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Other entries in Hamburg

Dancing Nia with Ann Christiansen

I've been a fan of Nia (Neuromuscular Interactive Activity) since  summertime last year, when I discovered it online while researching MBT shoes.  I found a British woman in Texas, Helen Terry who teaches and trains others to teach this awesome technique.  The Nia Technique started 25 years ago as a sort of non-impact aerobics that you do without shoes.  Nowadays, its a blend of dance arts, martial arts and healing arts which is danced all over the world in health clubs, spas, dance schools, senior centers and anywhere people want to enjoy movement without pain.  Instead of following the instructors movements exactly, you are encouranged to use them as a guideline and move the way that makes YOUR body feel good. No pain, just finding pleasure in the movement of your body. I really liked that concept!

Dancing Through Life: The Nine Movement Forms of Nia

Nia was begun many years ago by Debbie and Carlos Rosas in California and the headquarters are now based at the Nia Studio in Portland, OR. When I first found out about Nia, I was still in Japan and nowhere near the classes they offered in Tokyo, so I ordered the DVDs and practiced at home.  The real fun came, though, when I moved to Charlottesville, VA in January of this year (a huge hub for Nia on the east coast) and was able to actually attend a real class.  It turns out that my first live experience was with 160 other people in a dynamic class taught by both Debbie and Carlos as they passed through Charlottesville on their 25 Year Nia Anniversary tour.  It was so fun and uplifting and wonderful, that I knew I wanted to take advantage of dancing Nia whenever I could.  So, over the course of my four months in Virginia, I danced Nia one, two sometimes four times a week with a variety of wonderful teachers, including Elisabeth Britt, Susan McCulley, Chris Friedman and even Helen Terry herself when she came for a week!  And, of course, I  met some super people who really lifted my spirits, including the bubbly, sweet Marsha Frick, another AFSer (Argentina, 1960) who welcomed me right away at my frist Nia class.

Planning my trip to Europe, I got many suggestions on great teachers to search out on my travels.  One of them was Ann Christiansen, a former Olymipic swimmer from Sweden who is now living and teaching in Hamburg, Germany.  So, of course I had to look her up!  When I knew what day I could travel to Hamburg, I wrote to Ann and was graciously invited to join all three of her classes on Saturday the 18th, either for free or at a discounted price. That day I took an early train and got to Hamburg by 9:00am.  I asked at the station and found the best way to the Meridian Spa was by U-Bahn (subway).  At the Meridian, I met Ann in the front lobby and we headed upstairs to the lockers.  Her class was a blast, as I expected, and was quickly followed by a second, slower half-hour session called Nia floorplay, which was - as advertised - playing around on the floor.  A nice stretch after an hour of movement...

The Meridian Spa Eppendorf is actually super nice - they offer just about everything you could imagine in the way of sports, fitness and wellness - especially the Wellness part - with pools, saunas, whirlpools, steamroom, etc.  So, after the Nia classes I decided to hang out for a bit and enjoy the facilities.  After all, I'd come all the way from Berlin just for the day!  I only wish I would have known to bring a bathrobe, extra towel and flip-flops though, since members are required to shower, soak, sweat and lounge all 'sans clothing'.... oh, yeah - and the facilities are mixed, so I saw a lot more than I wanted to see in the spa area! Living in Japan, I was used to naked bathing, but this was a bit much... So, I ended up only spending about half an hour at the spa before chickening out and heading back up to the locker rooms (thank goodness THOSE were separate!)

In the afternoon, I walked around the area of Eppendorf in Hamburg. Its a very nice residential part of the city with many older, historial buildings and nice parks. I had a bagel sandwich for a late lunch and then hung out in a park, reading a book.  Then, around 5:30, I headed to Kaifu Lodge where Ann was teaching her third and final class of the day.  This place was more of a sports/fitness center - I didn't see any spa facilities - and it was a bit of a younger, more dynamic crowd dancing Nia this time. Ann did a different routine than in the morning which included several 'free dance' songs which are - quite literally - songs during the routine where you are either completely free to dance about and let the music move you as you like or are guided to free dance with some kind of goal to the dancing, like "meeting other people's eyes" or "watching you own hands and following their movement around you" or closing your eyes and "feeling all the muscles and bones in your body loosen."  It was a wonderful routine to finish off my full day of Nia with.  

Afterwards, Ann was nice enough to introduce me to the class and tell them my 'Nia story' and I was able to get a few photos with her and thank her for a wonderful day before heading to the shower rooms.  It really made me want to continue to search out Nia classes wherever I go and possibly, in the future, settle somewhere where I can be part of a permanent Nia community.  Nia truly makes the body, mind and soul feel good! 

More links about:

NIA main website -- http://nianow.com/

Nia Promo Video -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TopWOpFXD_4

Helen Terry -- http://www.ilove2move.com/helen_terry.html

Ann Christiansen -- http://www.nianow.com/node/15761 

Ann on YouTube -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypP9mEy9w8U

Meridian Spa -- http://www.meridianspa.de/de.php/angebot/wellness.html

Photos / videos of "Dancing Nia with Ann Christiansen":