Yoga Book Team Portfolio Bios and Work Book

Yoga Book Team Portfolio Bios and Work Book Aim: Kids Yoga Book is an educational material that benefits Kids and their Parents giving them tools to create healthy living habits through different Yoga Asana, reading and interaction techniques created by Gnocchi del 29 in collaboration with Girls Prep Bronx Elementary School.

“Empowering children and women from their core outwards" NGO Mission We provide tools for children and women to build their confidence and strengthen their self esteem through Educational, Cultural, Culinary and Well Being projects. Our projects create and nurture a safe space to ripe, bloom and acknowledge their unique gifts and how to benefit form them in their daily lives. Artists for Kids and women empowerment is our program that enlists artists and artisans to create innovative programs to widen the perspective of children and women current possibilities.

Executive Director: Patricia Buraschi Merging her design skills and spiritual practice, creating cultural events and yoga-art workshops for businesses and individuals, Patricia Buraschi's goal is to serve as a bridge to help other people inter cross their inner and outer worlds raising awareness about the abundance that constantly surrounds us and the fact that each individual has the power to shape and create the lifestyle they once dreamed of. Patricia Buraschi is a gifted fashion designer and yoga instructor and sadhaka who has traveled extensively around the world. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, she moved to New York in 1999 where she graduated with honors from Fashion Institute of Technology. Her artwork has been shown in Asia, Australia, Spain, United States and Argentina. Patricia has been practicing Kundalini yoga since 2001. In the winter of 2008 she celebrated winter solsitce with the 3 Ho Yogi community in Florida, an event that has profoundly changed her life.

Photographer: Toto Cullen I’m a Argentinian photographer based in Brooklyn. My main interest is light and people. So photography turned out to be my choice. I enjoy working for big clients as much as I enjoy working for smaller projects. My projects are in the field of fashion, advertising, documentary, and performing arts. My clients are Nike, Rusty, Coca Cola, Mother. NY, Young&Rubicam, and many more. I’m a father of two young, beautiful and inspiring kids. And I find this projects to be a great way to learn more about fatherhood and life.

Toto Cullen

Face Painter: Derrick Little is an artist and face and body painter based in New York City. Derrick has been face painting children since 2001 and now his company, Faces by Derrick and Co. is recognized as the premiere resource for this type entertainment in the New York and Metro Area. Derrick is the "go-to" face painter for many celebrity clients, including Madonna, Christy Turlington Julianne Moore and even Donald Trump. When not painting bodies for special events or photo shoots, Derrick spends his time making other types of art including photography, murals, collage and writing. He is currently completing 60 foot long mural depicting "Where Food Comes From" in the cafeteria for the children of PS 87 in NYC. Derrick has won numerous awards and recognition from his face and body art peers at the Canadian Body Art Championships and the International Face and Body Art Convention. His face painting expertise has been endorsed by Martha Stewart, who featured him as a guest on The Martha Stewart Show. Art Industry experts, including the project curator for American Art at the San Diego Museum of Art, have praised his body painting style and recognized his body art as "compelling", "inspired" and "historic". Derrick has been recognized by the New York Theatre community for his work as lead makeup designer for the Obie-Award Winning show "The Lily's Revenge" and Derrick is currently the lead makeup designer and creator for the global theatrical makeup distributor, Fun World and Easter Unlimited

Derrick Little

Illustrator: Diego Gerlach, 29, is a Brazilian illustrator, designer and comic book creator. Gerlach works primarily with editorial illustration and designs for posters (silk-screened or otherwise), but also deals with comics and sequential art in general (such as storyboards). His influences and passions are omnivorous to the extent they include all things graphic, from old-timey cartoons to avant-garde Japanese prints to bathroom graffiti to children books’ illustrations. He’s one of the founders of Brazilian arts/design collective Máfia Líquida, and had works published in a number of magazines, including +SOMA, Samba, Prego and My Dance The Skull.

Diego Gerlach

Yogini Asana consultant: Smriti Chakravarti was born in Varanasi, India. Her mom is a yogini and thought her asana when she was 4 years old. Smriti joined Besant Kanya Mahavidhyalya (a college founded by Annie Besant; an important supporter of Theosophical society) where she became fluent in Sanskrit. When she was eighteen she studied Ancient Indian History, Philosophy, Hindi in BHU (Banaras Hindu University). Some years later she studied Sociology, History and Hindi Literature in Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidhyapeath. At age 23 she started to teach yoga during the same period she had serious spondilites problem. Spondilitis refrained her to inhale from left nostril, that is when she integrated pranayama, a traditional breathing yogic technique. From 2000 -2009 Smriti thought Yoga Therapy and counseling Mahila Chetna Sameti Drug Rehabilitation Center, Varanasi. In 2004 Smriti opened an NGO-centre in Varanasi: Om International Yoga Health Society and started teaching Yoga classes regularly. She also teaches at Taj Hotel, Grand Hotel, Meridian Clark Hotel to groups ranging from 6 to 60 students. In 2009 she was invited by the president of the Association Belge des Enseignants et Pratiquants de Yoga to teach in Belgium. In October 2010 she was invited back to Europe, to tour in Belgium, Italy and Holland, this time also including Ayurveda and Panchakarma teachings.

Marcella Terrusi: Publishing and critic consultant I am 37, Italian, traveler and reader. For my Ph. D in Pedagogy and Children books I spent almost one year in NYC invited at Parsons The New School by Steven Guarnaccia, working and lecturing about picturebooks; I worked as a children bookseller, author, curator and editor of international projects concerning with promotion of reading and exhibition of international illustration (Tony Ross, David Mc Kee, Chris Rascha, Kveta Pacovska, Demi, Tara Books). I collaborate with International Board on Books for Young People, Bologna Children Books Fair, Biennal of Illustration of Bratislava as a jury member in 2009. Actually I live in Italy and work for the University of Bologna, Department of Education, Children Books, Iconology and Iconography teachings. I love Yoga and beautiful books offering new experiences, perspectives and knowledge of the world to children and to the children we all always deeply are.

Yoga Instructor: Beth Maderal Elizabeth Maderal can remember dance being a part of her life from the beginning. Growing up in metro Detroit she went on to study dance at the University of Michigan. The art of Dance brought her to find her second love, yoga. After discovering yoga at the American Dance Festival seven years ago, she went on to get three trainings, in Kundalini Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga and Childrens yoga. In pursuit of the stage she found herself in NYC, ready to embark on sharing the fruits of movement, sound and breath with others. Elizabeth has taught yoga and dance to Yogis of all ages in the NYC area for the past five years. She has been a dancer for the Leanne Schmidt and Company for the past four years. She was lucky to be part of the Girls Prep LES school in its beginning years and is thrilled to be part of the amazing family again. Through dance and yoga she has found her true voice and hopes to provide the same opportunity for the Girls Prep students.