Posts Tagged ‘Nia Classes’
Posted by terrepruitt on September 22, 2012
Since I am still busy with my Nia classes and I have my Zumba teaching debut coming up, it really helps to have produce delivered. I know Nia and Zumba instructors that can learn a routine in an afternoon and teach it that night. I am not one of those teachers. It takes me a long time, so something that saves me a trip to the store is awesome. But then I do spend a little time trying to figure out what to do with the new-to-me produce. I also like to look up the nutrition. One thing I didn’t remember when I received my beets is that the beet greens can be eaten. I forgot about my own post Borscht Is Beets and I just chopped them off and threw them away. Now I know. I do have faith that beets have more nutrition than dirt, but I don’t actually know the nutrition value of dirt, so I really am just going off of faith.
As a reminder beets have anti-inflammatory affects along with antioxidant properties. According to World’s Healthiest Food website here are some numbers on a cup of raw beet:
1.00 cup raw
136.00 grams
58.48 calories
folate 148.24 mcg
manganese 0.45 mg
fiber 3.81 g
potassium 442.00 mg
vitamin C 6.66 mg
tryptophan 0.03 g
magnesium 31.28 mg
iron 1.09 mg
phosphorus 54.40 mg
copper 0.10 mg
The website states that the phytonutrients in beets are called betalains and the longer the beets are cooked, the less there are in the root. They “recommend that you keep beet steaming times to 15 minutes or less, and roasting times under an hour.” So some of the nutritional value is higher the less they are cooked. I had mentioned something similar in my Borscht post.
The paper that comes with the produce I have delivered states that the beets were gold beets. Being unfamiliar with beets I say, “Ok.”, but they were not yellow. They were deep red/purple — as you can see. And I KNOW, I have seen yellow beets before. I had a co-worker who loved beets and she would eat them in all the colors. Maybe the yellow ones aren’t called gold beets and these really were gold beets? I don’t know. The red and yellow pigment in beets lose their “super powers” the more the beets are cooked.
Since I have had my first foray into cooking beets and making something with beets I think I can do it again. I know I just made a salad, but it wasn’t terrible. I think I need to move onto something my husband just loves. In fact when I asked him if he liked beets he said yes and he reminded me that he loves borscht. I forgot he loved borscht and I forgot I posted about it. So I think I will actually purchase some beets and give it a try.
This is exactly one of the reasons I chose to have a produce box delivered. I never would have bought beets — obviously since back in January 2011 I talked about them and STILL haven’t done it. So now it is one of the things I can add to our list of vegetables for us to eat. I have the tendency to buy the same vegetables over and over even though I know variety is good. I just don’t buy it if I don’t know what to do with it. But when it lands on my doorstep, I feel as if I have to find something to do with it. I am so excited to be expanding my produce horizons. I also love that so many people have ideas on what to do with these new-to-me items.
Do any of you like Borscht? Do you have a recipe for it?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: anti-inflammatory, antioxidants, beets, borscht, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia instructor, Nia routine, Nia Teacher, organic produce, teaching debut, World's Healthiest Food, yellow beets, Zumba, Zumba classes, Zumba instructor, Zumba teacher | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 13, 2012
Zumba is astronomically popular. The marketing and “it’s a party” advertising has attracted MILLIONS of people. My first few Zumba classes were fun but I left feeling as if Zumba was not a very safe product. Not all the classes contained a warm up and a cool down. Most had no instruction, just the teacher pointing and making other hand signals I was not familiar with. After having taken the required Zumba Instructor Training, I see that the Zumba Fitness Program is constructed to be safe and meets with the general fitness guidelines. It could have been that the classes I had taken were not following the program with the prescribed class format.
A standard guideline for fitness classes that is considered safe for the general pubic is 10 to 15 minutes warm-up and at least a 5 minute cool down. Since Zumba is marketed as being something everyone can do, the program incorporates these guidelines. Zumba instructors are trained to follow this set formula for the safety of all participants. It is understood that many people who attend a workout class come in “cool”, it could even be that their muscles and bodies have been in one position for most of the day. Muscles need to warm up and get blood flowing in order for there to be less risk of injury. A warm up is necessary for the body, it is also nice for the brain so that one can “shake off” the happenings of the day and embrace the workout that is ahead.
In addition to the Zumba Fitness Program following the standard fitness guidelines in regards to a warm up, a “formula” for the warm-up section of the class was created. The formula has three components, and if they are used correctly they should allow for a nice smooth transition into the remainder of the class. The warm up is built into the Zumba Fitness class model to prepare you for the bulk of the class. The bulk of the class, as you may know, has a very unique formula.
Zumba was not created to be an elite fitness class, it was meant for everyone to enjoy themselves. There are moves and steps to follow, but each participant is allowed to add their own style and their own “flavor” — as it is called in the Zumba world. That means not everyone will be doing it the exact same way. Not everyone can shake their hips as the instructors do on the training DVDS and I don’t think anyone is as loose a Beto.
While I was taking the Zumba Instructor training I kept wondering if the creator of Zumba, Alberto “Beto” Perez and the co-creator of Nia, Carlos AyaRosas know each other, even though one is from Columbia and the other one is from Mexico. Some of the same ideas and philosophies are in both exercise/fitness programs. To me they have a lot of ideas in common. I had no idea how similar the programs were until I attended the Zumba Instructor training.
I have posted a bit in the past about Zumba because people are familiar with what Zumba is but not with what Nia is so they often ask me for comparisons so they can understand. Well, in the past my answers were coming from the perspective of a Nia Teacher who had taken a few Zumba classes. Now my answers and my comparisons will be from an instructor of both Nia and Zumba. So I will be posting more about Zumba in the future. I will be sharing and clarifying a bit about the actual Zumba Fitness Program. I will also be doing my best at delivering the Zumba Fitness Program making my Zumba Fitness classes fun and accessible for everyone.
I’ll see you in class!
Posted in Zumba | Tagged: Beto Perez, Carlos AyaRosas, class format, class model, exercise program, general fitness guidelines, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia Teacher, Zumba, Zumba cool down, Zumba Fitness, Zumba Fitness class model, Zumba Fitness Classes, Zumba Fitness Instructor, Zumba Fitness Program, Zumba formula, Zumba instructor, Zumba Instructor Training, Zumba party, Zumba warm up | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 30, 2012
I teach Nia. I have been teaching Nia for three and a half years. Not as many people who I talk to have heard of Nia as have heard of Zumba so I am constantly being asked the difference between Nia and Zumba. Since I am often asked I am often thinking about them and comparing them. First, they are actually the same in that music is played and participants dance to it. Second, in both the instructor leads the participants through the various dance moves. Third, participants of both claim they are both fun. One difference is Nia is an experience in five sensations, Zumba seems to concentrate on one.
The experience is such a big part of Nia we actually call them the five sensations of Nia. I have posted about them before (FAMSS). They are the sensation of flexibility, of agility, of mobility, of strength, and of stability. In a Nia class your body will move in a way that allows you to sense the energy moving out and away. You will bend and stretch to play with flexibility, either retaining what you have or improving upon it. There are moves in the routines that require the start and the stop. The movement that is agility could be done with our feet, our arms, our hands, our bodies, our heads or a combination of body parts but we sense the start and the stop. With every routine there is a lot of mobility, some routines have more than others, but all of them that I have experienced have a lot. With mobility it is just the same as agility in that it could be a body part that is moving or our whole body. Whatever the case there is a lot of movement from each joint that helps create a healthy joint by allowing the fluid to move to it and within it. Then we also play with strength. We might squeeze our muscles sensing the energy moving in as if the bones are being hugged by the muscles. We might do squats or sit-ups, punches and/or kicks, but there is time where we play with strength. I say Nia is very big on balance because we do many moves that requires us to be stable. Many of our moves are balancing on one leg, could be a kick, could be a stance, but it requires stability. Moving from one move to the next often requires us to call upon our stability. In a Nia routine we experience all of these sensations. I’ve reached the conclusion that Zumba is primarily agility.
In Zumba the moves are always fast. So it is a constant state of start and stop. The only sensation I sense while doing Zumba is agility. Fast start, fast stop . . . . even when there is a stretch where your muscles are yearning for a second to move to their fullest length, it is a fast stretch that does not allow for the muscle to be fully stretched. Doing a full hour of agility is not a bad thing at all. It can be fun and it can produce a lot of sweat. And many of us are programmed to think that sweat equals a good workout. I think that if you are adding Zumba to a stretching program that has some balance practice in it that is great.
I am also a believer that there are a lot of things that compliment Nia too. I actually think that if you like Nia and Zumba and you are able to do both that is a nice combination. You get two different types of cardio. One that is a workout in the sensation of agility and one that can move you through more use of the entire body to get that heart pumping.
I really believe that whatever gets you moving is GREAT. I think that you have to like what you do in order to make it a constant in your life. So Zumba, Nia, Jazzercise, U-Jam, yoga, kickboxing, bootcamp, weight training, whatever works for you is great. Do what you will do! That is the key!
It is that I am always asked about the difference between Zumba and Nia that I am always thinking about it and this was my latest thought after I did a Zumba class. I think I posted before about how I am left wanting to extend and finish my moves in Zumba and it dawned on me that it is the sensation of agility that is predominant in Zumba. Some Zumba classes I have attended do take a song to stretch at the end, but not all of them. So I guess it depends on the instructor. Nia instructors are encouraged to infuse their classes and the routines with their personalities, so I am sure that every Nia class has a few differences too.
Both Nia and Zumba are great cardio workouts. It just depends on what you want to do during your workout and what you want to get out of it. Do what you will do!
So, what is it that you do?
Posted in Nia, Zumba | Tagged: agility, bootcamp, cardio dance, cardio workout, dance exercise, FAMSS, five sensations, flexibility, Jazzercise, kickboxing, Mobility, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia instructor, Nia Moves, Nia participants, Nia routines, Nia Teacher, Nia vs Zumba, stability, strength, U-Jam, Ujam, weight training, Yoga, Zumba, Zumba classes, Zumba instructor, Zumba participants, Zumba routines | 11 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 16, 2012
A couple of weeks ago I decided to have home delivery of produce. I had to wait until I was home to get it. Remember that “stuff” I had posted about before? The stuff had me traveling out of town that is why I had to move my Nia classes for two weeks. I scheduled delivery for when I would be home AND I knew that I would have an empty/veggie-less fridge. I have often thought of having home deliver, but I just couldn’t justify it. I finally decided to do it with the following as justification:
1) I would have fresh organic produce.
In the grocery store I don’t always by the organic stuff because it is not what I want. I think I might be 40%/60%. With the organic fruit and veggies being delivered to me it will probably switch those numbers to 60%/40%. This will be better for us.
2) It would be delivered to my door.
I figured with gas prices as expensive as they are having something delivered to my door is very economical. If they are bringing produce to me, it is keeping me out of the store at least one time a week. Plus, when I am at the store I sometimes end up spending money on things we might not need to be eating. I run in to get veggies then I think, “Hmmm? What else do we ‘need’?” And most often we don’t “need” anything but the produce I went into buy.
3) I would get “stuck” with new things.
I am in the habit of buying the same vegetables over and over. I do the same thing with fruit. We have a farmers market fairly close to us, but they don’t have a lot of fruit. The one that is really nice is a bit further and we don’t always get to it. I have seen questions posted on FB about how to cook what was received in this week’s “box” so I thought that if I ordered produce I would end up with things new to me. I was thinking that I would get a better variety of veggies if I just took what they were selling. AND I would learn new stuff along the way. What do I do with some of the things they send? I am looking forward to finding out.
I did a search on the internet and “Farm Fresh To You” came up. It is always kind of a risk doing stuff like this because you just don’t know. But I was really happy when I saw a picture on the website that said, “Capay” because they are a farm that sells at one of the farmers markets I go to. AND they are one of the vendors I frequent because they are all organic. I like their produce. So I was happy that I was familiar with the main farm that delivers.
It is cool they way they do it too. I was talking to a friend who said that she just decided to do something similar, but with the farm she is working with you have to pick up your box and you subscribe for the whole summer. I think her subscription is more of what you might be familiar with called a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). With the service I went through I just pay per box. I can start and stop anytime. There are different types and sizes too. They have all veggies, all fruit, all “no-cook”, mostly veggies, etc. It is pretty amazing – to me – what they offer. They deliver in areas on certain days and the day they deliver in our area works out PERFECT for me.
I know a lot of people who subscribe to a CSA. Do you? Don’t you think having produce delivered to you is helpful?
Posted in Food, Fruit, Vegetables | Tagged: Capay Farm, Community Supported Agriculture, CSA, Delivered Goodness, delivery service, economical, Farm Fresh To Me, Farmers Market, home delivery of produce, Nia, Nia Classes, organic produce, variety of veggies, Vegetables, www.farmfreshtoyou.com | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 7, 2012
Are there any dance exercise classes that you know of where you are encouraged to quack like a duck? Well in all Nia classes we like to have fun, plus Nia understands the benefits of sounding, so there is a move where we quack while we are doing it. Of course, quacking is not limited to being done only when we do this move, but this move is actually called Duck Walk. It is very fitting to quack while doing this move. I know to many quacking seems silly. Sitting and reading about it has to make it sound really silly, but in class with your feet gently slapping the floor, it seems perfectly natural. Making noise is natural and it tends to make working out much more fun. It is also very amazing when moves have their own sound. The Duck Walk, of the Nia 52 Moves is one that has its own sound, “Quack! Quack! Quack!”
All of the 52 Moves are listed with pictures in The Nia Technique Book. I cannot emphasize enough how helpful this book is. If you are interested in movement in the slightest or if you are interested in the body mind connection you would enjoy this book. The Duck Walk is described on page 114 as:
“Standing with your feet slightly apart and no wider than hip width, alternately lift and then lower the toes and balls of each foot, as if you are slapping the ground to splash water in a puddle.”
So your feet can be slightly apart or as far as hip width. Remember “hip width” means hip JOINT width. Thigh bones straight down from your hip joints. Then the toes and ball of foot lift. Then you splash. Splish splash in puddles. As with the Squish Walk I have a different way to do this with different imagery. When I am doing it as stated in the book, I DO think of my toes splashing in the puddles. But when I think of a duck and its walk, I tend to put my toes out. I think of toes out as duck walk. That’s when the move lends to quacking for me.
Just as the same as with the Squish Walk The Nia Technique Book does not give instructions to walk while “duck walking”, but we do it all the time in my Nia classes. This duck walk move really allows for ankle movement and helps condition the muscles on the front of the lower legs so I like to use it. High heeled shoes — especially the ones now-a-days — have feet stuck in the opposite direction with hardly any ankle flexion so the Duck Walk is great to get those muscles moving and stretched.
While progressing forward with the duck walk it is not the same as heel lead walk even though you lead with the heel. With the duck walk we don’t roll through the entire foot, we gently splat the foot down. It is a heel lead then splat with the rest of the foot. That is why the imagery of splashing your toes in the puddle works so well, I bet as a child most of us have done that.
Between the quacking and the splashing it is no wonder Nia is so fun. Adults as play! Splish splash quack!
Did you get up out of your chair to try it? C’mon, try it!
Posted in 52 Moves (of Nia), Nia | Tagged: 52 Nia Moves, dance exercise, duck, Duck Walk, hip joints, hip width, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia Moves, quack, Quacks Like a Duck, sounding, Squish Walk, The Nia Technique book | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 5, 2012
I had to rearrange my Nia Classes this week and next week because stuff happens in life. You know that right? You have a plan, just cruising a long and something happens. Sometimes it is just a little quirk that maybe changes your schedule a bit. Sometimes it might be something bigger that changes a lot of things. Either way, there is stuff. We all have stuff. Even if it doesn’t happen directly to us, it happens to someone who affects us. Stuff. Good stuff, bad stuff, stuff that can’t be qualified as either . . . but stuff. Sometimes you gotta drop what you are doing and deal with it. Sometimes you get a little prep time. Whether you can actually get prepared in that time is another story, huh? There are also moments when you might be able to forget the stuff and enjoy the moment that is. Recently I was able to enjoy a moment. I took a few pictures of it. Since there is “stuff” I am using my moment to fill in.
I love when animals drink out of the bird bath. My husband and I try to keep it clean and full. I am really particular during the hot days. Even though I am sure the water gets really hot, I still want to make sure there is water in there for them. I like to see them drink out of it. The blue jay are funny because they put their heads back and move their heads as if that is how they have to get the water down. Is that how they have to do it? Do you know?
What I love more than animals drinking from the bird bath is birds taking a bath. They seem as if they really allow themselves to really enjoy it. They seem to love to get to splish and splash around. I love that. I really love when I have my camera or phone close by so I can take some pictures. I posted a long time ago (in 2009) about the baby blue jays taking a bath. They were so funny to watch because each one was so different in how they took their baths. One would barely get wet, while another would just go crazy in the water. You can see from the pictures how he would just splash around really big. He became a big blur. It was fun to see the different personalities of the birds.
The other day, I just happen to look up as a bird hopped in the water. He would jump in splash around, then jump out, then jump in splash around, then stop, then splash, then stop. Just having a good old time. He was not a big blurry splasher like that one baby blue jay was. Whenever I think of that blue jay it makes me laugh because he would just get so crazy. It does make me happy to see the birds actually taking a bath in the bird bath. Although I am fine if they just drink out of it. It is a nice break, either way, especially where there is “stuff”.
All this splishing and splashing reminds me of the Duck Walk. 🙂 Thanks for letting me take a little break and share a bird’s bath with you. It was a nice moment.
How are you doing? Have you had any moments lately? Got any stuff?
Look at all the water . . . . . now this is FUN STUFF!
Posted in Birds | Tagged: baby bird, bird bath, blue jays, change of schedule, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia schedule, stuff happens | 5 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 2, 2012
Nia is the same as many things, the more you do it the more accustomed your body becomes to the movement. When you first try swinging a bat or a golf club it seems as if there are so many things to think about. The placement of your feet, the bend in your knees, the sinking of the hips, what your hands are doing, what your elbows are doing, where your chest is facing, to move or not to move your shoulders. Then there is your head, your eyes, and – oh yeah – the ball. So much to remember. Then as you practice you forget that you even were once
having to remember all that. You are able to just “let go” a bit and play the game. Dance exercise is the same way for some. There are moves in Nia that we do, the 52 moves. At first the body might be so busy trying to do it correctly it is not allowed to play, but once the moves are learned there is time to play. In a Nia routine a move is often repeated enough so it can be learned and then the play can begin. But there is still a technique, there is still a right way to do it in order to get the benefits from it as was the intention of having the move be a part of Nia.
One of the moves that I sometimes find challenging is the Squish Walk, the way Carlos AyaRosas (FKA Carlos Rosas), told us how to do it. I had thought it was rising on the ball of one foot, then squishing that foot down, then rising on the other ball of the foot, and alternating. The imagery is that of squishing oranges under the heels. I had thought it was one whole foot on the ground before bringing up the other, but that is not how he instructed us.
His instructions were to be on the both balls (of the feet) at the same time. Not all the way up on both feet but one heel HIGH and one lowering and switching like that. The foot that is flat on the ground (whole foot) is not there long because it comes right back up. I found this method much more challenging than the one foot down and the other foot up. The method Carlos had us do tends to work the calves and shins more than the other method.
The Nia Technique Book states one foot is down (whole foot on the ground) before bringing the other foot up. Both methods work the lower legs, improving strength and flexibility. Neither method is actually a walk. We are not progressing forward. Although the squishy movement could be incorporated into a walk.
With the method in the book, I usually use the image of high heeled shoes. Lift one heel as if you are showing off a new high heeled shoe. The concentration is on the lifted heel. Then switch heels. With the method Carlos taught I think more of oranges. The concentration, to me, is more on the squish.
In the Nia routine we have been doing this past month in my Nia Classes we do something they’ve dubbed the “double squish walk” which is rising at the same time on both balls of the feet. Then the squish is on bringing both heels down at the same time. Double Squish. I just call it up on the balls of your feet, since it doesn’t seem very squishy and it is not like either method.
I invite you to try both methods of the squish walk. Lift one foot onto the ball of the foot, then set it down and lift the other foot. Alternate. And try, lifting up on both balls of the feet, then start to lower one to ground, then alternate. It is as if in one method both feet end up on the ground and with the other method both feet end up on the balls of the feet. So fun, the different ways to do the moves yet, both ways are to help condition the lower legs to help “you move safely with different speeds and intensities”. In other words be sturdy on your feet as you move and dance through life!
Posted in 52 Moves (of Nia), Nia | Tagged: "double squish walk", ball of one foot, Carlos AyaRosas, Carlos Rosas, conditioning benefits, dance, dance exercise, dance practice, dance through life, flexibility, golf club, high heels shoes, improving strength, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia Practice, Nia routine, Nia Technique, Nia's 52 Moves, Squish Walk, squishing oranges, swinging a bat, The Nia Technique book | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 15, 2012
You know I started this blog to share things with you. I wanted to share about Nia, exercises, things I think are healthy, and stuff I learn. I don’t think I had thought about posting recipes, but I probably didn’t think I would limit myself from doing so. It is funny that food posts get the most views and even more fun spark the most conversations. (I love the bloggey conversations.) We love our food, huh? It is universal. Everyone eats. Not everyone works out, not everyone dances, not everyone goes to exercise classes, and not everyone does Nia, but everyone eats. Even though we all eat different things it is still something that we all have in common.
As you might have noticed, when I try a new recipe, or just try making something I sometimes like to share. Even if the recipe still needs some adjustments I have to start somewhere. I like to post my recipes because I find myself using my blog when I am going to make something. I can even be at the store and get the idea that I want to make a certain recipe then I think, “Shoot I don’t know what it is in . . . . ahhhh, but I posted it on my blog!” So I use my blog at the store to grocery shop sometimes. Here is a recipe of something that I made that I need to work on.
I haven’t always liked hummus, but once I started eating it. I really liked it. There is a brand that my husband found that is really good. It is smooth and creamy. We used to eat it often. But it has Canola Oil in it. I prefer not to eat Canola oil. I have always wanted to make my own hummus so I thought not eating our favorite brand would inspire me. It did not. My issue was tahini. I don’t think of tahini. So when I go to the store I am not thinking, “Oh yeah, I need tahini.” I know you can make hummus without it. I believe my friend makes hummus all the time and she never used tahini. I haven’t tasted her hummus that I can remember so I don’t know if it is good without tahini or not.
The other day I was online and I actually bought tahini. I decided on wanted to finally make some hummus. There are a lot of recipes out there for hummus so I took some ideas from several of them. I need to work on it.
I used:
2 cups canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
3 teaspoons liquid from the beans
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon garlic flavored olive oil
I put everything in the blender and blended until smooth.
I prefer my hummus a little more smooth and actually creamy, but the blender was making odd noises so I didn’t want to push it too far.
First of all I think it is too salty. Next time I am going to use less salt and less tahini. I am also going to use less lemon juice. I am also going to use fresh garlic. I used some we have from a jar.
Not too bad for my first try, but not so great. But sometimes I just need to get in there and do it — make the recipe — so I can see it is easy to do so then I can play with it and make adjustments.
Do you like hummus? Do you make your own?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Canola Oil, chickpeas, creamy hummus, dance exercise, dance exercise class, Garbanzo beans, garlic oil, healthy recipes, hummus, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia workout, olive oil, tahini | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 17, 2012
Every year there is a Bay Area Dance Week. This year is the 14th annual dance week and it is being presented by Dancers’ Group. This will be the fourth year that I have offered my morning Nia Classes to New Students for free. I did it last year, but I didn’t post about it. I figured I should post about it to remind people it is happening. My 9:00 am Nia Classes on Monday, April 23rd and Wednesday, April 25th at Halanda Studio will be free to New Students. Here is another opportunity to try Nia for free.
In addition to Nia there are many FREE Classes during National Dance Week at Halanda Studio. Halanda Studio is owned by two women who rent out the studio by the hour. The variety of classes that are offered at the studio is very diverse. As you can see by the schedule of free classes there is several types of Belly Dancing from beginning to Intermediate/Advanced. Also being offered for free during Bay Area Dance Week is Hot Hula, Yoga, Zumba, Bollywood Fitness, and I’ve already mentioned Nia.
While I want you to attend classes at Halanda and in particular MY Nia class, my dancing spirit has to bring to your attention to the fact that from April 20 – April 29, 2012 it is Bay Area Dance Week. So there are FREE classes ALL OVER THE BAY AREA!!! According to the Bay Ara Dance booklet there are more than 650 groups, artists, and organizations participating. There are over 100 forms of dance to enjoy. Not only are there free classes but there are free performances.
The opening event is Friday, April 20th at Union Square Park in San Francisco. The closing event on Sunday, April 29 will be at 2 pm in Union Square Park in San Francisco where there will be simple circle dance for peace among people and peace with Earth. Looks like this dance will be led by the amazing Anna Halprin. She is 92 years old and still dancing and teaching dance . . . now that is what I call amazing!
Below is the current list of FREE classes (as of Tuesday, April 17, 2012) being offered at Halanda Studio in San Jose during Bay Area Dance Week (Friday, April 20th through Sunday, April 29th – 2012)
Saturday, April 21:
9:30am-10:30am: Bellydance Basics with Amanda
10:30am-12:00pm: Bellydance & Beyond with Amanda
12:00pm-1:00pm: Bellydance Fusion Technique with Michelle
1:00pm-2:00pm: No Rules Bellydance with Michelle
2:30pm-3:30pm: Tunisian Folk Dance with Pamela
—
Sunday, April 22:
2:00pm-3pm: Hot Hula Fitness with Marie
—
Monday, April 23:
9:00am-10:00am: Nia with Terre
4:00pm-5:00pm: Silk Road & Middle Eastern dance for Kids with Farima
7:00pm-8:00pm: Bellydance – All Levels with Hala
8:00pm-9:00pm: Bellydance – Intermediate Technique & Drills with Hala
9:00pm-10:00pm: Bellydance – Choreography with Hala
—
Tuesday, April 24:
5:00pm-6:15pm : Hatha Yoga – Mixed Levels with Dahlia
6:30pm-7:30pm: Bellydance Workout with Natika
7:30pm-8:30pm: Tribal Fusion with Natika
8:30pm-9:30pm Fan Veil Dance with Natika
9:30pm-10:30pm Silk Road Fusion Dance with Farima
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Wednesday, April 25:
9:00am-10:00am: Nia with Terre
6:00pm-7:00pm: Bellydance with Setareh
7:00pm-8:30pm: Hala Dance Company Rehearsal with Hala
8:30pm-9:30pm: Basic Belly with Naima
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Thursday, April 26:
6:30pm-7:30pm: Killer Drillz Level 1 with Vanessa
8:30pm-9:30pm: Dances of Persia & the Silk Road with Farima
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Friday, April 27:
7:00pm-8:00pm: Zumba Fitness with Melissa
8:00pm-9:00pm: Tunisian Folk Dance with Pamela
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Saturday, April 28:
8:00am-9:15am: Power Flow Yoga with Delanie
12:00pm-1:00pm: Bellydance Fusion Technique with Michelle
1:00pm-2:00pm: No Rules Bellydance with Michelle
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Sunday, April 29:
9:30am-10:30am: Bollywood Fitness with FusionBeatz
There are other classes taught at Halanda, but the classes listed here are the ones that are participating in Bay Area Dance Week.
Aside from Nia :-), what classes are you going to try out?
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: Anna Halprin, Bay Area Dance Week, Bay Area Nia, Belly Dancing, Bellydance Fusion Technique, Bollywood Fitness, dance choerography, Free Dance, free dance performances, Free Nia, Halanda Studio, Hot Hula, Middle Eastern dance, Nia Classes, Nia students, Nia Technique, San Francisco, San Jose Dance, San Jose Nia, Silk Road, Tribal Fusion, Union Square Park, Yoga, Zumba | 1 Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 10, 2012
I have posted about Nia FreeDance before. Nia FreeDance is meant to encourage creativity. In Nia routines sometimes we have entire songs that are FreeDance. Not all routines have an entire FreeDance song, but all routines have at least one part as FreeDance. The one part could be that our feet have choreography and our arms and hands are free to move. The creativity is released. As the 4th Principle of the Nia White Belt it can also be used as a tool to help a Nia teacher learn a routine and/or explore his or her practice. The principle has 8 stages. The third stage of FreeDance is Feelings and Emotions with a catch phrase of: Pretend, Fake It, Act As If. This is the stage where you pick an emotion and you act it out. This is not the same as stage 4 where you draw on the real you and you act out a story you have experienced, this stage is pretend.
The idea of stage 3 of Nia FreeDance is to pick an emotion, a feeling and then act it out. Pretend you are feeling that emotion at that moment. This would be practice or play outside of a class setting where you are doing a routine. So when using this tool as a way to grow and create you aren’t even expected to dance. The exercise is to pick an emotion act it out for a bit, then pick another emotion. Acting and explaining the feeling with your body in an exaggerated way. If it helps create a story in order to fake that emotion. It can be somewhat fun because normally when you are angry you probably would not throw yourself down on the floor and kick and scream, but when we are pretending to be angry and acting “as if” you can. You can throw an angry punch. You can run and jump for joy. You can do anything you would like and since it probably wouldn’t be something you would be “allowed” to do in society it tends to spur creativity. And this creativity gets your body moving in news ways. It gets your heart pumping. It gets your blood moving. It gets your joints juicy.
I used this stage not too long ago as the focus of a few of my Nia Classes and it turned out to be very interesting. So within the class setting we actually danced our pretend feelings and emotions. We continued on with the routine we were doing at the time, but we added our “act as if”. So it altered our movements a bit. We allowed ourselves to follow the emotion so as we were dancing steps and hand movements might have been changed, but we still danced. As I said it was interesting because my class did not want to act the “negative emotions”. Some had a difficult time with some of the ones we deem as “negative” or ones that go against one’s normal self. We danced: keeping a secret, letting a secret go, happy, loopy, light, jealous, worry, love, angry, masculine, annoyed, bashful, brave, calm, childlike, guilty, fearless, and more. We tend to assign negative and positive, but they just are . . .I think that we can look at an emotion and or a feeling and it can be neither, but as we live with it it could become one or the other. If we let it affect us in a negative way, then maybe it can be perceived as a negative emotion?
The Embody and Share portion of the Nia White Belt Manual states: “Emotions are energetic responses to our experiences. We must learn to deal with our emotions to keep ourselves free and unblocked.” So my thought process is, that if an emotion “blocks” us or causes us stress then we consider it negative.
People didn’t like the emotions they felt were negative. There was a tendency to not pick them from the list I had displayed. But I think they are good for exploring movement. So it’s fun to play with them all. Remembering it is pretend, we are faking being (whatever the emotion is that we chose), we are pretending.
Well, what do you think? I invite you to make a list of emotions and feelings, then put on some music. Pick an emotion/feeling from your list and move to it. Stay with it until you are ready to move on and then pick another one from your list. Do this for a few songs. You might be surprised at your movements. You will probably be able to create ways to move that you didn’t realize. When you are not thinking of your movements it allows your body to release and —- ahhhh! —- movement creativity. Go ahead, you can do it. Let us know how it goes!
Posted in FreeDance, Nia | Tagged: 8 stages, Act As If, angry, creativity, dance exercise, Fake It, freedance, jealousy, love, masculine, movement creativity, negative emotion, Nia choreography, Nia Classes, Nia FreeDance, Nia Practice, Nia routines, Nia teachers, Nia White Belt Manual, Nia White Belt Principle #4, Pretend, Stage 3, worry | Leave a Comment »
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