Two Days of Nia in Edwardsville

I started my day by making a salami and cheese sandwich for lunch and taking it with me on a nice drive to Edwardsville for Nia at Studio Gaia.  We did the Profound routine with a focus on liquid movements.
I missed a lot of cues this morning, and I don't know why. It wasn't bad; I think it was because I was getting lost in the experience. It didn't negatively affect the class, and I didn't let it get me down, but I did notice it. I totally had fun, and I felt like the class did, too. Some of the ladies speculated that because it was a particularly gorgeous day, the attendance was lower than expected. I don't usually pay much attention to who's not here, so it didn't matter to me. I had fun with those who did arrive. And River was perfectly quiet the whole time.

After class I ate a sandwich while taking River out onto the grass to pee and get some sunshine. I took off my shirt so I could also get rays while I ate. Then, in between my class and the upcoming Creating Choreography playshop I was teaching, I had the studio to play in, so I danced for about an hour to some of the songs I'm working on for my newest routine. I'm collaborating with several other people in the USA and different countries. We are collaborating by Facebook group and while I'm on the road I haven't been working on it nor contributing much to the group, so I was glad to have the time in the studio to put myself of video to share with them.

(BTW, the new routine is going to be called Blue Earth, and I think it's going to be sensational.)

As I danced in the studio, the women gathered for the choreography playshop. They had previously chosen a song and we spent three hours using different methods of FreeDance designed for getting moves to go with music. It took us a while to get started but once the shyness was overcome, we put together a wonderful and really fun Nia song.  I told them I'd include it in the routine I was to teach the next morning. They gave me 75 minutes, so I needed to find fifteen extra minutes of material anyway as my routines is only an hour.

I included not only that, but three songs from Amazing, since they were all created using the same playshop format. I also included the Bowie tribute songs that don't correspond with the Fantasia routine. I was asking them to make the martial arts "Hya" but they weren't. So I dropped it, but I did mention, mid class that it was an important thing and if they wanted to ask me after class I'd be glad to explain why. And, to my surprise, they did ask after class and I explained to them how it stabilizes the core and centers and grounds them when done properly. I also mentioned how it's different than a celebratory "Hey!" which actually does the opposite and tosses your energy up and away. Then I gave them a challenge to explore if they could feel the difference, physically and energetically of the guttoral Hya! and the head-centered "Hey!" 

I needed to refill, so on my way out of Edwardsville I stopped at the Dierbergs to refill my water jugs, and Green Earth Grocery to restock the cooler. I would have gotten River's food at the local business, Four Muddy Paws but they didn't open until 11, and I wanted to get on the road. Petco opens at 9AM so we went there.

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