NiaDivas

Central Focus: Choosing, seeking joy in movement, with the intention of choosing pleasure, the Joy of Movement.
Movement Form Energies: T'ai chi, Tae kwon do, Jazz, Yoga, Feldenkrais, Alexander

Music:
The White Spirit (Uman)
Idje-Idje (Angelique Kidjo)
Let It Go (Prince)
Agolo (Angelique Kidjo)
Adouma (Angelique Kidjo)
Find Your Way (Dionne Farris)
2 Funky (Candy Dulfer)
Jamming (Candy Dulfer)
Houngbati (Angelique Kidjo)
Stillpoint (Gabrielle Roth and the Mirrors)

Central Focus: To move energy along vertical and horizontal lines, with the intention of establishing grounding, power, balance, and ease. Learn how to direct energy up and down the spine using a vertical line as a visual. Once this flow is established, any movement can be expressed from center, out into horizontal lines.

Movement Form Energies: Duncan dance, Modern dance, Aikido

Music: Moodfood by Moodswings
Throw Off the Shackles
Moodswings Overture
Problem Solved
Rainsong
100% Total Success
Microcosmic
Spritual High (I)
Spiritual High (II)
Spiritual High (III)
Thailand
Piano Man

Moodfood Lyrics

Rainsong

Caught in a rainstorm
wondering what I must do
I'm standing alone
so many miles from you
I was thinking about our life together
knowing it must be now or never
to get back to you
now I've just got to get out of this rain
I can feel it washing my life away
and I know that I need to
get out of this rain
and listen to my heart again

I can feel it sweeping my life away
and I know that I need to get out of this rain
and listen to my heart again.

Spiritual High (II)

In today's Nia, we did the routine, Moodfood.  With the focus on the feet, and all those sensuous sultry lyrics, WOW!  We started with rolling our feet back and forth and "rocking around the clock", we drew our attention to sensing our feet and letting the sensation travel up through our bodies and 13 main joints.  This routine brings us several Nia moves, cross-behind, cross-front, cha-cha-cha, kicks, stances, blocks energized with Tae Kwon Do, Aikido-like harmonizing spirals, soul-based Duncan dance, and shape-based modern dance. 

Along the way, the lyrics to two of the songs vied for our attention!  Rainsong and Spiritual High.  Click Lyrics If you'd like to see the lyrics.   Click Moodfood by the MoodSwings to see more about the music CD. 

More about the moves used during the routine can be found in The Nia Technique book, available for purchase before or after NiaDivas classes at Youngstown Arts Center.EnJoy!  Lesley

author: Jonathan Russell asin: 1556434413 binding: Paperback list price: $19.95 USD amazon price: $15.56 USD

This centuries-old harmonizing of movements resembles a dance in which the lead switches from partner to partner with every movement, requiring participants to enter into a bodily dialogue with each other. Each movement has a specified number of beats, which aids in the correct positioning of one’s body. The book is amply illustrated with photographs of Master T. T. Liang performing the two-person dance.