open to their unique beauty and strengths. Her studio, Dragonfly Yoga Studies, is her home base. Laura’s love of music and chanting led to the release of “Amma Bhakti” CD in 2007.
Laura's Teaching Schedule:
- Friday 9:30am: Hearing my Beautiful Voice. Mantra and Movement.
- Saturday 9:30am: Seeing my Magical Life. Mudra, Movement and Medtiation.
- Saturday 2:30am: Touching the Mysterious Breath. Mudra, Pranayama and Meditation.
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Chandra Easton teaches Hatha Yoga, Tibetan Buddhist meditation and philosophy, as well as Feeding Your Demons, a process developed by Lama Tsultrim Allione and based on the Tibetan Buddhist
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practice of Chöd by which we learn to feed rather than fight our so-called demons as a means to liberate our energetic and emotional blockages. Chandra is on the faculty of the Insight Yoga Institute founded by Sarah & Ty Powers.
Her Buddhist teachers are H. H. Dalai Lama, Gyatrul Rinpoche, Lama Tsultrim Allione, and B. Alan Wallace. Her Yoga teachers are Zhander Remete and Sarah Powers.
Chandra lives in Berkeley, California, with Scott Blossom and their two children.
Chandra's Teaching Schedule:
- Thursday Immersion with Scott Blossom: Yoga & Ayurveda for Women's Health.
- Friday, Saturday and Sunday Morning Meditations from 7:00 to 8:15am.
- Friday 2:30pm: Circulating Pelvic Energy
- Saturday 2:30pm: Poetry of our Practice
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Saul David Raye is an internationally acclaimed teacher, healer and spiritual activist known for his empowering and transformational approach to yoga, healing and spirituality. Saul’s teaching draws on
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the depth of Yoga tradition, Bhakti, Tantra and all forms of universal light, love and wisdom.
Through the grace of his teachers and guides he is able to bring alive the ancient wisdom teachings for modern seekers. The depth of Saul’s teaching allows students to connect deeply with their own authentic power, spirit and truth. A pioneering and inspiring presence in Yoga’s evolution in the west, Saul holds certifications in Yoga, bodywork and energy healing is an ordained minister and musician who infuses his classes with healing music and chants. He has been on the faculty of International conferences and festivals for years, has taught regularly at Esalen Institute and has presented alongside many luminaries in the Spiritual world including Ram Dass and Deepak Chopra. Saul shares this work through teacher trainings, workshops, classes, sacred journey's to ancient power sites and music.
Saul's Teaching Schedule:
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Uma Goswami, MD, has practiced child psychiatry in Bangalore, India, for 14 years and is a pioneer of yoga psychology. During the course of her practice, Dr Goswami, an international lecturer, has conducted her own
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research on the transformation of emotions using yoga therapy, and has a forthcoming book on the subject. She is also an accomplished dancer of Bharatanatyam, a classical dance of India.
Uma is Lulu Bandha's Bhakti teacher. We are all completely in love with her. When she transmits the Bhagavad Gita, the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Sutras, you swim the devotion that gave rise to the teachings.
Uma's Teaching Schedule:
- Friday 2:30pm: The Female Mystics: Stories and Practices
- Saturday 2:30pm: The Female Mystics: Stories and Practices
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Medical anthropologist and yogini Carroll Dunham has resided in the Himalaya for the past 25 years and currently resides in Nepal.
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Carroll is the director of Wild Earth, an organization that works with rural Nepalese women who create handcrafted products to generate income. An expert in Himalayan cultures, she is passionate about sacred geography, pilgrimage, and indigenous medicinal plants. Carroll has written four books and produced films for National Geographic, PBS, and the BBC.
Through her trips into the far corners of the mountains, Carroll has become intimate with the yogini traditions in the lineage of Yeshe Tsogyal, with a particular emphasis on the the Chöd practice, "The Loud Laugh of the Dakini". Chöd means "cutting", and is a powerful, dramatic practice of cutting through ego-attachment and delusion by visualising offering up one's body to malevolent spirits and karmic creditors. In her sessions, she will share some of the stories and practices of these mountain yoginis giving us insight into and connection with these sisters.
Carroll lives in Kathmandu, Nepal with her husband, Thomas Kelly, and their two sons.
Carroll's teaching schedule is:
- Friday 9:30am: Yogini Secrets from the Himalayas
- Friday 2:30am: Yogini Secrets from the Himalayas
- Saturday 9:30pm: Yogini Secrets from the Himalayas
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Jason Crandell was recently named “one of the next generation of teachers shaping yoga's future” by Yoga Journal for his skillful, unique approach to vinyasa yoga. Jason's steady pace, creative sequencing, and
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attention to detail encourage students to move slowly, deeply, and mindfully into their bodies. Take a class from Jason and you will leave feeling grounded, clear, and content—and more informed of the nuancesand habits of your body and mind. Jason credits his primary teacher, Rodney Yee, teachers in the Iyengar Yoga tradition such as Ramanand Patel, and ongoing studies in Eastern and Western philosophy for inspiring to him bring greater alignment and mindfulness to vinyasa yoga.
Jason's Teaching Schedule:
- Friday 2:30am: Smart Vinyasa
- Saturday: 9:30pm: Smart Vinyasa
- Sunday 9:30am: Smart Vinyasa
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Scott Blossom is a Traditional Chinese Medical practitioner, Shadow Yoga teacher, and Ayurvedic Consultant.
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He has been studying yoga for over eighteen years and teaching for twelve. His primary teachers are Zhander Remete, founder of Shadow Yoga, and Dr. Robert Svoboda, Ayurvedic physician and scholar.
One of the original founding teachers of the Crib, we are so happy Scott is returning this year. His teaching is generous, earnest and weaves a rich tapestry in which to practice.
Scott's Teaching Schedule:
- Thursday Immersion with Chandra Easton: Yoga & Ayurveda for Women's Health.
- Friday 9:30pm: Vinyasa for Strengthening your Energetic Core
- Friday 2:30pm: Fearless Backbends and Other Tender Mysteries
- Saturday 2:30pm: Bone Breathing
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Michaela Boehm is among the most gifted counselors and teachers to be found globally today. Born and raised in Austria, Michaela received degrees in Psychology from the University of Vienna and received further extensive training in
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Hypnosis, NLP, and Yoga. Upon moving to the United States in 1994, Michaela quickly became counselor to the stars in Hollywood, California, working with the world’s best-known celebrities, including actors, producers, writers, musicians, and international business founders. Michaela began studying with David Deida in 1997 and in 2007 began co-teaching with him, focusing on women’s empowerment in the 21st Century. Michaela is currently the only counselor in the world personally trained and authorized by David Deida.
Recently, Michaela began making available her unique services to those outside the Hollywood elite, offering women’s workshops, couples intensives, relationship counseling, and co-ed trainings.
Michaela's Teaching Schedule:
- Friday 9:30am: The Wild Woman’s Way
- Friday 2:30am: The Wild Woman’s Way
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Yogi and kirtan musician Sean Johnson is the founder of Wild Lotus Yoga in New Orleans. He is also the founder of Soul School-- an interdisciplinary yoga and spirituality teacher training
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program that focuses on bringing soul and imagination to the art of teaching yoga, and the BHAKTImmersion-- a bhakti yoga intensive and kirtan training held in New Orleans twice a year.
Sean’s teaching seeks to weave the emotional power of bhakti yoga with the sensuality of hatha yoga to free the spirit and bring more love, creativity, and depth to our lives. His playful classes focus on opening the heart through ecstatic chant, storytelling, mythology, creative vinyasa flows, mystical poetry, and enchanting music. All of Sean’s sessions at the Crib will be accompanied by the live soundtrack of The Wild Lotus Band, percussionist Gwendolyn Colman and bass/guitar player Alvin Young.
Sean and the band are regarded as one of the guiding voices in western kirtan music and teach and play at venues worldwide including yoga conferences, retreat centers, yoga and music festivals, and studios small and large. They are the first kirtan band to ever play The New Orleans Jazz Festival. Sean and the band’s music has appeared on Nettwerk/Nutone Records, White Swan, and Sounds True. Sean also co-curates Putumayo World Music's cd compilations designed for yoga practice which features the band's music as well as inspiring songs from a variety of global cultures. Sean loves Ojai and is grateful and happy to be a part of the Crib family.
Sean's Teaching and Performing Schedule:
- Friday 9:30am: Bhakti Vinyasa
- Friday 2:30pm: Bhakti Vinyasa
- Saturday 8:00pm: Kirtan with the Wild Lotus Band
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Recognized throughout the yoga community as a true “teacher’s teacher,” Dana Flynn brings an ecstatic expression of movement, music and community to her practice and her students, as the co-founder of Laughing Lotus Yoga Centers and Lotus Flow Yoga.
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The former stockbroker, restaurateur and MTV personality turned a life in the limelight into a spiritual transformation, studying with legendary yogis: Jivamukti’s Sharon Gannon in New York and master teacher Rodney Yee in California. Fiercely innovative and independent, Dana honors and knows well the ancient traditions and codified asana systems of the yogic practice. During her many years of study, she “wanted to explore what it meant to move like herself. That was my greatest longing.” Dana and Co-Founder Jasmine Tarkeshi channeled over 6 years of organic movement experimentation into the creation of the Laughing Lotus Yoga Center and Lotus Flow Yoga. Lotus Flow Yoga, is infused with a dynamic Dervish-like energy of dance, song and joyous revelry. “It is fresh, inspired and alive.”
With studios located in Manhattan’s Flatiron District and in San Francisco’s Mission District, Laughing Lotus is now home to more than just a studio; it’s a diverse community of creative, spirited, and playful yogis; a school for teachers and where you’ll find Dana Flynn, the “Janis Joplin of Yoga.” Dana has appeared in The New York Times, Yoga Journal and on Good Morning America and the TODAY Show.
Another founding teacher of the Crib 10 years ago, we are totally delighted that Dana is returning. She is like no other. Her sessions are packed with creative electric sequences, music and deep powerful inisght designed to move the mountain range of your heart.
Dana's Teaching Schedule:
- Friday 9:30am: Down to Flow
- Saturday 9:30am: Down to Flow
- Sunday 9:30am: Down to Flow
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John Hickey is a licensed acupuncturist and has been practicing shiatsu massage and traditional Chinese medicine since 1980. He is one of the founders of the Santa Barbara College of Oriental Medicine (SBCOM),
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where he taught and served as the academic vice president from 1985 until 2001. John has a black belt in Shotokan karate and also teaches tai chi and qi gong.
John Hickey is Lulu Bandha's Doctor of Chinese Medicine. We have been working with him for over a year at his private Shiatsu Rincon practice and know our selves much more deeply and intimately because of his love, care, wisdom and generosity. His style looks to the more ancient teachings before Communism removed the feminine from the medicine.
John shares the rich poetry of the Chinese Medicine in a clear understandable way.
John's Teaching Schedule:
- Thursday Immersion: The Spirit in Acupuncture: Exploring the Daoist roots of Classical Chinese Medicine
- Saturday 9:30am: The Unfolding of Life: Acupuncture's Understanding of the Seven Cycles of a Human Life
- Saturday 2:30pm: The Mu (Collection) points: An Acupuncture Energetic Creation Myth Embodied in Each of Us
- Sunday 9:30am: Daoist Qi Gong: Forms for Strengthening the Energetic Functions of Organ Pairs
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Kira Ryder, along with her amazing team, is one of the hostesses of the Ojai Yoga Crib. She takes inspiration from the incredible beauty and intimacy of the Ojai Valley in which she is fortunate to live.
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Fascinated by the opportunities of Relationship, her teaching style has evolved to help cultivate an understanding of the practicality and global necessity of Self Love. With attention to the subtle currents, Kira aims to be the FAT to allow your flavor to come through and be tasted. She is the original Den Mother of Lulu Bandha's.
Kira Teaching Schedule:
- Thursday Immersion: Primal Longings of the Heart
- Friday 9:30am: Slip into Something More Comfortable: Intimacy with the Internal Landscape
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Lulu first sprang forth from the creative heart of Jodi Kennedy when in 2000, she asked Kira and Eric, "What are you gonna do? Move to Ojai? Open a yoga studio? Call it Lulu Bandha's?
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Now we all work for Lulu.
She makes the demands and offers the refuge. She continually surprises, offers the honey that draws the most amazing community of yogis together, and shares the teachings as we are ready.
We never could have imagined anything like this.
The Ojai Yoga Crib is the annual event that helps bind us and allows us to share this magical Ojai Valley with our dearest friends.
Thank you for being here! xoxo
Visit Lulu's Site
See the Schedule of Classes
We are so excited about the playlist of teachers this year. Each brings a rich and particular viewpoint and expression of the practices of yoga. You will not be able to make a "bad choice."
When you purchase your ticket, you will have the chance to handweave your own schedule, picking who you want to practice with on what day.
You will be able to practice with your favorite teacher as much as s/he is teaching.
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