Wow. We are already on Principle 6 of the Nia White Belt Principles in the first ever Nia White Belt Training Online. Remember this is somatic training so it is about the body. For people that have not taken any type of anatomy training or exercise training the information might be new, but since Nia is based on the body a lot of it is not new because we pretty much have had the same number of bones in our feet since they have been able to count all the bones in the feet (26 in each foot). Nia is based on science but the way Debbie relates it to your everyday life is what makes it fun and amazing. Nia White Belt P6 Base. It is about the base, our foundation, from our feet to our hip joint. The triad consists of feet, legs, hip joints.
I love to remind my students that feet need to be flexible in order to provide the shock absorption we need with each step. Also, in order to help with the entire health of the body they need to be strong, and also allow the energy to flow through. Nia refers to the feet as the Hands that touch the Earth. Feet like hands relay a lot of information to the body. In Nia we dance barefoot to not only receive that information through the hundreds of thousands of nerve endings in each foot, but to help with the health of our feet. Nia has 52 Moves the routines focus on. Twenty seven of them are associated with the base and each move can help keep feet flexible, strong, and allow energy to flow up to the body.
There are four categories associated with the base. The “Feet” category has 8 moves, the “Stances” category has 6 moves, the “Steps” category 9 moves, and the “Kicks” category has 4 moves. Below is the list of “base” moves and links to my posts about them, except the Cha-Cha-Cha.
If you have never been to a Nia class you might be amazed at how many ways you can do each of these moves. There are many ways . . . you could shift your intention, you could shift your energy, you could shift your focus, you could shift your weight . . . . all of these things would allow you to sense the move differently. And the great thing about them is you don’t even have to be in a dance class to practice them.
Today we had a workshop to talk about and discover the Nia Five Sensations. Just like a lot of things we do and use in Nia, the five sensations are not unique to Nia, but they are tools we use to enhance our dance exercise. In a Nia class we strive to be in sensation. Being aware of the sensations allows us to choose and dance what we need at the time of the class. We had a small turn out, but the number of attendants is never the measure of success. One of my Nia Students and fellow Nia Blue Belt’s helped me present the workshop. This workshop was held at the request of the Camden Community Center. Our participants shared that they felt they had a better understanding of the sensations and would be able to apply awareness to them either in a Nia class or just in everyday life.
First we started off moving right away. The participants walked in, we said hello then started dancing. We danced to two songs. Then we did a brief introduction of Nia then we shared the five sensations and how we experience them everyday. We shared how they could be helpful to know and be aware of in a Nia class. The 5 sensations are: Flexibility, Agility, Mobility, Strength, and Stability (FAMSS).
Then we moved to each sensation. As we talked we guided the students into the sensations. We shared that flexibility is sensed as energy moving outward. It is the opening your body, the lengthening and yawning. So we stretched and yawned our bodies open. We reached out to lengthen our limbs. We imagined our bones moving away from our center. We practiced sensing the sensation even as our bodies showed no outward movement.
We talked about how agility can be sensed in the quick start and stop of a movement. It is the physical feeling of pulling and pushing. We hopped and jumped. We chopped and slapped. We “played” soccer and tennis. We danced in a “strobe like” fashion. We even stood still and let our gaze bounce around as our eyes moved with agility.
When talking about mobility we said it is sensed as energy in constant motion. It is youthful freedom. (A description from the Nia Technique that I really like.) It is flowing movement, graceful, and easy. We twirled and whirled around the room. We let our bodies ebb and flow. We rolled like the ocean. We moved our arms. We moved our legs. We mobilized our spine. We allowed the energy of constant motion to energize us.
We used the ballet bar and wall to start us off understanding that strength is sensed as energy moving inward. With that first example it gives way to us sensing strength as a resisting, or a quality of weighted energy being moved in ways that allow you to sustain a movement or posture. It is the contraction of muscle. It is the muscle squeezing bone. We contracted and pushed. We squeezed and resisted. Allowing the effort to tire us a bit.
Then we experienced the calm of stability. Stability is sensed as balance and comfort. It is the physical feeling of harmony and peace combined with readiness for action.
After having practiced the sensations we then added them to the stances that are part of the 52 Moves of Nia. We moved through the stances in the 5 sensations. Then we put on the music and danced the stances in sensation. After two songs we reviewed the kicks that are part of the 52 Moves of Nia. We moved through the sensations doing the kicks. Then onto dancing again. We danced doing our kicks in sensation.
We finished off the workshop with two songs focusing on the sensations, but primarily using the Nia choreography and not so much sticking with the kicks and stances. This allowed us to practice dancing in the sensations to whatever moves that come as part of a Nia routine.
It was a great little taste of the Nia 5 Sensations. I can say that because no matter what I am teaching it is ALWAYS the students that make the class GREAT!
Are you aware of any of these sensations in your everyday life?
I did not intend to write a blog post on all of the 52 Moves in Nia. My intent was to post a few and entice you into buying The Nia Technique Book. It seems as if I just might get to all of Nia’s 52 Moves on my blog. It so happens that sometimes I am at a loss as to what to post, so I turn to a move on the list of 52 Moves. Or sometimes I am intrigued by one the moves because it is in a routine that I am currently dancing with my students. Or I am intrigued by of the moves that it is in a Nia Routine that I danced with another Nia teacher. OR I am intrigued by of the moves even though it is NOT in a Nia Routine – as in, it is not part of the original choreography, but we do it anyway. That is the fun thing about Nia Routines and the 52 Moves. You can kind of put them in anywhere. And, I will say it again, because I think it is important to state that the moves that Nia includes on their list are not unique to Nia. Nia is not claiming to have created them. Also, it is nice to know that you will experience moves in Nia that you have experienced before. The moves are on the lists and included in Nia Routines because there are benefits to doing them. Some of them are so simple the benefits could be overlooked. Some of them might seem odd to have included on a list of moves done in a dance exercise class. But they have benefits. One move that is simple and might seem random to have in an exercise class is Finger Flicks.
Yeah, you read that right, Finger Flicks. Flicking your fingers. This move can be done so many different ways. Fast, slow, high, low, fingers up, fingers down, with an emotion, without an emotion, with the music, against the music, so many possibilities. The benefits of this move include conditioning the muscles of the forearms and hands. If you really use your thumb to resist the fingers the move contracts the forearm muscles and makes your fingers work! The Nia Technique Book states that this move helps rid the hands of tension.
The how-to is simple enough. I bet you know it already. You form a loose fist with your hand, keeping the thumb on the outside of the fingers. Then push with all four fingers against the thumb. Allow your thumb to resist. Then let your fingers push through. Practice this move with your hand at different levels-as in high above your shoulders, at the same level as your shoulder, below your shoulders. Let your arms hang, hold them out . . . in other words flick your fingers all over. Use one hand, then the other, then both. Just flick, flick, flick, flick. Try doing it how I mentioned, fast, slow, high, low, fingers up, fingers down, with an emotion, without an emotion, with the music, against the music, play with the possibilities.
You can practice this move while dancing around your home. You probably do this move without even thinking about it after washing your hands. You could probably check the mirrors above the sink to verify it.
Here is where it is obvious that the moves we include in the 52 Moves of Nia are not unique to Nia. Kicks are part of many dances, martial arts, and movement forms. Kicks can be done in many different ways. They are great for many things. In Nia while we dance we often do kicks. We count each kick as a separate move so the Front Kick, the Side Kick, and the Back Kick are three of the 52 Moves of Nia moves.
I know that we did kicks in country line dancing and in West Coast Swing. They kick in ballet and jazz dance. We all know they kick in all types of martial arts such as karate, jujutsu, and kickboxing. Kicks are even a part of exercise routines and sports. I know they do kicks in Jazzercize and Zumba.
Each kick requires balance, and that is one of the things that kicks are good for. The act of kicking helps improve, helps challenge, and helps retain balance. One must be on one leg and/or foot in order to kick the other leg.
With a Front Kick, in Nia, we balance on one whole foot, we lift the other thigh so the foot is off the ground. We keep our alignment of our three body weights. We use our arms to help maintain the balance. The leg we are standing on is firmly rooting to the earth yet the knee is not locked. Then we extend the leg of the foot that is off the ground, allowing the shin and foot to move forward, away from the body. We look where we kick. We kick at our own level. It could be that you are able to lift your thigh so it parallel to the ground or possibly your knee is higher than your hip. Remember it is your kick so it is your balance practice.
The Side Kick starts as the front kick, on one leg, the we lift our thigh, but instead of sending the foot forward and away from the body we shift our hips so the one that has the leg lifted it higher than the other one and our knee crosses the midline of the body, the we push our foot out to the side of the body. The same side as the foot that is lifted.
The Back Kick has the same start as the front kick and side kick. Stand on one leg and lift the other thigh up. As with the front kick your body is in alignment. The we push the leg that is lifted, back, as if we are stepping on the wall behind us. For an additional challenge to balance you can look behind you.
Just like all the 52 Moves in Nia, while doing these kicks in our Nia routines we often modify them a bit. Sometimes the kicks are slow and powerful. Sometimes they are fast and done with a bit of ease. Sometimes the choreography allows for the foot to rest on the earth before rising again to kick, sometimes not. Sometimes the kicks are done in a fast repetitive fashion. Sometimes they are meant to be done low, sometimes they are meant to be done high. But all kicks are meant to be done in your own body’s way.
In addition to balance, kicks help with strength. Both legs, the standing and the kick leg get the benefit of that. Also kicking is good for exercising your coordination, especially when there is travel involved and/or arm movements. Kicks are a great addition to many dance modalities and exercise forms. I would bet you are familiar with kicks.
Do you do kicks in your cardio dance class? Do you include kicks in your workout routine?
In Nia we have a base of 52 Moves. Not surprising they are called The 52 Moves of Nia. As I have stated before they are not unique to Nia. You have probably done some of them at one point in your life. If you have taken dance or you participate in a group exercise class that is dance oriented then you more than likely have done some of them. They are just gathered into a group for Nia because of their benefits and fun. So they are included in the Nia Routines. Not all of them are in every routine, but a good portion appear in each routine. Plus whenever there is Free Dance they might make an appearance. One of the base moves . . . . moves we do primarily with the base of our body . . . is Lateral Traveling.
Lateral Traveling is specific and different from Traveling In Directions. Traveling in Directions is a move done in all directions . . . . Lateral Traveling is done to the side. The Nia Technique (have you gotten your copy yet? Click here to go to Amazon to order your copy.) describes Lateral Travel as a step together step or a grapevine. The specifics are to start in a closed stance, then take one step to the side, then place your feet together (moving the other leg to the first leg that stepped), then take one step to the side, then move the leg toward the other one, but instead of placing it next to your leg cross it back.
A grapevine is where you step one leg to the side then the next step is BEHIND, then step to the side, where the next step goes depends. Sometimes you can land on the heel or behind or with the knee up. Grapevines are a nice replacement for four point turns. There are many reasons why people don’t turn so using this lateral move, the grapevine, is perfect.
With both methods the instructions say to use your hands to lead you. Have them out in the direction you are going. The instructions also say, “When you step behind, step onto the back ball of the foot and keep your knees spring loaded and your spine vertical.” For clarification, the “back ball of the foot” is the foot that is in the back or behind.
This is a “two side” move. To practice you do to one side then the other. To the left, then to the right. (Or to the right, then the left.)
So this is the specific Lateral Travel: Step together step or grapevine. I have found my self using the phrase “travel laterally” at times when I am leading my San Jose Nia class (or any Nia class for that matter) and I am not instructing them to do the specific Lateral Travel. But I guess that is the difference. There is “travel laterally” and do the “Lateral Travel” move.
Many moves in Nia are good for the coordination. This is one. Step together step is not necessarily a difficult move but depending on the speed and what comes before it and after it, it can call upon your coordination. Although, I would say this is one of the easier 52 Moves of Nia.
Varying the speed and adding some movement to the body can change it up a bit and perhaps add a some challenge to it.
So there you have it another move in Nia’s 52 Moves.
You probably find yourself doing this one often, huh? Even when you are not on the dance floor?
There are six stances in the 52 Moves of Nia. Closed Stance, Open Stance, “A” Stance,Riding (Sumo) Stance, Bow Stance, and the Cat Stance. Each stance has a sound associated with it for practice. There are benefits to doing each stance. All of them help with balance. With the cat stance the balance is on one foot. The cat stance is a stance in which you stand on one leg, using your whole foot. The leg you are standing on is not rigid, but the knee is soft, as if you were going to pounce. The spine is upright, hips are level, not pointing down nor up. The foot that is off the ground is pressing with the side against the standing leg, the foot relaxed, toes hanging towards the earth. Elbows are bent, relaxed. Either both elbows are at the sides or one slightly forward. The arms and hands are engaged. The cat stance is done on alternating legs. These are the specifics of Nia’s Cat Stance.
There are specific ways to do a stance, the body’s way. But your body’s way is also recognized. So different bodies will do it different ways. Some will do it their own way until the body can adjust to the specifics and some bodies will continue in their own way. For instance some bodies will use the power finger/balance finger hand technique to assist them in standing on one leg. In addition to each body having its own way to do each move sometimes the way the move is done in a routine alters the specifics. The specifics stated above are according to The Nia Technique book, however in the routine Birth, the cat stance in one of the katas consists of hooking the bent leg’s foot around the standing leg. In this particular dance, while we are in the cat stance with our foot hooked around the standing leg, our hands and arms are different from is described in the ideal cat stance stated above. One of our hands “hooks” around our face.
This is often the case. There is a specific way to do each of Nia’s 52 Moves, but each individual has their own body’s way that adjust the specifics AND the specifics are sometimes adjusted according to move in the routine. But it is important to know the specifics and the basics. It is also fun to practice the specifics and the basics.
The basics of the cat stance help with balancing on one leg. This can also be considered a strengthener, the standing leg’s muscles can be strengthened through the practice of supporting all of one’s weight. If this move is being done solely as a practice of the move, then agility can come into play. The practice of walking then stopping and moving quickly into cat stance would allow for the agility. Alternating with a light hop from whole-foot-cat-stance on one leg to the other is an exercise in agility. While this type of movement might also be something we do in a Nia routine it is not always the case. Sometimes we move into cat stance and from there do kicks.
As with all of Nia’s 52 Moves we play with them. All of Nia’s routines consist of playing with movement and music. With the cat stance you have the specific way to do it, then just like a cat you can play as you practice. You can “meow” and use claw hands. The cat stance is a fun way to play with balance and sounding. Practice the specifics then let the animal in you out!
Another one of the 52 Moves of Nia is the “A” Stance. This is the stance where the position of the legs allows the body to look somewhat like the capital letter A. The legs are placed wider than hip distance apart, even wider than shoulder width. The legs are far enough apart and wide enough for them to appear to be as the bottom “legs” on a capital letter A. The feet are parallel, the upper body is relaxed. The Nia Technique Book states the benefits as: “Practicing “A” Stance improves hip flexibility and leg strength, which improves agility and mobility.”
I would like to add that it improves or at least allows the practice of balance. Not balancing on one leg which we do a lot in Nia, but balance between the body and the legs, balance between both legs, and balance between the legs and feet. Also balance of weight between the two feet. This is a stable and balanced stance. The weight is not on one foot more than the other. The weight is not on the front or the balls of the feet more than on the heels. This is a great stance to practice balance in. To allow the body to rest onto the whole foot.
Not only having the feet be parallel but even. If you were to stand at a line would your toes be even, both up to the line? I had noticed with myself for a while now that when I step into an “A” stance my right foot is ALWAYS slightly back from where my left foot is. I have been noticing this since I injured my foot in November of 2010. Just last week as I was teaching my regular Nia Class in Willow Glen, I noticed I stepped into “A” stance and my left foot was the tiniest bit back from the line on which my right foot landed (had there been a line). I thought that was funny. I giggled, but I hadn’t thought of it again until now. I don’t always think about my uneven landings until I have the opportunity to land in a stance where I see my feet several times in a routine. Then during the routine I focus on having my feet land even. There are times, of course in a dance where they don’t need to be or aren’t supposed to be even, but when doing a regular closed, open, A, or sumo stance I think the feet should be even. The “A” stance is a great stance to practice that because you can clearly see your feet and the pose is relaxed enough that there are not other things you might be thinking about. I feel the “A” Stance is a great way to practice balance.
As with all stances one way to practice the “A” stance is to simple stand in one place and move through the stances. Another way to practice is to walk and then stop in the “A” stance. Walking and stopping into an “A” Stance would be a great way to work on landing “even” — as I mentioned before. Walk, then stop, then look at your feet, notice the sensation in your hips, if your feet are even then that is the sensation you want to replicate, if not, then adjust your feet, notice the sensation in your hips and try to replicate it again as you step into “A” Stance.
The “A” Stance is just one of the six stances in the Nia 52 Moves.
What do you sense when standing in the “A” Stance? When you step into the “A” Stance do your feet land “even”?
As I mentioned in my last post about using the clock in Nia, we have a move called the Slow Clock. Using an imaginary face of a clock on the ground assists us in knowing where to step. The slow clock can be used to incorporate any “hour” on the clock into the dance. The move starts with the feet in the “center” of the imaginary clock. The “slow” is in reference to always returning the foot to center before allowing the foot to go to another number on the clock. To practice the slow clock move begin with a march in place. If you begin the march with your left foot touching the ground on the one count, then use it first to touch on 12:00, then return it to its original position in the center of the clock. Then place the left foot at 6:00, then return to center. Then use the other foot, touch to 12:00, then center, then 6:00, then center. Hour then center, that is the basis of the slow clock.
As with almost any move it can be done in slightly different manners and still be the same. The slow clock can be done with just a tap or a touch to an hour, with the foot returning to center. Or it can actually be a step, where the weight is put full upon the foot stepping to the hour. To keep it the slow clock the foot would return to center before any other move was made. So it can be a tap, a touch, a step. It can even be a slight shift in the weight. As long as the foot returns to center.
In some Nia routines we do sumos out to 3:00 then return to center, then we sumo to 9:00. Now if you were thinking about that you would know without me saying, “Move your right foot to 3:00, then to center, then your right foot to 9:00.” Remember? I mentioned how efficient it is to use the clock to help instruct with moves instead of saying directions and which foot to move every time. With the instruction of sumo 3:00, you know you are stepping your right foot out to the right so you land in a sumo or riding stance.
With the example above you see that the slow clock can be done with opposite feet. It does not have to be one foot stepping to an hour, then returning to center, and then that same foot stepping to another our. It can be — as example, the right foot to 12:00, center, left foot 6:00, center. Add some rhythm and a little bounce and you have the Charleston! Add some rhythm, a little bend at the knees, and some hips and you have a salsa!
In addition to improving precision and grace, moving with the slow clock does many things depending on how you move with it. For instance dancing the slow clock to a specific rhythm can also improve coordination because the tendency might be to just skip over returning to center. Also, sometimes it can be something to help keep your mind focused because sometimes when the mind wanders your foot can forget it needs to return to center unless it is focused.
So that is the slow clock, another one of the 52 Moves of Nia.
Using the tool of the imaginary clock are you able to move in Slow Clock?
At this point you might have noticed that I only have a post for 9 of the 52 Moves of Nia. I am going to work on that. I have a Nia friend who is posting about the 52 Moves of Nia on her blog and she has inspired me to continue on. I have the list of the moves on my website. I link the blog post from there so people on my site can click to see a description and possibly a picture. With only 9 post I only have 9 links. This is ten and moving forward.
Nia is a unique cardio dance exercise that combines nine movement forms into a fun and energizing workout. Nia has moves we call the 52 Moves. Many of them are common to other dances. I am posting here about Toes In, Out, and Parallel. I know I have seen these moves in other dances if not done together at least done separately.
To do the move as one move you start with your feet parallel to each other. They can be hip (joint) width apart. Then turn your toes in to face each other. Turn them in as far as you comfortably can. Then swivel your feet out so the toes are pointing in opposite directions. Again, only do it as far as you can — comfortably.
This is the whole move. There is a routine where we are in A Stance and I have the participants dance toes in then toes out. Which I consider a lot of fun. You can play with this move by trying to walk with toes facing in, then with toes facing out.
I like to play with the move by doing one foot toes in and out. Sometimes just letting one foot do a dance all of its own; in, out, in, out, tapping my toe to the ground with each twist of my leg. I also like to do this move with varying stances. My instructions here say to start in open stance, but it can easily be done in A Stance (as I mentioned I do in my Nia class). You’ll notice that different muscles are used when you change the width of your stance.
Moving the feet in this manner allows for all the bones in the leg to rotate which gets the thigh bones moving in the hip socket. Movement is a way to keep the joints health. Movement helps fluid into the joints. I say “juicy joints.” We move to have juicy joints.
In addition to helping the hip joint this move helps keep the ankles mobile and the knees flexible.
With healthy hip joints, ankle joints, and knee joints the enables walking and moving in general to be done with ease. So even though this is one of the moves we use in our dance exercise routines that does not mean the use of it is limited to that.
You can decide to walk with toes in for a bit during your day, then with toes out. While standing you can stand with toes in, then out, then parallel. It is an easy exercise to play with and incorporate into your day. And it really does help with the health of your joints.
Are you gonna do it? On your trip from your desk to the coffee pot? While you are going about your day with the kids? Which on in your favorite, in or out?
With Nia you get a workout. It is not necessary to have any experience in any type of dance modality or martial arts, or any type of practice (Yoga, Pilates, etc.). Any BODY can walk into a class and join in and following their own body’s way get a great workout.
In the Nia practice there are three stages. So if you want you can take your workout into these areas. The stages are:
1—Learn the Move When you learn the move you are learning the name, you are thinking about the move. The concentration is on placing your feet in the proper place, learning where your limbs are supposed to be. Maybe trying some of the different intensity levels and the different planes. This is the stage where you are actually doing a lot of thinking.
2—Move the Move This is the stage we you move the move. You are doing a routine and just moving. Getting the moves into your muscle memory. Your body is learning the move. Here is where you are learning the combinations. This stage is where you let your body lead and you don’t think too much. The body has an intelligence of its own and if you let it sense it can flow.
3—Energize the Move
This is the stage that you can achieve once your body knows the move. This stage could be during a song the first time you do it, if you feel comfortable and your body senses the moves you might be able to just put the energy into it from one of the Nine Movement Forms. Or it could be the stage you get to once you have done the song a few times. It really depends on the you. It depends on how you feel and how you sense the music. But this is where we really get to play with our routines, where we can energize with the energy of T’ai Chi, Tae Kwon Do, Jazz Dance, or Yoga.
This weekend (10/03/10), in Willow Glen/San Jose I am holding a Nia Playshop where we will Learn the Move. We are going to play with some of the moves that make up the 52 Moves of Nia. Then after we are going to have a Nia Class where we Move the Move. Since we will have spent an hour Learning the Moves I am hoping that some of you will be able to Energize the moves. See you Sunday!
I love to remind my students that feet need to be flexible in order to provide the shock absorption we need with each step. Also, in order to help with the entire health of the body they need to be strong, and also allow the energy to flow through. Nia refers to the feet as the Hands that touch the Earth. Feet like hands relay a lot of information to the body. In Nia we dance barefoot to not only receive that information through the hundreds of thousands of nerve endings in each foot, but to help with the health of our feet. Nia has 52 Moves the routines focus on. Twenty seven of them are associated with the base and each move can help keep feet flexible, strong, and allow energy to flow up to the body.
Terre Pruitt's Blog 