Trained Dancer Finds Her Own Expression in Nia

My Mother was a professional dancer, one of Jerome Robbins’ muses. She was one of the Sharks dancing “America” on the rooftop in the film West Side Story, and at age 12, she was first on Broadway as one of the Indians in the original cast of Peter Pan with Mary Martin. With a successful dancer for a mother, it was inevitable that I would be involved with dance early in life.
Beginning at age 3, I was in ballet class several times a week through my growing-up years. In my teens, I studied Modern Dance and Jazz. And, although I was quite talented, being given solos and spotlighted in recitals, I always heard a little girl’s voice in my mind telling me that my mom (with whom I am very close and otherwise non-competitive) could probably nail any combination just a bit better than I was able to. So, throughout my life I could never quite own my dance, or feel that I was really a dancer – until I found Nia.
I took my first Nia class while on vacation at the Rancho La Puerta resort in 2002, and was compelled to return to the ranch each year for four years to experience Nia. Then I realized it wasn’t enough for me to take Nia class only three times during one week out of the year – I knew that Nia could mean more to me.
I saw on the Nia website that there was going to be a retreat held on a Greek island in October, 2006 so I signed up immediately. I knew no one on the trip, and didn’t realize that I was going to be in the company of some of the best Nia Teachers and Trainers. Taking Nia classes with these high-powered Nia people was a huge leap from taking classes at Rancho La Puerta!
Meeting these ladies and taking two classes a day led by Nia Trainer Denise Medved in Greece fueled my Nia passion. After class one night, Denise suggested that I pursue a White Belt Intensive Training to explore where that might take me in my personal Nia practice, and possibly become a Nia Teacher. It seemed like a giant step to become certified to teach, because I had taken only 12 or so Nia classes ever! Yet, I gave it a lot of thought, I prayed about it, and at the end 2006 I signed up for the March White Belt Intensive in Hendersonville, North Carolina. I decided I was worth working on – Nia had reminded me that my personal dance was worth cultivating.
I arrived in North Carolina knowing I was exactly where I needed to be, at exactly the right time. Now I know we in Nia refer to this as Natural Time, which I learned in Day Two of the White Belt. Everything I heard and learned during my week in the White Belt intensive deepened my personal Nia practice and I know it will benefit my future students.
I am not the same woman who left Rancho La Puerta seeking more Nia. Nia has become my passion, my recommended daily requirement of movement, and soon it will be my profession as a Nia Teacher. I have never appreciated my body more, never felt so comfortable in my body, and never loved my body as much as I do today. In Nia, I do not compare myself to anyone, I simply revel in my dance – this is life changing for this daughter of a dancer!