FM
H
e’s not your average New York yogi, but Tylon Moore
has become a great advertisement for the ancient
Indian discipline with his often spectacular, albeit
unconventional, street style hybrid yoga dance
moves.
He’s been performing in and around the city’s iconic squares- Union Square, Times Square, Washington Square - for over 10
years, but there’s no real press or website about him, other than a
few YouTube videos, an Instagram account, and an appearance on
America’s Got Talent.
“It’s all very ‘street’,” says New York-based photographer
Francesca Magnani, who has been snapping images of Moore for
several years. She says he’s now become quite famous within the
city, while his YouTube videos have been watched by over 40
million viewers.
Certainly, Moore’s dance flips and non-traditional yoga moves are
eye catching, but it is his back story that is even more impressive.
He insists it was his street dance that saved him after a difficult
upbringing. His mother died when he was just 11-years-old, but he
managed to pull away from all the gangs and violence and prison
through a focus on yoga, breath, movement and dance. He says his
yoga teacher is Yogi Laser, another well-known yogi-contortionist.
Fast forward to today, and Moore now has a wife and a young
son, who he is incredibly proud of. “I feel it is a shock to the yoga
iconography,” adds Magnani, “but, at the same time, it’s a story of
virtue - he comes from the South Bronx, he is married with a young
child and a loving wife.”
Images courtesy of Francesca Magnani (francescamagnani.com)