Jason Alan Griffin :: The Blog

The Blue Earth routine was created as a very special project initiated by JAG in July of 2017. His idea was to enlist Nia teachers from all over the globe to collaborate via electronic media on a brand new routine. Using mostly Facebook and Dropbox, JAG, in Seattle, worked together with about a dozen teachers from as nearby as Portland, OR and as far away as New Zealand. Together they compiled a playlist and shared choreography ideas over video until, after several months, they co-created a wonderful routine. The focus of the routine is on The Base and the intent is to bring Stability to our movements by touching the Earth. The routine begins with a strong Feldenkrais energy and then moves into a sultry jazzy Tai Chi feeling. The third song features Graham style Modern Dance and Nia FreeDance while the fourth is strongly rooted in Aikido. The fifth song captures a sparkly Jazz feeling, while the sixth has a very powerful Tae Kwon Do attitude. The seventh song has a lovely Duncan Da...

I have wanted to do an A. R. Gurney play for many years. His vivisection of upper middle class WASP culture speaks to my upbringing and I've always been drawn to the humor and humanity in his writing. So when I heard that Renton Civic Theatre was doing The Cocktail Hour, I was thrilled and excited to audition. It was one of his plays I hadn't heard of, but as soon as I read it, I loved it. The story is of a playwright who has written a play about his father and comes home one weekend to ask his permission to produce it. The play contains some family secrets and a less than flattering characterization of his father, so he's not surprised when the father denied permission to produce the play. I loved the fact that the play the characters are discussing is actually the one we are seeing on stage. It is a fun, meta experience with lots of laughs and some seriously touching moments. As I was preparing for my audition, I focused on John, since he was my age. But I was envio...

Nia is described as a Body-Mind Workout. But how do we integrate the Body and the Mind? April 1 is Easter this year. And it's April Fools Day. April 1 is also the first Sunday of the month, which means JAG is teaching a Nia playshop at Balance Studio from 9 - 10:30 am, followed by a one-hour Nia class at 10:30 am.  This month we're focused on Mental Energy in Nia. There are many ways that Nia asks us to use our minds. Some examples are Awareness, Conscious Personal Trainer, Measure and Movement, Counting, Pattern Recognition, and many more. This playshop is going to cover the myriad ways we utilize Mental Energy in Nia to keep our minds sharp and quick and the ways we connect our Body to our Mind. Students are encouraged to bring questions and concerns regarding Mental Energy for JAG to answer and discuss. The first 90 minutes of this playshop will be discussion and practice without music. And the final hour, from 10:30 to 11:30 will be a full classic Nia class where we...