Recently I was visiting with a friend and she was sharing with me her experience in an exercise class that she had attended a few days earlier. She was sharing that the things they were doing in the class did not qualify as exercise. She was saying that shimmying and doing the hand-around-your-head-move was not exercise. She said she didn’t want to do that type of stuff in an exercise class. I think she forgot who she was talking to. I mean, she was talking to her friend who she was looking at to support her in the fact that neither the shimmy nor the hand-around-your-head-move was exercise. But I think she forgot what I do for a job. I made a comment about how if she didn’t want to use all her muscles, I could see why shimmying would not be something to do. But she said she DID want to use all of her muscles. I did not take the opportunity to elaborate on how the shimmy is a great exercise and uses — not all, but many, muscles. It really was HER moment to share so I just listened. It was obvious she didn’t want to use her muscles THAT WAY. It was not my time to defend my craft or dance as an exercise. It did make me laugh though. It also reminded me why some people don’t like Nia. Some people don’t want to dance as exercise. Some people do not feel that moving to music is exercise. There are many people who think that the only way to get exercise is to do something the same way — to move in the same way, to move in a linear way — over and over again. Some people have very specific ideas about what they want to do as exercise. And that is fine, I am not going to try to get them to a Nia class because they probably wouldn’t be able to participate enough to get a good workout. But I do get my knickers in a twist when people say it is not exercise.
I think it is more accurate to say, “It is not movement that I like or that I consider exercise.” But to say it is not exercise. Not fair. But, again, very much a common way of thinking. I have posted about exercise as dance before. I even mentioned how I liked Dancing with the Stars (even thought I don’t watch it) because I think it helped some people realize that you CAN get a good workout in while dancing. If nothing else, moving around for an hour is great cardio — if you are moving enough to get your heart rate up.
Some dance exercise classes use jumping movements to get the heart rate up. Some — like Nia use big movements, fast movements, low movements, high movements, all over body movements. As, I have said before, it is all there for the participant to use, it is up to each individual to do as much as they want.
Many people don’t care for the shimmying but it really is a great movement that uses upper body muscles. I have seen many of my regular Nia students go from not being able to do it — for whatever reason — to embracing it. I think I have mentioned before that there is one song in one of our routines where I like to keep them at doing the shimmy for a bit. I usually ask, “Are you feeling it?” I just like for people to experience that the shimmy can be an move that can qualify as “an exercise”. Their answer – by the way is usually a laugh with a “OHH yeah!”
Some people move differently once they understand that the shimmy is not shaking what is on the front, but moving from the back. I have a post on that, Shimmy From The Back.
I think there are a lot of dancers at there that would say dance is exercise. However if you don’t like to dance I understand you might not feel that way. But, if you ever want to see what I mean about the shimmy or Nia as a good workout, look for a class near you. There are classes all over the world. There are several in San Jose, California . . . . I know, because I teach ’em.
What do you consider exercise? Have you ever TRIED dance-as-exercise?
Some of you may be wondering what I mean when I say Nia FreeDance Tools. Recently I invited First Degree Black Belt Nia Teacher, Jason Alan Griffin, to present a playshop of his creation. The playshop was him sharing some Nia FreeDance Tools. I have talked about what Nia FreeDance is before, it is where there is no assigned choreography and we just dance to the music (or not). But it is not the type of dancing you would see in a club. It is not the type of dancing that has specific names for the dance moves . . . yeah a cha-cha, jazz square, or a pirouette might sneak its way in, but primarily it is not that type of dancing. So some of the tools we have to practice Nia FreeDance are the 8 Stages of Nia FreeDance. And within those stages can be additional tools.
First of all as a reminder we do FreeDance to allow our bodies to move in different ways. To move in ways that are not our normal ways of dancing . . . so if you ARE a ballerina, the idea is to let your body dance outside of the ballet mold. If you are tap dancer perhaps in FreeDance your feet don’t tap. It is a way to practice different moves to music and allow our bodies to experience something away from its regular patterns.
There are other reasons and ways a Nia Teacher uses Nia FreeDance, but I am just going to keep this post on the path of tools. So within the tool box are the 8 Stages as I mentioned.
Now, in the playshop Jason did not mention these tools in association with the stages, but a lot of the tools he shared were introduced to me in connection with the first 5 stages of Nia FreeDance.
So with Stage 1: FreeDance (Catch Phrase: Anything Goes, Movement-Wise) . . . almost all of the tools could be associated with this stage but one that sticks out for me is being silly, acting goofy. This is super fun and is pretty close to guaranteed to get you to move in a different way to music than you might be used to.
Tools I associate with Stage 2: Being Seduced by the Music (Catch Phrase: Art of Listening) are as it says, being seduced by the music. So just letting the music take you away. I imagine most of you have had a song play where you can just get carried off by it. You can just move without thinking and dance away.
There is also Tempo Change . . . this involves the art of listening because you are listening for the tempo and then dancing against it or with it or faster than it or slower than it or opposite of it. Just listening and moving to it — in your own way.
There is also a tool that we use called “Forget the music” where you just dance in your own way — period. People might look at you and wonder what you are hearing because it might look to them as if you are not dancing to the music. And you could not be. Perhaps you don’t like the song that is on or you like a different version that you know so your dance is not “to” the music.
Stage 3: Feelings and Emotions (Catch Phrase: Pretend, Fake It, Act As If ). This stage has a lot of tools that connect to it, if you are dancing the “Feelings and Emotions” you act “as if” you are ___________ (fill in the blank with an emotion). You could be ACTING “as if” you are angry so you stomp around the room. Or you are ACTING “as if” you are jealous or ACTING “as if” you are happy. Allowing your body to move in ways that it would move if you were feeling those emotions is a great way to move.
Or you could PRETEND you are playing an instrument. I always say that I have become the greatest musician since I started teaching Nia. Or you could act as if you are playing a sport or a child’s outdoor game. This type of pretending is not sticking strictly to the stage and catch phrase, but it can be connected to it because there is pretending, faking, and acting.
Stage 4: The Creative Source (Catch Phrase: The Real You). This is where there is no story or no acting “as if”, you are moving with your true emotions. The tool would be no choreography allowed, in fact the dance is suspended and you are moving in your own way as an emotional being.
Stage 5: Authentic Movement (Catch Phrase: Change!!). Here is where the tool of changing every two bars comes in. The movement is authentic. The real you, nothing fancy just the way your body goes, but changing it every two bars. Or the change could be applied to directions or levels. You could dance going one direction and quickly change to go another directions. Or you could be dancing in the high plane and switch to the low or the middle. The idea is to CHANGE!
So that is what we mean by “tools”. Basically ideas of how to move. There are a lot of tools that can be used, there are so many ways to move. One of the most fun things to experience is an individual actually practicing these tools and then coming up to me after class and saying what a great workout they received. Many say they didn’t realize that FreeDancing could be such a great workout. That is one reason why we FreeDance . . . it really is a GREAT workout! Having a lot of tools makes it fun!
Does this give you a better idea as to what the “tools” are? Does this give you ideas for your next dancing-in-your-living-room session? Or ideas on how to conduct your next car-dancing moment?
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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Nia has been a cardio-dance workout since 1983. It is not as well known as some other cardio dance exercises. So when we have events, such as Nia Jams, Playshops, Plearns, Workshops, Intensives, Master Classes in addition to attending and enjoying these events I ALWAYS think of those things as opportunities to take pictures and videos. I always think that the pictures and videos can be posted on social media so that we can “get Nia out there” so it becomes more well known. The videos and pictures are meant to show people how fun it is. The pictures and videos are to show that it is a workout. The videos and pictures are meant to show people how anyone can do Nia. I was so caught up in getting people signed in and getting things ready to go for the Nia Class that I recently produced, I neglected to ask permission to take and post pictures and videos. But . . . I also had it in my head that it is well known that while we do our Nia events we want to have pictures of them to promote our Nia events. Well . . . . this is the result of me not doing due diligence and gaining permission BEFORE taking the pictures and the videos. These are some of the pictures and videos from the Nia Class on Friday, March 27, 2015. I have posted other pictures where I had to block someone out, but never videos. It takes a long time, so this is the end result of a non-professional video editor (me).
As I stated in my post, What Did Frankie Say?, on Saturday after the Nia Class, Jason Alan Griffin, a First Degree Nia Black Belt is travel the United States presenting his Nia routine he calls Frankie Say Nia. I didn’t do well, at all, with the dressing in the 80’s style, but I did think the animal print would work. My little head top pony-tail was supposed to be a tribute to the “BIG HAIR” of the 80’s. I didn’t bother actually doing my hair up in that BIG way because after the first song it would have just been flat.
Nia IS a cardio-dance WORKOUT and the routine followed the classic Nia style with all seven cycles of a Nia workout. And in keeping with the seven cycles this routine has a focus and an intent. The focus being the Creative Hand and Arm Expressions. The intent is to allow us to relax into personal power.
The routine is full of fun and familiar songs, except the last three. There were three songs in the Floorplay section and the first one just struck me as odd. I don’t mind dancing to odd music. Dancing to odd music is fun. And, in fact, part of the Nia White Belt Training gets us to dance to music that might be considered undanceable by many. I have yet to come across music that is undanceable, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think some of it is odd. And it wasn’t so much that it was odd, it was that I couldn’t remember ever hearing it before. Jason, kindly reminded me again (because I asked him at least three times and couldn’t remember still) that it was Ghost Town by the Specials. I was also trying to follow the moves and allow myself to dance, so I didn’t even listen to all the words. It is a very varied song. I am listening to it now as I type and it is making me laugh!
Regardless of my error in not getting permission beforehand and regardless of the less-than-professional job of “editing”, I believe it is still obvious that fun was had by all. It was a great time. I still have the Playshop to post about. I will get to that eventually. So stay tuned! We can’t wait to have Jason back for more Nia. I will keep you posted so next time you can join us!
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?
A lot of movement forms, from different dances to different types of exercise regimes, use chest isolations. One of Nia’s 52 Moves. See, as I have said over and over, not unique to Nia, but something that we use in our routines. Something we can say and people know what the move is. Even if they can’t do it, they know what it is. This move moves the chest so – as with a lot of moves that involve the movement of the chest – some people are hesitant to do it. Some people think of moves that move the chest as moves that moves the breasts and for some people this creates a lot of issues. As a woman, there are some moves that are just going to move the breasts but that is not the focus. Often times when I encourage people to focus on what is actually the focus of the movement, they can release any feelings or ideas that might be blocking the movement. I mentioned this in my post about the Shimmy. I have seen relief or understanding pass over people’s faces when they take the focus off of what is part of the front of the body/chest and onto the back when it comes to the shimmy. The same with the chest isolations. Your chest is moving that means everything connected to it, but the focus is on the muscles and the bones.
The movement of the spine, the ribs, the sternum, and even the collar bones is a chest isolations. See, even though it might feel like you are move the front (breasts) the focus is on all the other things. The back muscles help move the spine side to side allowing the ribs to slide from side to side over the hips. The sternum floats to different places over the hips. The collar bones stay level. You can just also press your ribs forward and pull them back. Your arms are out to the side or you can place your hands on your hips to help ensure there is no movement in the hips. You can make your ribs move in circles.
With the side to side motion I used to reference a typewriter carriage. Remember those? They would slide to one side of the machine and kind of hang over then you would use the return arm to get it to slide back. That is a GREAT visual and I actually see some people replicate it. But then I see others in class who don’t even know what a typewriter is. And if they do it was certainly the electric version that didn’t have a visible moving carriage with a return arm-dohicky. So we just focus on the slide.
The chest isolations help keep you spine flexible and mobile. It also helps you use those muscle that are inside, the intrinsic muscles. The little ones that help with balance. While you are doing the chest isolation movement you can focus on the and sense them.
Another way to isolate the chest is you can do a more front-back movement. If you are doing the front back portion of the move it is as if you are closing your chest and opening your back. And then opening your chest and closing your back. Arms can help. Bring your elbows back and draw them together to help open the chest and close the back. Then bring them forward to open the back and close the chest.
This is one of those moves you can do anywhere. You can do it in your car while you are stopped at a traffic light. Don’t worry, other people don’t look up from their cell phones they will never notice you sliding your ribs around. Enjoy the relaxed sensation and flexibility.
Are you familiar with chest isolations? Do you do them in your current dance class? Do you do them in your exercise program?
Have I ever told you that one of my students is a Naturopathic Doctor? Yeah, I have, I looked it up. I told you in the post about messing up, Messing Up Is Fun. I told you about how she had been my student for years before I even knew she was a doctor. Before class I am busy setting up — because there are things that need to be done — just normal things like taking off my socks and shoes, turning on the music, greeting new students, moving things away from the mirror, sweeping the floor, etc. Sometimes even deciding what to teach. Often times reviewing in my head what I am going to teach. And then after there is the cleaning up . . . putting on my socks and shoes, and PAYING ATTENTION to where I put my phone and just the general wrapping up of class, I don’t always get in on the conversations. Not only do I not get to be a part of them, but often times other students miss out on good stuff, too. I had always wanted to gather as a group after class, but when I learned she was a Naturopathic Doctor and I hadn’t know for years then I decided we all HAD to meet after. So there is a day for each of the venues that I teach at where we meet for coffee.
For the Wednesday class in the area of San Jose called Willow Glen we meet on the second to the last Wednesday of the month. We meet at a Peet’s coffee shop down the street from the studio. Period. I always tell my friends and students that is where we will be. They can join us whether they come to class or not. And we have had people do that. It is very nice. There are many reasons why people can’t make it to class, but some have stopped by.
For the Thursday classes we meet on the last Thursday of the month. We meet at a Peet’s coffee shop around the corner from the community center. It was really cool today because we had ten people. That is awesome. That is a big group to have visiting for coffee. More than half the class came to coffee! While we were there, a person we all know showed up because she was planning on meeting someone else at that very spot. She showed up a few minutes early to meet us because she knew we would be there. So the ten turned into twelve for a bit. It was fabulous. So fun.
Not only do I learn about my students and their personal lives, I also get feedback from them. It could DIRECT feedback or just something I pick up from the conversation. Sometimes they mention something that they might not know about Nia and I love that I can take the time to explain it. It is not always possible to get out all the information that can be shared about Nia WHILE you are teaching. So I love to be able to explain. Also, it reminds me that if the person talking doesn’t know that other people probably don’t know either so I can try to find away to let them know in class.
Often times it could be that people didn’t hear what I said, during class. There can be a lot going on in an exercise class, as you may be aware. Sometimes there is a fan in the room that might make it difficult for some to hear. Or there might be people outside that distract us. Or there might be someone walking through class just as I am explaining about something. Could be that one is just so involved in their own dance that they miss something. It is all fine. But I love the opportunity to be able to provide some clarification during our visits.I also really love to hear what is doing on with them. So many stories out there.
It is great to have NiaNow.com because I get a lot of people who are visiting the are that come to my classes. I love that. I always encourage ALL Nia teachers to put their classes on the site. A lot of people like to keep up their movement routine while they are traveling so it is nice for people to be able to find a class near where they are staying. I have a out of town student dancing with us now . . . she came to coffee with us. So fun to experience this!
I have always wanted to have visits after my classes and today I was just so amazed to have such a large group! I am so happy to be so blessed to have such great people in my classes as Nia students. They are definitely people you want to have coffee with.
Do you ever just dance? You might be one to turn on the music and start dancing. Perhaps you have a favorite song you like to dance to? Or you might be one who breaks into dance spontaneously. You could be in the house and a song comes on and you don’t even really think about it, next think you know you are moving to the music. Perhaps you are one that is so gusty or you just don’t care so you dance in the aisle at the grocery store. Music moves us. It is easy to dance to a song we like. Sometimes we “can’t help it”. We just burst into a dance. But dancing without choreography in a dance exercise class? No one telling you exactly how to move? Just move to the music? Without having consumed any alcohol? It is a concept not easily grasped by many. It is a concept that we practice often in a Nia class. We call it Nia FreeDance.
As I mentioned dancing without choreography in an exercise class is a new concept to many. Moving without having a structured plan doesn’t sound like exercise to many people. Some people are very resistant to Nia FreeDance because of this reason. Some people cannot understand how you can “get a good workout” without having a structured plan, without moving the same way over and over again. The way we have been programmed to exercise includes repetition and structure. It includes traveling in a straight line from point a to point b, it includes being told how to move. So just moving without any idea of what comes after the present movement is vastly alien to some.
Yet, I have people who actually let go and try it. Those who push beyond their own skepticism and doubt come up to me and say, “Wow! I am sweating.” Those who let the music move their bodies without thinking about it have said, “Who would have thought that I would have gotten such a great workout?” Some realize, “I might be sore tomorrow.” They MIGHT be sore the next day because they moved their bodies in ways that their bodies are not accustom to moving.
Nia FreeDance is there to help stimulate movement creativity. So if you do it with full abandon you might end up with muscles that talk to you the next day. Your body will have moved in new and different ways. So Nia FreeDance is not the dancing you would do at a club or a dance lesson. It is just free movement. Yes, some of those cool club moves or patterns you learned in dance class sneak in because we dance what we know. We think about it and move in that way. But there really is more to FreeDancing. It might have a pattern for a moment, it might have structure for a moment, but it moves away and comes back. It is free.
To assist with FreeDance and to deepen the practice there are eight stages that can be a guide, because as I said, it is not necessarily an easy thing to do.
The catch phrases have changed slightly since I participated in the Nia White Belt Intensive in 2008, but it is all basically the same. The catch phrases give you a clue as to what the stage is for. All the stages help you to FreeDance. You can dance each stage separately or combine them in any fashion. The idea is just to give you something to help get you moving and then give you something to keep you moving. Moving in new and different ways. The new and different active body, mind, emotions, and spirit. FreeDance is one of the key things that makes Nia unique. If you click on the stages above you will go to the post that I have posted for each stage.
I am very excited about the Special Nia Class and Nia Free Dance Playshop that I am producing next month. So I have been thinking a lot about FreeDance and how great it is. This post is a result of my excitement and my attempt at getting people excited and curious about FreeDance. Reading about it is one thing, but getting up and actually DOING it is another. These are the stages used to deepen your practice, but they are not what we will be covering in the Playshop. As the flyer states, we will be learning Jason’s tools for FreeDance! I hope you will join us!
Are you a dancer? Do you break into dance? What is the current hit that you can’t help but dance to?
More often than not in my Nia classes we have a physical focus. A focus and an intent in an exercise class is not easy for some people. So having a focus that is physical seems, for many, to be easier than a focus that is not. I know I have mentioned this before because I know I have talked about focuses before. Today, as always, I asked my class if “they had anything”. Usually someone comes up with a physical thing . . . sore neck, tight hamstrings, aching back, tight shoulders . . . ya know, something physical. Today someone said, “Unstuck.” I had overheard her mention something about being “stuck” while I was getting ready to teach, and I thought that would be a great focus, but I wasn’t sure how to do that. So I said, “Yeah, I heard you mention that, but I am not sure how to do that.” Someone else piped in about being stuck, too. And I laughed and commented that if I knew how to get “unstuck” I wouldn’t ever be stuck. And the “stuck” we were talking about was a feeling of being stuck either in an emotion or a situation or just the feeling of being stuck! So we focused on getting “unstuck”.
The person that originally mentioned feeling stuck was happy to hear that others sometimes felt that way. That is something I learned about feelings they are like questions . . . if one person has it (the feeling or the question) there is at least one other person that does too. There are no stupid feelings. Now, I do believe there are no stupid feelings, but I will admit to being guilty of thinking and sometimes even saying that as a knee-jerk reaction to someone I love saying something I think of as not nice about themselves. If one were to say, “I feel ugly.” “I feel like a bad person.” My automatic reaction is “that’s stupid you aren’t . . . ” But if they FEEL that way that is not stupid. So I am still learning to curb that reaction. But I digress . . . back to getting unstuck.
As I said, I wasn’t sure how to dance “unstuck”. I wasn’t sure how to make that a focus, but then I decided . . . . because I believe . . . that sometimes just thinking about it can help things move along. So my thoughts were that if you were feeling stuck, just acknowledging it and moving with it could be enough to unstick it. Or it could be enough to think of an idea on how to “unstick” it. Or it could just open you up to an idea that is going to come later. Just all types of stuff. We agreed that dancing with the focus of getting unstuck and the intent of being open to that and whatever it meant and however we could achieve that would be our focus and intent for the class.
One person mentioned not getting “too unstuck” which gave me the opportunity to remind people that we are dancing our own interpretation. When I suggest people move as if they are floating in water, everyone moves in their own way. They imagine their own “floating in water”. The same with getting “unstuck”. One can get as “unstuck” as they feel they need to be. The person that mentioned this left early so I didn’t get to delve into what she meant . . . because it could mean so many things.
After class, I actually felt better and a little less stuck. “Unstuck” could relate to letting go or being loose. It is one of those things that if you are feeling anything related and you focus on it with the intent of acknowledging it or relieving it, it can just happen.
For those that are challenged with focusing on things that are not strictly physical “unstuck” works for that because one could have a tight muscle that is “stuck”. Or a joint that might need some loosening because it feels “stuck”. So dancing to “unstick” is really a great focus.
I am always amazed at how my class comes up with such great things to focus on. I am further amazed at how so often what they come up with is something I am feeling the same need for. Getting “unstuck” is great.
Do you ever feel “stuck”? In what way? What do you do to get “unstuck”?
I think it is more accurate to say, “It is not movement that I like or that I consider exercise.” But to say it is not exercise. Not fair. But, again, very much a common way of thinking. I have posted about exercise as dance before. I even mentioned how I liked Dancing with the Stars (even thought I don’t watch it) because I think it helped some people realize that you CAN get a good workout in while dancing. If nothing else, moving around for an hour is great cardio — if you are moving enough to get your heart rate up.
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