IT'S face-down dog meets funky chicken. An Irish nightclub owner is set to become one of the major players behind the latest craze to hit the streets of New York ? the yoga rave.

Tapping into the lust for all things feel-good sweeping across the US capital, Robbie Wootton, former manager of Hothouse Flowers and manager of Spirit nightclub in Dublin, plans to launch a multi-media entertainment centre which will blend new age spirituality with all the best elements of rave culture ? electronic music and dance marathons.

Taking the template from its sister club in Dublin, Wootton plans to divide the venue into three oors called Mind, Body and Spirit. New Age raves are a hugely popular new movement in the US and nowhere more so than New York.

Spirit New York will occupy the same building which used to house Twilo, one of the world's most famous electronica and ecstasy warehouse until it was closed two years ago after repeated drugs busts.

"We are taking over darkness with light, " Wootton said of his new development in Newsweek, "I've watched where the rave culture went wrong. We are trying to bring it back to its pure state." Wootton's new club will serve alcohol, but he plans to come down hard on drugs, and has already spent time with New York police planning security for the venture. Although Spirit in Dublin has been enormously successful, Wootton was aware he would have to organise something special to break into the New York market.

"New York is the most difcult and yet most important location, " he said. "Succeed in New York and the rest will come easy."