Being in relationship to my studio.
Last Tuesday I said goodbye to the Hot yoga studio on Wisconsin Ave, NW DC. Not only did I break it off with that space, but all my students did too, and the yoga students, and the Washington Ballet, and all the other businesses that rented space in that building (some for 40 years). The building is going to be torn down along with two full blocks of prime real estate owned by Giant Supermarkets. In it’s place will be condos, shops, restaurants, green spaces, and a new vibe for that area. It will be two years until we move back over to that space. In the meantime, Bentley and Ashley (of Hot Yoga) have rented and renovated a new space that is smaller, but more convenient for me in terms of the other work I do at The Center. And so we enter a new phase of Nia Dancing in Washington, DC. A new studio and new energy. Besides classes, I will bring new energy to Nia in that space by producing a Nia Jam, and a Playshop in October.
Tuesday: In leaving that space behind, I encouraged my students to consider the end of that relationship and to note, when dancing, all the things that they want to remember about it and what kinds of things had transpired for them in that space. During the step out, I asked them to choose one thing, the most important thing – a memory, and energy, a lesson, a thought, a friend, an attitude… to take with them to bring to the new space.
The Focus: Being in Relationship to The Hot Yoga Studio. I invited students to acknowledge and inventory all the possible relationships they had there. To note what was important to them either in the short term (that day), or for some for the past four years.
The Intent: To fully engage in that relationship in order to have complete and comfortable closure. No regrets.
The Pearls: Relationship with my body, relationship with the other dancers, relationship with the floor, relationship with the windows, the space, the temperature of the room, the clock, the music, the routine, their fitness, wellness, and health, their clothing, with each move, with me.
Thursday: We came to the new space. We were locked out, started late, had trouble with the access code box, had parking issues, the mirrors weren’t up yet, the floor and bathroom were dirty, and the stereo didn’t really work. However, we rose to the occasion. We stepped in in order to make a great opening day. I team taught with LesLee Ames and we had a really nice class. Smaller than I wanted, but that was good anyway since we had so many issues (I am thinking about my relationship with my students, with my marketing plan and actions, and my relationship with the potential Nia dancing DC population). While dancing in the new space, I encouraged my students to consider the thing they choose to bring with them. For those who weren’t at class on Tuesday, I asked them to think of something they’d want to bring to the new space as a new dancer in the space. I chose a good attitude and lightness of being. I realize that I am often very serious when I am dancing. Well, I am serious in general. I can really use some lightness of being.
The Focus: Being in Relationship to The NEW Hot Yoga Studio. I invited students to dance in their new relationship, invite Joy and make an effort to really bring it – bring the thing that they chose to bring from the old relationship to this new one.
The Intent: To fully engage in this new relationship in order to endow the new space with the best energy possible.
The Pearls: Relationship with my body, relationship with the other dancers, relationship with the new floor, relationship with the new windows, the space in general, the temperature of the room, the music, the routine, their fitness, wellness, and health, their clothing, with each move, with LesLee with me. In relationship to the moves: Get the move, name the move, do it technically right, infuse it with the most pleasurable energy, tweak as necessary, beginner’s mind, same old – same old, free it up, come at it again with new ideas, freshen it up, put your signature on it, massage the move, fill the space, breathe new life into the move, look at the other dancers, notice, notice your relationship to the other dancers, listen to the music, notice your relationship to the music, look at the space, notice your relationship to the space, feel the Nia in your body, notice your relationship with your body and Nia.