The current Nia routine I am trying to learn is taking me a long time. I have mentioned before that I feel it takes me a long time to learn a routine, but this one seems even longer. The first thing I do is listen to the music. I had been doing so for a couple of weeks, then I got busy for a couple of days and hadn’t turned it on. When I went to the album in my iTunes I was shocked to see I had never listened past the sixth song. In fact, at that point I had never made it through the entire sixth song (that is how annoying it is). So I realized I needed to watch the Nia Training DVD. Watching the choreography usually helps me get through a song that I don’t like because it gives me points of reference. But this workout is filmed where the teacher and class are FACING the camera. I don’t like this since I primarily teach with my back towards the class. Back to the class really helps people copy the moves because they don’t have the whole “mirroring” issue to resolve. When I am trying to learn a routine and the people on the DVD are facing me, I don’t care for it. I do it as mirror, they are using their left foot and I am using my right, so I go right when they say “Go left”. All trainers sometimes state the opposite side or direction, but when they are actually USING the left, but I am mirroring them, it confuses my brain. In addition to the camera angle challenge (for me) this particular song is said to be a different version than they thought they were getting. So the choreography appears to be being created as the routine is being filmed. So it is very loose. I often feel that Debbie Rosas, in her brilliance, has so many ideas about choreography for one song that she sometimes shares them all during the filming and there ends up being a lot of moves in one song. I am grateful that the belts I have taken thus far have emphasized “less is more” and we have permission to pick a couple of moves from the song on the DVD and do them to the song. So that is what I did with one of the songs. I picked a few of the moves she did and organized them into something I can learn.
I will work on learning it this way. Although I will need a lot of practice because the song tends to mesmerize me and I lose my place. Hopefully as I grow more familiar with the moves and music I can play with it as the Debbie did. Since I don’t watch the DVDs that are filmed with the class facing front as many times as I watch the other ones I need to have a map I can follow from the get go. That is also the case for me when the song is very long and repetitive. I need to have a pattern, even then I can get lost in a song like this. And as I mentioned — just listening to it, trying to learn the song itself is not something I have been able to do. Every time I turn it on to learn it, half way through I am so annoyed by it, I turn it off. But moving to it is another thing. That is why when I don’t like a song, I look to the choreography because often times when the choreography makes sense it allows me to get through the song. More often than not I end up liking the song. We will see what happens with this song. It is like a dripping faucet.
Except for the class and the trainer facing the camera and the song titles not being shown as each song begins, the Nia training material continues to be stellar. At the end of 2014, Nia HQ put out the new Routines. I had ordered three earlier in the year, I just received the fourth one. I am going to add the titles in with the AWESOME software I have on trial. I have to do it before my 30 days is up. Then I will continue learning the routine I am working on. I will debut it to my class soon.
When you take group exercise classes do you like the instructor to face you? Have you ever noticed how a lot of songs are very repetitive?
At the end of March (2015) there were two Special Nia Events in Campbell, California. They were special for a lot of reasons. One reason being is because a visiting teacher was going to be doing them. It is always special when someone who does not live in the area comes and shares their talents. Another reason is because the Nia Class is a one-of-a-kind-creation. The visiting teacher created the routine and was going to lead us through it. ANOTHER reason, they were special, was that one of the classes was a workshop or a playshop as we like to call them in Nia. And it was also, the creation of the visiting teacher and it was something that I think anyone that dances Nia can benefit from. Another reason they special was they were the first Nia Events that I produced. Produced meaning, when I heard that the Nia Teacher who created the Playshop was coming to my area I contacted him to invite him to do these events. I secured the location, I created marketing material, I promoted the events (as I am sure you have seen, I posted about them often), I worked to get participants to the events, and I worried about how it would all turn out. So, two special Nia Events. I have posted two separate posts (What Did Frankie Say? and Dancing, Learning, Posting, Editing) about the Nia Class that was held on Friday, March 27, 2015. This post is about the Playshop.
The Playshop on Saturday, March 28, 2015 was a playshop regarding Nia FreeDance. In a Nia class, there is normally choreography. Nia Headquarters and the training staff create Nia Routines. There are Nia Routine DVDs that Nia Teachers purchase. We learn the routines and lead our students through them. We have a lot of freedom with our classes. We can follow the routines “exactly” or we can play with them. We can create our own routines from a mix of Nia Routines or we can take the Nia choreography and add it to other music. Or we can create our own routines with other non-Nia music. But with almost every routine there is FreeDance.
FreeDance is where there is not specific choreography. You are not told exactly how to move. Now, I have heard the creators of Nia express very different opinions on FreeDance. I heard one of them say in the past that FreeDance should ALWAYS be guided and the other one say that FreeDance can just be free. So . . . there are different opinions on the matter. I think that in keeping with the Nia White Belt Principle #4, Nia FreeDance does not need to be guided because “Anything Goes . . . movement-wise”. But FreeDance in an exercise class is a challenge to many people. There are many reasons as to why people cannot or will not just move their bodies in their own way in an exercise class.
This playshop was brought here to help people with that. Many of the tools (ideas) Jason shared were covered in the Nia Intensives. So if you have not attended a Nia White Belt Intensive or Nia Blue Belt Intensive, they would be new to you. They are GREAT! And they were the reminder and push I needed to pull them out to use them. The most valuable things he shared with me though were not necessarily the guiding ideas, but more about how the individuals in class can be left to be.
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When I see people in my class not moving or seeming to struggle with FreeDance, I take responsibility and blame myself for not getting them to move with my suggestions and guidance. But he brought up some very good points that I will now take to class and practice just letting those people be where they are, at that moment, in class.
Although I will still strive for the “When Harry Met Sally Moment” of wanting people to look at us and say, “I’ll have what SHE’S having.” I will also take into consideration that they could very well be doing my suggestion, but it looks different to me than I would do it. Or that they are just not in a place to FreeDance. Could be a case of Natural Time.
I learned a lot. I had a lot of fun. I am excited for Jason to come back again! This video and the video on my website are the same song. As I only stopped participating one time to video. The videos are at different times so they are a little different. Also shown here are a few of the pictures I took during the Playshop. I took more pictures during the hour Frankie Say Nia class than I did during the 3.75 hours of the Nia FreeDance Playshop.
There might be one more blog post about this, but we will see. These are the extent of pictures and videos. Enjoy!
Please share your comments. Please ask if you have any questions!
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Last night we had a visiting Nia teacher come to Campbell and present a routine that he has created. Jason Alan Griffin is a First Degree Nia Black Belt and he created a routine he calls Frankie Say Nia. He travels around to different places with his dog River and he brings Nia with him. He has routines he has created and playshops. Friday night was the Nia class where he did his 80’s Alternative New Wave music routine. People were invited to dress in 80’s style – bright clothes, animal prints, whatever they think of as 80’s fashion. It is difficult – for me – to think of dressing up at the same times as wearing clothes I can workout and move comfortably in. Jason was wearing shorts that reminded me of Saint Patrick’s Day and I was wearing animal print with my hair up in a silly pony. That was as far as I was able to take my dressing up. I’ll have to check with Jason about the shorts. I forgot to ask him about them today. The dressing up and the clothes were not what makes it fun or 80’s, it was the music.
Jason had us dancing to many familiar tunes. I was happy to hear all of them that I knew. I knew all of them until we arrived at the Floorplay portion of the Nia class and then I was just mystified. I kept thinking I would eventually recognize it, but it was out of my scope of knowledge. And I don’t even remember what it was. I believe there was mention of a bar. It was odd to me. And, later it was indicated that I had a look on my face (odd) matching what I was thinking. As I said, I kept waiting to hear something that would spark some sort of little hint that I had ever heard the song before, but nothing came.
Jason’s playfulness and ability to match movements to music is so evident in his routines. And they are just fun. I can say that we all had a great time because every commented on having one! His choreography and the music made for a great time.
I was very happy that he had some FreeDances in the routine because I was looking forward to gleaning some tools from them as he taught. And I did. Then the next day he took it to the next level with the FreeDance Playshop. That has to be a post all of its own. Perhaps more than one. We will see. I am still processing.
As I have recommended before to you, Dear Readers, if Jason comes to your town you should go to his class. That is, if you like to have a great time while you are getting your dance workout in. You can always check out his schedule on his blog.
I have included some pictures. As I have said before, it is not easy to get pictures of moving bodies. I had help from my hubby. We had at least three devices taking pictures and videos.
Can you tell from the pictures that we are having a good time?
I love being a Nia teacher and teaching Nia classes, however, it nets more of a “cosmic salary” than one that allows for vacations. The last time we went on vacation was before I lost my corporate job. We took a BIG vacation in 2006 and 2007. We have been to my father’s house, which is pretty close to a vacation because we don’t do any household chores and we just relax in a BEAUTIFUL lake community. But I still work. Since I only teach six classes a week, it might appear as if I only work six hours a week, but I am always writing a blog post or learning a routine, checking e-mails and creating flyers and marketing material. So when the idea to go away for a weekend to celebrate my husband’s birthday was suggested it sounded intriguing. We thought about Napa. We like bed and breakfasts. I found one for less than the cost of many hotels in that area. So we decided to go! For my hubby’s birthday we spent a wonderful weekend in Napa. We had such a good time I wanted to share a story or two and few pictures. It has been a long time since we vacationed!
My hubby gave himself a birthday present of taking three days off from work! Good boy. Did I catch him working during the weekend? Well, I shouldn’t be a tattler. His first day off was Friday. I taught my Nia class in the morning then at 1:30 we were off to the land of the vines! We arrived about 3:30 and were able to check in. It was a cute little room. Which I did not think to take pictures of until we were on our way out so . . . the room is not as spiffy in these shots as it is when you first arrive. It was a perfectly fine room for the price. It even had a little fridge! I love that because we always have leftovers.
We didn’t make reservations for dinner on any night so John looked at Yelp for places that were closest to the place we were staying. We like to be able to walk to downtown Napa. The very closest place was Tarla. I would DRIVE from home to eat there. It was that good. We called first but we were told that a party of two did not need reservations. So when we walked in and he asked I said we were told we didn’t need any. But then I also said that if it would get us in faster we would be a party of four and I patted the arm of the man standing next to me. 🙂 So that couple was whisked off to there seats. As the host was telling us how long our wait would be (10 to 15 minutes — no biggie!), the man came back out and told the host that we could sit with them! How FUN! We ended up having a great time with a great couple. It was really nice. The man owns Wine Country Helicopters. I would have loved to book a tour, but I didn’t think my hubby would do that. But now that he knows the owner he said he might. So next time! Dinner was really yummy and the company was great.
Saturday was our wine shuttle tour. Where we were surprised to be with ten other people. But they were all great so we had a really nice time. We met three young attorneys, a mother-son-daughter trio, and a foursome of “mom friends”. It was really nice. The weather was perfect. We actually didn’t end up with a lot of wine because three out of the five stops we had made we had said seven years ago that we never needed to visit them again. And we were right! We didn’t actually get to the ONE winery that we wanted to go to.
So that was the trip we made on Saturday. We drove out to the winery we (I) wanted to visit. Then we dropped off the car and headed back to town to hit a restaurant and some of the wine rooms. The first “room” we came to was Prime Cellars tasting room. We had a GREAT time with the young woman (Christine) pouring the wine. She poured, we purchased . . . it was a nice visit. We ate at the Bounty Hunter – the only place I will order a pulled pork sandwich. Although it is in a different location than when we last visited, it is still a nice place to eat with great food.
We stopped at Tarla on our way back to the room. The bartender made me one of her own concoctions — which tasted a bit like a Moscow Mule with out the heat. We had a snack then headed back to our room.
The weather was GREAT all weekend. A bit windy on Sunday, but that is ok. The sun was shining and the sky was blue. It was fantastic. I am going to sub as much as I can so that I can get us back up there before 2021! It is such a great place to visit! My hubby said he had a GREAT birthday weekend and that is what is most important.
Happy Birthday, Hubby!
Have you ever been to Napa? Do you have wine tasting in your area? Do you go?
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.
Some of you may still think, I’ve got nothing. You may or may not know I spend a lot of time decorating for Christmas. I LOVE all the decorations. It is the one time of year where you can have glitter and sparkle everywhere and people don’t judge you even though you have your hand on the doorknob of 50! My friend always laughs at me and says, “Everywhere you look there is Christmas.” And that is truly my goal. I don’t have a beautiful Sunset Magazine set up, I just have CHRISTMAS EVERYWHERE. I want your gaze to land on decorations. So that’s what I do. This is the one time of year where my house is always clean. I don’t like the dull of dust to damping the sparkle. The rest of the year — MEH! But during the Holidays the house is always “picked up”. And by “house” I mean the downstairs. The upstairs is a disaster . . . . where do you think everything goes? Anyway . . . with the house all decked out I like people to see it. But we don’t usually have people over. But this past week we did have two friends over. It was just a quick visit. I knew they wouldn’t stay long because they have family obligations to tend to. Since it was just going to be the four of us I didn’t plan on serving more than a few cookies for dessert. But when I started looking at all of my serving stuff, I decided I wanted to use both of my three tired servers. But I was determined NOT to have more sweets. So I decided to use two of the tiers as decoration holders. YAY. Decorations instead of desserts. A treat for the eyes not the belly.
Ok, many of you might be looking at this and thinking it is no big deal. And it REALLY isn’t, but I totally love it. Ha! It makes me happy. When I love something and it makes me happy, I wanna share it. And, that my friends, is the “power” of having your own blog. You can do whatever you want.
The heart ornaments in the dish are actually something I already have sitting on a table. I LOVE those ornaments. They were one of those coveted things that were part of an office “steal present game”. Ya know, where you chose a gift and there is “stealing” involved? I no longer remember how I came to be the owner of them, but they are one of my favorite sets of ornaments. One of the things that make me “Consider decorations and ornaments gifts” as I posted in More Sparkle, More Shine, More Fun! Since I love them so much I decided to add them to my “Treat” display.
Then the other arrangement is what I really love. I was scrounging around for something to make a display with and I found the purple sparkly berry things in a cabinet. I decided to pair them with the pine cone flowers from last year’s Cookie Swap I attended. Then I added the homemade card from one of my Nia Teacher/friends. Her cards always end up as decorations in the house. They are so gorgeous!!!
After my company left, I did not dismantle that portion of the display. I might just keep it up. As a non-creative, I am very happy with it. It makes me super happy. I think the sparkly blueish-purple, with the “flowers”, and the gorgeousness of the card just make me really happy. So why not keep it.
Again, I imagine some of you thinking this is silly, but (fist pump) more power to me! I am just going with what I love. I am sure this is not one of the displays that you would find on Pinterest, but I like it. I think I might like it so much because normally I would have just put out more food, but this time I was determined not to. So this is like a double treat to me!
So . . . I know many of you are very creative, so share! What have you come up with for your Christmas and/or Holiday decorating?
In Nia there is something called “the beginner’s mind”. Since learning about it associated with Nia, I have heard about it in association with other things. It might not always be called “beginner’s mind”, but it is the same concept, the same idea. It is the idea of stepping into something – anything, even if is something you are well familiar with – with a mind as if you are a beginner. Step into it as if you are hearing it, doing it, seeing it, or learning it for the first time. Step in as if you are a beginner.
This is a wonderful tool. When you walk into a situation with an empty cup, when it is not full of knowledge on the subject, it is able to be filled with all the information, new stuff is easy to learn, stuff you already “know” can be learned in a new way, and your cup gets filled again.
There are many reasons why you might want to practice the “beginner’s mind”. It could be because you are required – perhaps through your company, your certifying board, or any number of things – to take a particular class. It could be because – even though you know you don’t know everything there is to know . . . the timing of the class has you thinking it will be a waste of time. It could be — as just mentioned — you know you don’t know everything, but the length of the class has you thinking you will only get two hours worth of information out of the twelve hours you are being required to attend.
When I take a Nia class I always step in with a beginner’s mind. I know that no matter what routine is going to be taught it is going to be different. Which is not to say that the teacher will not do it correctly or will not do it the way it was taught on the DVD, but it does allow me to easily accept. I accept the way the teacher is teaching it. It flows so much better if I am just receiving as opposed to trying to inject my knowledge and the way the routine is supposed to be done. I accept that the teacher might not teach it exactly as I teach it. The teacher might use different pearls. The teacher use different cues. She might have found that a slight change in the choreography works better for her students or even something for her. And . . . with the idea that I am doing it as a beginner . . . instead of an expert who knows the routine . . . I can learn something. If I just do as I am being instructed I might sense that the move she does is actually good for a particular audience. Or the pearls that the teacher uses really matches well with the movements. Instead of my inner dialog being the moves or worse something like, “Well, here I say, ‘XXX'” or here we move like XXX, with my beginner’s mind I am listening instead of “talking” over what is happening. All of this could lead to discover of a new movement pattern.
In regards to a training where you are required to be, it could just make it be less dreadful than you thought it would. If you accept the fact that it is a requirement and decide to walk in with a beginner’s mind being told stuff you already know is not such a waster of time. Keeping the beginner’s mind and not telling your entire story to prove what you know gives you time to listen to what others know and learn about them. And — as stated before — possibly hear the same information but in a new way. Allowing yourself to let go and not be the expert is freeing and lets you relax into the learning process.
I was grumpy this past week because I knew I had to spend my Friday night (FRIDAY NIGHT) and all day Saturday in a training. I was afraid that my grumpiness would keep me from learning and be recognized by others. So I asked for help and was reminded of the beginner’s mind. I was able to step into the class not as grumpy. Of course, I did mention the fact to the trainer that it was a long training and the trainer – being an EXPERT trainer and pretty awesome – agreed, gave me the sympathy I wanted and boom! I got over it. 🙂 With my “cup” empty . . . I learned some cool things!
Do you every have the opportunity to practice the “beginner’s mind”? Have you every practice the “beginner’s mind”? How did practicing the “beginner’s mind” work for you?
This week I met with a friend and she asked me, “So how do you come up with things to post on your blog?” It was very funny that she asked me that on that day because that day I was struggling to come up with something. It is funny how some days it is as if something to write about is RIGHT there and other days I can think about it from the moment I get up until the last minute and still be struggling. I am very particular about my posting schedule. There are blogs that I like to read and I will go to them and there is nothing. I will continue to go and there is nothing and after a week or two I forget to keep checking. I like to post on a schedule so if you come to my blog you know something will be here. But that is not always easy. Especially since my idea was to post something about health and fitness. There are so many blogs and websites about that. The magazines all have both and you know how many magazines there are so the market is inundated with the same stuff. And it is like the cooking shows. If one is cooking with eggplant that week, they all are. They are all talking about the latest fad, the latest exercise, the latest study. Sugar is bad, eggs are bad — eggs are good, sugar is the devil — eggs might be ok, sugar is crack. Just as examples. And, for me, sometimes there is so much going on that I don’t have time to do the research and check the latest facts. Life is busy. Sometimes I have to concentrate on teaching. Sometimes I have so much other stuff going on (you know in the last year I’ve had a lot of “stuff). Sometimes I feel my blog suffers. But I also think that when I just sit down and write . . . tell you what is going on (ya know when I don’t have time to research and fact check) . . . you guys seem to like that. How about a nice share today? You know I love to share.
I am lucky enough to be a part of a teacher rotation for a Nia class on Sunday. So this past Sunday I taught at they YMCA. It was the largest class I have taught there. It was really nice. The students were really into it. It is always such a moving experience to have twelve bodies enjoying the dance. Monday I am subbing for someone the month of October. That class was a joy.
My Tuesday/Thursday class is making me so proud and happy. Most of the people who attend Tuesday also attend Thursday. This group is really beginning to “get their Nia on”. They are actually sounding. It used to be that I could tell the area of the room where the “whoo” (or whatever) was coming from . . . but this week, I didn’t know. There were so many “whoos” and things I didn’t know who was making the noise. There were doing so well, that I said I was going to listen. So I was silent and they “ooed”! It was magical! I was so happy. I was silent a bit more just to hear them. And they kept going! It used to be they would stop after the first check. I would say, “I’m gonna do a sound check.” And the whole room would make noise, then the next time . . . . crickets! But not this week . . . they kept right on making noise!
One thing that happened, I already shared on Facebook, but I am going to share it here too, is the collective expression of dismay at our music being interrupted by lobby noise! There are a lot of lovely songs in our Nia music. We had just begun to get into the movement of the dance. And the majesty of the song was settling in over the room when there was this LOUD noise from the lobby. And the whole class went, “Awww!” Even though the noise would not have ruined the song or the dance, it just BURST into the sacredness of it. Two people went to shut the dance studio doors and I turned up the music and we danced on, but it was nice to see that other people appreciate the music and sacredness of it as well. We like to experience without BIG LOUD noise.
My Wednesday class was full of new students. And by full I mean, my “regulars” we not in attendance so it was just new students. Fun stuff!
Also, thanks to one of my Nia students I had the opportunity to share information about Nia to a club in the area. While it was understood prior to the meeting that nothing may become of it — as in, Nia may not be taught at the club — it was nice to be able to introduce people to Nia that had never heard of it before. I love to talk Nia so to be able to explain to people who might host it was awesome.
My yoga class turned into a private session of sorts. I was able to give one of my students some information that will assist her with something that she would like to improve upon specifically. It is one thing for me to do asanas that can help, but we were able to target some movement habits that she will be able to pay attention to. We both left feeling accomplished!
Then at the last minute when an instructor who became ill asked me to teach Nia for her students tomorrow, I said yes. So instead of teaching one Nia class, I am doing two . . which I have done before but at different facilities. Not two . . . back to back at the same place where I have already taught twice this week. So what that means is . . . I need to get my post up and get going on deciding on something to teach. So like I said in the beginning, sometimes I have to concentrate on teaching Nia!
So thank you for listening. It was a nice week. How was your week? Do share?
If you have read more than one post on my blog you know (probably) that I teach a movement class called Nia. Nia is very much about “dancing” and moving to the music. The training required in order to teach is called the Nia White Belt Intensive. The training is over 50 hours long. Believe it or not there is hardly anytime in that 50 hours learning a routine. In fact, I don’t remember learning any part of a routine in my White Belt. But I know people who have taken the training more recently and they said they did review a song. I remember when I first arrived at the training I literally had NO IDEA what it was going to be like. I signed up rather late and if there was any pre-training at that time, I didn’t get it. I had thought I would walk out of the training ready to teach. Ha. Nope. I was given tools to help me be ready to teach. There might be people who are ready to teach when they walk out of the first training . . . but I wasn’t. I wasn’t that familiar with Nia to begin with so the way we were taught to learn a routine was very new to me. As you may know we were taught to map our music by “barring” the music.
I know that Nia is making an effort to make things easier on teachers. Nia Headquarters actually documents the choreography on the bars now. So, I feel that the focus has shifted a bit away from barring the music the way I was taught. I think the way I was taught was very cool. I love the way Nia had at one time had us learning the music. But I also understand the need to learn quickly or to have tools available to allow people to do things faster. That is just the way our society is. Things need to be done fast.
I also understand that we all learn differently. We all have our own ways of doing things. I honestly don’t do EVERY step that I was taught to do. I also mix it up and I don’t always do each routine EXACTLY the same. But pretty much.
For all the routines so far, I do bar the music myself. Sometimes I have trouble with some of the songs so I might rely on the bars from HQ a little more than with other songs. But I bar the music and I document the choreography myself. I “fix” any discrepancies I might see on the DVD. But I do this in steps. First I bar the music. I count the music and I dress my bars. I have found the more detailed I am with the dressing the better it is for me. I put as much detail as I want on there. I don’t just put the sound I hear for the cue for the Nia routine. I put the music on the page. Then I scan the paper into my computer. Now I have barred music. So what I can do with that the barred page — without the Nia choreography on it — is use it for whatever I want. I can add my own choreography. I don’t just have the places marked where I would do or cue the already-created-Nia kata, I have sounds that I am familiar with document. So noting my own choreography to the page is easy.
Then, on my paper I just scanned, I add the Nia choreography. Once I do that then I scan my sheet again. So now I have an electronic image of my complete and final bars. I always know where it is. I admit to taking my sheets of barred music with me either to teach or around the house, then I misplace them. Or I mixed routines up so I have one song in with another routine. Then after a year when I go to do a routine, I am missing a song. I am pretty particular so I will look for it, but sometimes I let go and just look at my electronic copy. I know that eventually I will find the hard copy so I just use the one I know where it is.
I am so happy though because I finally got a HANGING file system. So much easier to file my routines that way. I used to have them in a pile on a shelf in a cabinet. So in order to get to them I had to take out the entire pile and go through it to find the routine I wanted. Or to put one away . . . that is why I would end up with “lost” songs because I didn’t always want to take the time to take out the stack and deal with it. But now, it is so much easier with them hanging! Yay.
So, if you teach a dance class, how do you document your moves? How do you note your choreography? How do you store your notes?
One of Nia’s 52 Moves is Head and Eye Movement. Yes, we intentionally and specifically move our head and our eyes in Nia. A long time ago when I first started teaching I had a student who had come to about three classes and after the third class she said something to affect of since starting Nia she actually moves her head to look around while driving. So my first thought was, “Yay! Nia helps make people better drivers.” If people are not moving their heads and then start doing so after Nia – YAY! – especially while driving. Nia really is about full body health and movement. So we don’t do just a cardio workout that works your heart. We don’t do just a dance exercise that moves your legs. We don’t do just some choreography that involves our hands. We involve the whole body. As you may have surmised from the post on Creepy Crawlers. It is very important for people to move their heads.
I see a lot of people with very stiff necks who in fact do not move their heads. There are a lot of reasons. I know some reasons include stiff muscles. They can’t move their head without pain because their muscles are not used to moving or are holding too much stress. I know some people who can’t move their head because it causes them dizziness. I also know some people who rid themselves of stiff necks and dizziness by moving their head. Moving one’s head will not solve everyone’s issues of stiff necks or dizziness, but I do know some people who were helped by it.
In Nia we move our head a lot. We engage our eyes a lot. But as with all of the 52 Moves of Nia there is a specific way to do it. In just practicing Head and Eye Movements you look all around and move your head to match your gaze. Letting the action of your head follow the intent of your eyes.
Just like with Catching Flies, this move requires looking BEFORE moving. So LOOK and then move the head so you are facing the direction you are looking. As I said look in all directions. Look up, then move your head so you are facing up. Look down, then move your head so your chin is at your chest. Look left, then turn your head left. Look right, then turn your head to the right. Look in a different direction then move your head so you are facing that direction. After looking around nod your head “yes”, shake it “no”, roll the head around both directions. Vary the speed at which you do all of this. Be aware of any sensations that come up. Also, if you are not accustomed to moving your head be careful that you don’t get dizzy or too dizzy.
As I mentioned some people get dizzy from lack of moving their head. It is not because of any condition, it is just lack of practice. So, be cautious when you first practice Nia’s Head and Eye Movement. Now, go, look around, move your head.
How do you feel when you move your head? Do you move your head around? Do you have a stiff neck? Do you get dizzy when you move your head?
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