Birthday's and Beginning's for a Community Member

Tonight we are celebrating a milestone birthday for one of our community members. She celebrates her 60th birthday on Wednesday but I am not convinced that she is turning 60. She is a beautiful and youthful human being. She has requested the most requested Nia song in my history of teaching: Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Thievery Corporation. We'll be moving and grooving to this tune as we board the spaceship at tonight's class!

According to dictionary.com, a birthday is "a day marking or commemorating the origin, founding, or beginning of something."

In the spirit of birthday's, the focus of tonight's class is the celebration of beginnings. The intent is to be attentive to the beginning of each movement and follow it through in a joyful and celebratory style.

See you tonight - 5:30pm at Open Flight Studio in the University District.

New Beginnings and Honoring the Feminine Spirit

Today is double Nia day! This morning I begin weekly Sunday a.m. classes at Delilah’s Belly Dance Studio in Fremont (10:30am) and am thrilled to be co-teaching a special benefit class with Gretchen Musgrove tonight from 4pm – 5pm at the Civetta Dance Space Studio in Greenwood.

Today is May Day. The old Celtic name for May Day is Beltane. May Day/Beltane mark the mid-way point between the seasons of spring and summer. It is considered a time of rebirth, new beginnings, fertility, and celebration of abundance in nature after a long winter. In ancient times, Beltane marked the beginning of summer.

It is fitting that the forecast calls for abundant sunshine and warmth. I hope that the day is auspicious for my new Sunday teaching schedule!

The focus of this morning’s class is the celebration of new beginnings. The intent is to bless and honor the space (Delilah’s) so that Nia can grow and flourish there.

Beltane is often celebrated with a bonfire. We will not be lighting any real fires in class this morning but I anticipate we will generate heat and inner fire!

Class is from 10:30am – 11:30am at Delilah’s Belly Dance Studio in Fremont.

The benefit class tonight will be held to support our friend and Nia student, Gina Chapman, in her goal to do the Susan G. Komen 3-day Breast Cancer Walk.

The evening’s class focus is on honoring the feminine by opening the chest. The chest protects and nurtures the heart and is also the center of our heart energy. It is where we perceive love originates.

Join Gretchen and I as we lovingly facilitate a class to honor the heart-centered feminine Spirit.

Class is $15 and will be held from 4pm – 5pm at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood.

Happy Dancing!

Embryonic, the Beginning

The focus of tonight’s Gentle Nia class is Embryonic.

Embryonic is the first movement stage of the Nia 5 Stages of self-healing. The intent of being in a state of embryonic is about beginnings, of sensing in to where all movement emerges. It’s about experiencing circular and geometric shapes in space, moving without thinking, having no edges or boundaries and moving as if you are liquid.

We will play with all of these sensations tonight both on the floor and on our feet from 5pm-6pm at the Civetta Dance Space in Greenwood.

Celebrating the Winter Solstice and Returning to the Light

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."

- Albert Camus




Tonight is a special evening as this year the winter solstice coincides with a lunar eclipse for the first time in 456 years.

A lunar eclipse is a time of new beginnings. It’s a time of uniting, coming into presence, engaging with the world and gaining new perspective. The winter solstice has traditionally been a time of rebirth, prayer and celebration around the world since ancient times. It also marks the coming of winter and is both the darkest and longest evening and thus, the shortest day. Combined, they simply give us an opportunity to embrace change, come together in community and celebrate the changing of the season and the return of the light.

In the spirit of this event, tonight’s class focus is on celebrating endings and beginnings in community and honoring the darkness and light to come. As a bonus, included in tonight’s routine are a couple of holiday songs.

Let’s celebrate!

Class tonight 5:30pm – 6:30pm at Open Flight Studio in the University District.

Read more about the Winter Solstice and Lunar Eclipse.