The summer bloomed late. Between vacations, the few of us still at home--as well as out-of-town guests--met through July and August in varying constellation. Now that the summer season is over, we are settling into our new schedule: Mondays and Thursdays with Classic Nia at 16.30 and 19:45, and Tuesdays with the 52 Moves at 17:30. In the Classic Nia classes, we are presently returning to routines we have enjoyed dancing to in the past, enjoying the sense of the slow fade of summer. Soon we will start up some new choreography. The 52 Moves class on Tuesday is, as always, an hour when we practice RAW--Relaxed, Awake and Waiting--with sharpened intensity. It is an opportunity to find your personal edge and creativity. A new, limited course for fun and easy play with Nia elements began on Wednesday, September 21 and will extend into November.
The angle of the sun is special at this time of year. We have been able to dance in the falling dusk, with the final minutes of the cool-down verging on dark. In the MCE dance studio, with the view of the sky both right and left, it is almost like being on the top of the mountain at sunset. Soon when classes start night will have set in. One of our dancers has generously contributed a small lamp to enhance the atmosphere in the studio., and we will be well served with the warm light as the darkness grows.
To pick up on the themes and feelings of the year, I'll be launching a new monthly series: "Open Dancing" on the first Friday of every month. These Fridays will be open to all who wish to come, with payment at the door ("Unlimiteds" free). The evenings will be an opportunity to enjoy a special theme or feeling with 1.5 hours upwards of music which I will lead. There will be lots of space for free dance. The first of these Open Dancing Fridays will be on November 4th, "WE ARE MAGIC" -- a Halloween spinoff.
I have held two "Schnupperabende" recently and will continue to offer these opportunities to get to know Nia, some background information, the moves, and the most basic principles. An eight-week introductory class on Wednesdays at 18:30 has already begun. Both old and new students are taking the opportunity to dance basic moves at a relaxed pace with lots of repitition. The foci that I set in this course are those most basic to the Nia practice. I am also bringing these foci to all other courses simultaneously so that our whole community is moving in a common spirit.