On ENERGY WEEK of my Nia study, I had a Jam at The Mindfulness Center. The theme was Back-To-School and it was great. I had had a really awful day at school, the worst ever I think and my energy for the theme was not too great even though I was very happy to be dancing on a Friday night with my Nia ladies in Bethesda. My energy changed as soon as I got to TMC and the Jam turned out to be the best I produced yet. There were 10 people, three of which were official teachers and the rest, dancers. During my teaching stint, I ran four school-based themes. The first song (warm up from Dreamwalker) I did with the students perfectly lined up in columns and rows. The intent was to dance and stay in your assigned place, just like in school.
Next, I put everybody on a school bus. I was the driver and every time the bus “stopped” (dance in place 4 counts, hop/change – Boogaloop), I had us switch drivers and modes; Sassy Street, Sluggish Street, Study Street… The new driver set the tone. Third on my list was Red Light. A trip back to the disco days of my teen years. We danced 1-2-3, A-B-C, Red-Green-Yellow. Again the energy was lovely. On my last number, I handed out cards to each participant that had one or two of the 52 moves on it. The assignment was to lead the group – with or without talking – in dancing a minute of the move(s) on the card. EveryBody took their turn, even the new students, and we danced the last 10 minutes (to The Water In Me) with rotating leads. I gave EveryBody an apple (apple for the teacher) as they left and we went across the street to have a margarita.