September 5, 2023 • 51 mins
Episode 11: In this episode, Alba and I discuss her rich and rhythmic journey growing up in a Cuban family immersed in the vibrant tapestry of music. Shy as a child, she started dance lessons in her early teens and movement has continued to be her voice and her offering to her students. Explore the world of Nia, a form that Alba holds close to her heart for it's ability to challenge and inspire participants to expand their dance language, and more importantly, the way they perceive themselves. Alba is a passionate Nia instructor who blends her diverse dance background, including World Groove, to create a unique and empowering experience for her participants.
Alba's contact information:
Email: albaelena@msn.com
Mailing Address for Nia Sedona:
6770 W State Route 89A Unit 99
Sedona, AZ 86336-9501
Nia Website: nianow.com
Nia Facebook Page
World Groove Movement
Body Groove On Demand
Contact me at happysweatlife@gmail.com for questions, suggestions, or to be put on the email list and be notified of new episodes.
Find my World Groove movement zoom class on Thursdays, under my name, at: https://theworldgroovemovement.com/virtual-search/
If you're interested in starting a podcast of your own, consider joining the SPI Community. The All Access Pass, in particular, has a step by step course for starting a podcast which absolutely was key for creating and launching my podcast. And equally important, I made connections with other fellow entrepreneurs/podcasters. If you do sign up through my affiliate link, I will receive a commission fee.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lisa (00:08):
Welcome to the Happy Sweat Life Podcast.
My name is Lisa Rung, and todayI'm very excited to be talking
to Alba Wejebe
Track 1 (00:20):
Alba is Nia instructor, but we met while we were doing
Lisa (00:26):
world Groove facilitation training.
So she has a really interestingapproach to her Nia instruction
because she's sort of blendedthe two.
So we're gonna be talking aboutboth of those forms of Dance
based exercise and herbeginnings and a bunch of other
things.
(00:46):
So welcome, Alba.
Alba (00:48):
Hi, Lisa.
It's really good to be here.
Thank you for having.
Me.
Lisa (00:52):
Oh, you're welcome.
So maybe you could start withyour take on what Nia is and
then a little bit about worldGroove as well.
Alba (01:01):
Alright.
And again, this is my take.
I've, I've played with so manythings in my dance and my
movement teaching life and I,God, every one of those things
I.
Has their own.
I, I think like really beautifulstrengths that lean a little bit
in kind of one direction oranother.
(01:25):
And Nia is, it's just fabulous.
The elevator pitch is basically,it's a fusion fitness that draws
from dance arts, from martialarts and from healing arts.
And it really was, I think, oneof the first way back when it's
(01:46):
almost 40 years old now, wayback when it was one of the
first, during that whole aerobicboom to really Kind of move into
a different kind of fitness,something that was more holistic
and less driving and less, youknow, with that thumping music
and kicks and, jumps and allthat.
(02:07):
So it has a combination of dancearts.
Martial arts where you have moreprecision, more power, you have
sound healing arts, which drawon things like yoga, meditation
Feldenkrais, and it'scombination of.
(02:29):
Choreographed things whereyou're always invited to modify
for your body, make sure that itfeels really good for your body,
and then more freeform,expressive movement.
So it really is a nice mix.
Of so many things that you cando in so many ways of moving in
(02:53):
a body.
And one of the things about Niais that it's, it's really more
based on the concept of movementas life rather than exercise for
getting fit.
It's more like a, a, a very,very beautifully holistic Form
of movement practice that doesget you fit for sure, but it's
(03:16):
really more based on inclusivityof all aspects of your being.
So,
Lisa (03:24):
Great.
I'm curious whether the personthat developed it had experience
in all of those styles or didshe sort of incorporate them as
she went along?
Like as she developed the Niamovement?
Alba (03:41):
Yeah, that's a really good question.
And as far as I know, herstrength and her background was
fitness, so it's, she did nothave a background, I don't
believe in dance or martialarts, perhaps in, you know, some
of the yogic things.
Yeah.
And It's a fusion fitness, butit's not a pure form of any of
(04:05):
those arts.
They're more influences and, andthey're very definitive
influence influences in thesense that dance is expressive.
There's modern dance.
So you have, you have elementsof like shapes and space drama
using the core body using yourlimbs and expressive and Perhaps
(04:31):
more fluid ways.
There's also jazz dance, whichbrings in the energy of
showmanship, letting yourself beseen.
So, and in the martial artsthere, you have precision.
Your movements are stopped.
They stop, they start, there'ssound, there's breath, there's
(04:53):
power, and Her background wasnot in those disciplines per se,
but it's more the energetics andcertain aspects of those
disciplines that are broughtinto Nia as a practice, as
inspiration and also alsoexpression of those movements.
(05:16):
But they're not the pure.
Essence of any of those forms,which is why they call it fusion
fitness.
And it's kind of cool because Ithink so many people want to, to
be able to play in thosedifferent things.
Each of those, each of thosedisciplines brings something,
you know, the, the, the dancereally does allow for Expression
(05:42):
in different ways.
Drama, joy, flow, fluidity, themartial arts lets you find that
sound and that power and thatbelly strength and I.
And then of course the, theyogic and the fluid and the more
meditative aspects, they allexpress different parts of us.
(06:04):
They allow us to expressdifferent parts of us.
And I really think like I.
Everybody's gonna have theirplaces where they feel most
comfortable.
You know, for me, for so long itwas like, gimme flow, let me
dance, and I, I will be a happycamper.
That's my happy place.
And then things like the martialarts aspects of it took a while.
(06:28):
I.
For me, because I'm probablymore yin in my essence, to feel
comfortable with, to like makesome sound and give it grit and
give it power.
And I found as I found my happyplace and my, my comfort and my
ease in doing those things, Ialso feel like it started to
(06:51):
bring into my life and myexpression more at homeness with
those aspects of my personality.
I.
Same thing with quieting down,for example, the more healing
arts, the yogic things quietingdown and my natural thing is to
kind of be in a lot of motion.
So for me, even those quietthings and centering and
(07:13):
breathing We were really, reallyhelpful.
And again, I, I did especiallyover time, see the, the parallel
from being able to pull thesethings forth in my movement
practice to being more at easewith these same aspects of
(07:33):
myself in life.
Lisa (07:36):
Do you know if she was inspired by something or having
come from the fitness side ofthings?
Was there something she feltlike was missing or, I know you
can't really speak for her, butI don't know if you've read, you
know,
Alba (07:49):
the whole story of Nia is out there to be found yeah.
And actually she very much, thatvery much was her experience
with her then husband at thetime.
They were in that real aerobicsworld and she was very
successful like, you know Andmany, many gyms and training
(08:10):
teachers, and she found thatmany people were getting
injured, were being injured, andso they started to explore
different things and, and goingto a martial arts dojo, they had
the sensei a teacher there.
This is the story that I've readand I really love it.
Who had them come in.
(08:31):
And so they came in and theywere all in their like tights
and leotards and leg warmers.
It was that period of time.
And so they came into the dojoand he, he had them take off
their shoes, and that right awaywas like, oh, take your shoes
off.
You know, we're aerobic dancers.
We don't dance without shoes.
And so that was the beginning ofsomething.
(08:52):
He said, okay, now move.
And so they started to likeawkwardly move and do some
jumping jacks and kicks and, andI think the quote was you have
about 15 seconds worth ofknowledge with regards to
movement.
So that as the story goes, wasthe beginning of their journey
to.
(09:14):
First of all, take off theirshoes.
Really connect with the earth,connect with the, the ability of
the, of your feet to feel theearth to move in a different
way.
That wasn't all kind of externaland hot and power and things
like that.
And so they they started toexplore things also like some of
(09:37):
the dance art.
So I think it was an explorationand a development over years
that has continued to be refinedto this day.
And it's a, it's a just awonderful, wonderful practice in
so many ways.
So, yeah.
Lisa (09:56):
I am on the Nia email list, and I think they had a
link to one of their earlyvideos where it might be her
husband, but they're both insort of the high cut leotards
Alba (10:09):
Oh yeah, I remember that.
I was there at that at thattime.
Yep.
Lisa (10:13):
Oh my gosh, it was so funny to see.
But yeah, I didn't reallyrealize it had come from that,
from that era so that'sinteresting.
Alba (10:22):
Do you remember the Jane Fonda days?
That
Lisa (10:24):
Oh,
Alba (10:24):
of when I started everything and it was a neat,
you know, it, it was likeeverybody, it's like, oh,
aerobics.
It's like the beginning of thatreal like joy of moving and
dancing and, and, and feelingphysical feeling in your body.
So yeah, it was yeah, yeah, thatwas the beginning.
(10:46):
Those times, way back when.
Lisa (10:49):
I am wondering too, was that when the first like fitness
recordings came out, you know,probably on V H S and then D V
D, I wonder ones before then.
Alba (11:00):
when they started it, it did begin like that.
It was for, they were, theybegan at the V H Ss time.
Yes.
So that, if that gives you, I,I'm not very good with dates,
so, but that will give you kindof the timing and then yes, they
moved to D V D and likeeverything and everybody, now
it's streaming, which is whichis I think a great thing.
(11:23):
A great thing.
Yeah.
Lisa (11:27):
So maybe you could talk about your journey with your
dance, like whether you dancedwhen you were younger and how
you got introduced to Nia.
Alba (11:37):
Yeah.
I grew up Really, really, reallyshyly.
And my family, I come from a, atraditional Cuban family and we
all came over in the sixties andkind of grew up with big family
get togethers that always,always always included music,
(12:00):
piano and bongos and singing andeverybody dancing.
And very often except me, youknow,'cause I was a shy kid and
Over time, once I started to Iprobably started a little bit
later.
I did grow up with it, but Ithink I started in taking ballet
(12:25):
when I was maybe 13, like in myearly teens.
And I think that was thebeginning of my official, you
know, training.
And I took ballet, I took jazz,I took some modern dance.
And then I, I got into ballroomdance and I taught that for
several years.
I taught and I competedprofessionally.
(12:47):
And even though my, my.
Official dance training per se,didn't start until very late.
I was always a very physical andkinesthetic kid, so I think
it's, it's an easy thing for meto express through my body.
It's, it's where I'm quitecomfortable and I.
(13:09):
And then after the ballroomyears, I found Nia almost by
surprise.
And this was back in the v h sdays.
I found it in Santa Fe goingthrough a, a yoga studio there.
And I walked in and I kind ofpeeked through a window.
They were having a class and Iwas really intrigued by it.
(13:32):
And then I went home.
I looked it up.
Oh, I don't know, what did I do?
Did I look it up?
'cause the internet wasn'taround.
So anyway, somehow.
Without ever having taken aclass, I signed up for the
training in Santa Fe, and thiswas, oh, many, many, many years
ago, maybe 25, 30, 30 years ago.
(13:56):
I took the training, which was avery extensive and really
wonderful week long training.
It's, it's called, it was calledthe Nia White Belt, now it's
called the Art of Sensation.
And I took the training and thenI went home and I promptly
forgot about it.
Because at that time, therewasn't the web of support that
(14:17):
there is now with the internetand with videos and streaming
and all that.
At that time, they would sendyou home with a couple of VHSs
and you were invited to learn.
The routines and begin to teachthem.
But being who I am, I neededmore support and so I just kind
of let it go.
Although there were manybenefits from the training that
(14:40):
I'm sure created the base andstarted me on this, on this path
to Teaching.
And then I started teachingZumba, of which there was plenty
around and there was plenty ofsupport.
And so I did that for severalyears.
And then At some point, I,rediscovered Neo.
(15:03):
It was maybe seven years later.
And I really did love Zumba.
I loved it.
I did find it was a littleintense on my body at the time,
and I still love it.
I think it's, it's again, Allthese forms that are available
to us.
I think they're all amazing andthey've all got something that
(15:24):
can inspire a different facet ofwho we are, you know?
But then I just kind of floatedback to Nia.
It's, you know, just this veryorganic kind of fluid dance of
life and inspirations and then Ijust started teaching the Nia,
probably a little Zumbainspired, I, and then, branching
(15:47):
out into different things.
I've explored some otherconscious movement practices.
One is called Wild Core.
Which brings in conscious dance,a lot of conscious dance, a lot
of dance, you know, fusionfitness as well as Nia.
and then groove, which I love somuch.
(16:11):
I love, love, love the, theexpression of groove and the
simplicity of it.
And the fun and so that's kindof where I am now, this whole
big plate of neat things that Ithat I draw from.
Lisa (16:30):
I know when we had talked at an earlier date, you had
talked about your time overseasand learning to teach aerobics
and I, that was such a lovelystory.
I wondered if you could sharethat again.
Alba (16:43):
Sure.
So that's actually probablywhere I started my actual
teaching experience.
I was living in Italy and beforethat I had taken dance.
I hadn't done the ballroom yearsyet.
This was when I had just alittle bit and it was Jane Fonda
days, so there were sometrainers there that were looking
(17:04):
for people, and, and being anAmerican, overseas at that time
had a certain mystique andclout, because of course, Jane
Fonda was Starting this wholenew thing and it was kind of new
and fresh and American was, youknow, it had a mystique.
So I, I was lucky enough to findthis, just a wonderful,
(17:26):
wonderful trainer there who wasteaching a group of us how to
teach aerobics.
And this was the old styleaerobics I had, you know, my
high-waisted leotards, legwarmers, you know, the shoes,
the whole bit.
And it was it was a really,really, really wonderful
(17:48):
experience.
I remember being terrified.
Terrified.
The, the morning before I got anactual gig where I was going to
teach and just like feelinglike, I don't wanna do this.
And then, you know, of courseyou get in there and you do
something that you're terrifiedabout.
And then Your whole world kindof blows open, right?
(18:10):
Because you walked through thatfear and you did something.
And it was just the beginning.
It was just the beginning.
You know, of course, I'm sure I,I was less than stellar.
I'm quite sure of that at thosebeginning times because
experience is the teacher.
But I was so blessed to havethat experience and then I ended
(18:33):
up teaching overseas for manyyears and and then came back
home and, and, you know, startedmore like my Nia Zumba journey
here.
Yeah, yeah.
It had, okay, listen, I'm havinga memory.
From way back when, from when Icame back and I had my little
(18:55):
flyers and everything and I, itwas like, and this is kind of a
sign of the time, it was greatBody dance aerobics, that was
the name right?
Great body.
So it was like, Sue, it's aboutthe body, you know?
Get tone, get fit, get buff.
Oh, that's so funny.
That little memory, great bodydance aerobics and my whole
(19:17):
paradigm is just so differentnow.
You know, and it's just a sweetmemory.
Lisa (19:24):
That's great.
Thanks for sharing that.
Alba (19:26):
Yeah.
Thanks for, for inspiring thememory.
Lisa (19:32):
Are you, teaching groove at all or is it that you're
incorporating it into your Nia
Alba (19:38):
I'm incorporating it into Nia because in Groove they're
quite specific about Notfollowing the leader and not
doing necessarily choreographedthings.
And I find that I really lovethis combination of some
(19:59):
choreography, even some that canbe a little bit intricate
because that is gonna develop adifferent thing in you, a
different, it develops adifferent body mind connection.
It, it It's exhilarating toowhen you have a little
combination that you could notget right away, and then you do
(20:20):
get it and it's like inside you,you're going, yeah, okay, I got
this.
I'm, I've expanded my movementbox, I've expanded my life
vocabulary a little bit.
Right?
And that to me is a very,Valuable and special part of the
whole movement repertoire.
And not that groove doesn't haveit, but it has a, in a, in a
(20:43):
different, and I think morelimited way than does Nia, which
is, and by limited I don't meanthat it's less than it's just
That particular aspect of, ofhaving some of that really great
choreography because you get totry different things in your
(21:04):
body.
You get to develop differentthings.
You get to explore and do thingsthat you're never gonna do on
your own.
You know, on our own, we alwaysfall into.
Our, our movement habits and ingroove.
There's also the invitation, youknow, there's always these
verbal invitations to expand outof that, to make it different
and things like that.
(21:26):
But but the choreography is itsown unique magic.
And I think for me, thatdefinitely has a place in in
What I share and my strengths asas a teacher or as a facilitator
in in the movement world.
Lisa (21:46):
That's such a, a great point.
I was just interviewing somebodywho does West Coast swing and
she was saying part of the valueof it is the mental challenge of
trying to, Anticipate what yourpartner is doing in your steps
and following that person andmore choreographed than, Groove
(22:07):
is,
Alba (22:07):
Yeah.
And then when you have partnerdancing, that also invites an
entire other universe ofsensitivity and awareness and
connection.
It's I remember that from theballroom.
It's, it's fabulous.
It's just fabulous training.
It's like a whole, You'relearning a whole other language
(22:28):
than once you bring in partnerdancing, leading, following,
sensing.
Yeah.
It, it's the whole, they'reuniverses.
Every one of these disciplinesor, or art forms, they're whole
universes in and of themselves.
Lisa (22:43):
And I think to your point, I mean, people have to find what
they're looking for.
You know, groove.
Groove does invite You toexplore your own body to dance
freely.
But as you say, it may notchallenge you enough to, step
out of your comfort zone in somerespects.
(23:06):
So, if you want more of a leadedprocess, then it sounds like Nia
could be a wonderful option forpeople.
Alba (23:14):
Yeah, I do, I do really love Nia because the, the Nia
umbrella also allows for thegroove expression, which is that
kind of a, a more guided formof, personalized dance.
So that's, that's under theumbrella of of Nia.
(23:36):
For me, whereas my sense ofgroove is like, no, you don't do
the choreograph stuff becausewe're not following the leader.
But you know, sometimes I feellike in following the leader,
you're going to receivesomething that you haven't.
I.
That isn't born of you, but onceyou've experienced it, then you
(23:57):
infuse it with your expression.
And that's the beauty, that'sthe, the beauty of blending.
All those things.
And yeah, you know, just, we're,we're, man, we live in a, in a,
an amazingly rich time to beable to experience so many truly
wonderful gifts of movement and,and all this, you know, it's all
(24:24):
there for us to explore and flowwith depending on where we are
at any given point.
Lisa (24:33):
do you recollect any moment when it was particularly
memorable, when you were doingNia or perhaps somebody who was
in your class that they sharedwith you?
Alba (24:47):
Lisa, there just been, have been so many moments, but
there is one moment that Ireally remember, and this was
after one of my classes.
One of the students in my classcame up to me and she was in
tears and she said, thank you.
That I never thought I would be.
Able to move in this way again.
(25:09):
And it was, it wasn't was shewas said at something like that,
but it was this thing of like,thank you.
I never thought I would bemoving like this again.
So, yeah.
So that, that was reallymemorable.
But for me, every single classand that sense of Coming
(25:36):
together as a unit, as thisbeautiful collective that is,
the group experience is soprecious, and then taking
whatever that is, and then alsomaking it your own.
So for me, every and everysingle class has this, you know,
(25:57):
coming together, playing,letting some of that stuff out.
It's almost like we empty out.
Some, we empty out a lot of themuck.
We allow space for joy and forflow to come in, and sometimes
for other stuff too.
Sometimes in that emptying themuck process, you know, there's
emotion there.
honestly, every class ismemorable.
(26:17):
Every class has a moment I'msure after we're finished I may
think of like a dozen otherthings, but that's, that's what
comes to me right now.
Lisa (26:44):
So building on that, what benefits would you say you've,
you've noticed from taking orand leading Nia?
Alba (26:54):
Well, for me personally, it, it's, it's very much a a
devotional thing.
It's a form of service.
I.
It's something that I love todo.
I mean, I love to do it.
I love to bring that feeling toother people of, of.
Finding themselves back in theirbody in a joyful way, doing a, a
(27:20):
practice that invites play, thatinvites joy, that invites
sustainability in a body becauseyou're moving your body in these
ways that will keep you agileand limber and able to move
well.
And freely and joyfully in abody, hopefully till your final
(27:43):
days, you know?
So, so that, that's huge.
The, the.
Ability to feel that I can move,that I can get up and down off
the floor to feel good in mybones and my muscles for that,
for myself.
And I know that for everybodyelse too, especially, I tend to
(28:06):
find at least the, thedemographic where I am, that
we're, we're a little bit older,so it is a.Precious gift to stay
in movement to keep that abilityalive.
Being embodied, keeping italive, keeping yourself healthy,
fluid fit, and also movingenergetically, moving energy.
(28:30):
Many times things get stuck inour bodies and movement is the
best.
Or one of the best.
Certainly it's, it's one of thevery best for me, ways to move
things through so they don'tland and just stay and get stuck
and, and turn into other things.
So yeah, moving your body,moving the fluids, moving the
(28:53):
energy, moving your spirit, thebenefits are just endless.
Lisa (29:00):
As a, a young person, I never thought I would lose my
fitness or not be able to dothings, so it is wonderful to
find a exercise.
I'm putting that in quotes, thataccommodates the aging process,
but also helps you, as you weresaying, to keep as much mobility
and strength flexibility as youknow, you possibly can.
Alba (29:26):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And in, in doing that, you'realso really, I think keeping
also your mind and your spiritagile and flexible and it's so
all encompassing this thing ofembodiment and really
(29:47):
recognizing that we're in thisvehicle and this vehicle is, its
gold.
It's, it's beyond a Ferrari.
It deserves care.
And especially as we get older,it maybe deserves And needs a
little bit more care that's finetuned so that it can keep moving
and it can keep us growing bothin, in body and spirit for all
(30:09):
of our lives.
You know, the vehicle isimportant.
It's not the all of it, butit's, it's very important.
It's the way that we're able tomove in this world and have
these experiences and it's a,it's a sacred temple and and
caring for it should be a joy.
And I think that's what I reallylove about any number of these
(30:33):
practices is that they truly arejoyful and that in addition to
the actual very, very importantbenefits is what kind of keeps
us coming back.
Lisa (30:45):
I was gonna ask you if people tell you, like why they
keep coming back to the class orfor yourself, why you keep
coming back to the Nia?
Alba (30:59):
I think because of that, the joy is a huge thing and I
think our own wisdom as we getolder tells us, Hey, we need to
do this.
And then also, especially inthese post covid times now that
we are able to move together incommunity, in person, for me,
(31:23):
And that's been enormous formany of us.
And for my classes, I teach twoclasses a week and it has become
a true community.
So people keep coming back forthe movement, for the music, for
the benefits in the body, forthe community Also for a place I
(31:43):
think, where, you know, at leasta couple of times a week, you're
going to go through this fullgamut of the range of motion or
the, the expressions of movementthat your body can do so that
you'll be able to continue doingthat again for the rest of your
life, hopefully.
And and that is that's abeautiful thing They just love
(32:07):
it.
They love it, they love it.
They love, you know, the varietyand the music and yeah, they
love it.
So, and I love it too.
So
Lisa (32:19):
Do you have people that have been coming for a long time
or do you find people are kindof in and then out of it or?
Alba (32:26):
I.
have both, I have women thathave been with me for years and
years and years, and.
From pre Covid, I've been herein Sedona for a very long time.
Accepting a year, you know,accepting the Covid times where
I moved around and we stoppedin-person classes.
So yes, I have women that havebeen coming, that have been
(32:46):
dancing with me for over adecade.
And I have many people that comein and out.
They stay for a while, theyleave for a while, they might
come back.
Some come and they try it andthey really love it.
Some come and they never comeagain, and some come once and
(33:07):
then come back.
You know, everybody's got theirown kind of natural time and
their rhythm and flow and it'sall good.
Yeah.
So, yeah, a little bit ofeverything.
Lisa (33:20):
Do you have any recommendations for somebody
that's thinking of trying itout?
Alba (33:27):
Try it out.
Try it out.
One of the, one of the things Ireally, really, really think,
like you can sit and watchsomething and that's not gonna
give you the vibe, honestly.
You've got to just kind of getin there.
Even doing it a little bit.
And that's one of my challengesI have Like many of us, my
(33:50):
attention span when I'm aloneand just a screen, I, I, you
know, I might incorporate somelaundry folding in with my
dancing and things like that.
So for that reason, I reallyappreciate either live Zoom
classes or in-person classesbecause they will keep me in the
experience.
(34:11):
So for somebody that's wantingto start out It might be
wonderful for you to come intoan in-person class to give it a
try.
It's also wonderful to exploresomething on YouTube to even
sense to get the sense, is thissomething for me?
But try it.
(34:34):
Read sometimes for some people,and it is for me, if I read a
little bit about something andthe philosophy behind it appeals
to me, that gives me a littlemore meaning around it.
Yeah.
And that can help be a motivatorlooking or exploring the
benefits that both the physicalbenefits and the mental
(34:57):
emotional benefits.
Can also be a motivator forgetting out and trying
something.
So everybody's a littledifferent in how they're wired
to, to move towards something.
So yeah.
So it's an exploration, right?
But however it works for you,find your way to try it and find
(35:21):
what.
Works for you because differentthings are going to appeal to
different people, and that's asit should be.
Lisa (35:31):
It sort of reminds me of, I think there's a saying, your
vibe is your tribe, or
Alba (35:36):
Your vibe attracts your tribe,
Lisa (35:38):
Tribe.
Yes.
So I, I love that about yoursuggestion to kind of read
about, read about Nia and see ifthat's something that resonates
with you, because then I thinkif it does, then you will find
your tribe, you know, within theNia community.
Alba (35:56):
Yeah.
Lisa (35:57):
So if somebody comes to a class, what might be the
components of the class?
Like what can they expect tohave happen?
Alba (36:04):
You know, Seven cycles.
So there's a, an an in first.
There's the introduction,especially if people are new.
You talk a little bit about whatto expect and what the class is
gonna be about.
And for me it's super, superimportant to really use language
of permission, language wherepeople really get and, and
(36:30):
continue to, to use thatlanguage throughout.
They really get that no matterWhat is being offered or what I
may be doing that the finalresponsibility, the first and
the final responsibility restswithin them to choose the thing
that feels right for their body.
(36:51):
So they're really invited totweak things, maybe make them
smaller, make it bigger Sothat's a, that's the first thing
of really setting up that baseof permission.
I know that Groove is verystrong in this too.
And that's a, that's awonderful, it's just a wonderful
thing.
Cause often you really have tohonor the courage of many people
(37:13):
coming to a dance fitness classfor the first time with You
know, many people don't have abackground and so they come with
perhaps fears or thoughts or Ican't do this, or I don't wanna
look stupid or whatever.
So really inviting that languageof permission is a, is an
(37:33):
important thing.
And then we step in, it's a, aconscious leaving behind the day
and coming fully into thepresent.
So, Sometimes that's like a, alittle ritualistic act of
actually taking a step or twointo the practice and leaving
your day behind.
Then there's the warmup, andthen Nia calls it get moving.
(37:54):
But that's the more cardio andmore active part of the class.
And again, there's, there's somefree dance within that.
There's some choreography withinthat.
And then there's a cool downfloor play.
It's what they call work or playon the floor, which I think is
(38:15):
really cool.
And that can be, that's a moreyogic, more healing, more
meditative, te meditative, morestrengthening things on the
floor.
And and then there's thestepping out or the stepping
yeah, the stepping out of yourClass, which is in some ways
(38:39):
like a, a ritualistic thing ofstealing your practice and
moving out into your day andmaybe taking a moment to
consciously think about whatyou've experienced or what
benefit or what upliftment youexperienced and in any given
way, and then taking that intothe rest of your day.
And I'll say this, that's alsokind of a neat thing.
(39:00):
And Nia, we do work with afocus.
And an intent, and that's like atheme surrounding the class.
For example, I taught thismorning and I used today's theme
was Root to Rise, and that'swhere we had these, this special
(39:21):
awareness of really sendingenergy down through your feet
into the earth to stabilize yourmovement.
And from that strength andstability coming up through the
body so that your movement uphere isn't kind of flopping up
here, but it's, everything isrooted and there's more of a
sense of connectednessthroughout.
(39:41):
So There are a zillion differentkind of themes or, or focuses
that can be utilized with withina new experience to just bring
like a little extra lens ofawareness because as an
embodiment practice is, it isalso educational as, as, as you
(40:04):
know.
And yeah, so that's a, a reallyneat aspect of it as well.
Lisa (40:10):
That's, that's really cool.
I thank you so much for thatexplanation.
I, I didn't really know what thecomponents of the class be, so I
love hearing that.
Alba (40:19):
It is a really neat component of it.
And It, it's neat.
It's neat.
It, it gives a whole otherflavor and, and like the very
same class, if you dideverything the same from
beginning to end and it neveris, but it, but simply using a
different focus, it would be acompletely different experience.
(40:42):
And it's, it's quite creative.
It does bring elements inelements of your own imagination
and your own inspiration.
So Yeah, it's, it's a coolthing.
It's a more conscious, you know,there's conscious dance.
It's, it's a more conscious,more gently aware form of
(41:03):
moving.
So,
Lisa (41:07):
Cool.
I know we didn't really touch onthe streaming service, but Nia a
does have a online presencewhere if people are interested
in, you know, where they maybecan't find a Nia class or,
Alba (41:22):
Yeah
Lisa (41:23):
Don't have the time or whatever, that there is a Nia
yeah.
Streaming service.
Do you, have you had experiencewith that or?
Alba (41:32):
you know, I have had an experience with it and it's
really, really, really, reallygreat.
I tend to sometimes gravitatemore towards certain teachers
that are not even necessarily onthat service.
There's there's perhaps astronger sense of parameters on
(41:54):
the, the Nia presence online,and it's fabulous.
It is fabulous.
There are many, many, many otherteachers individually here and
there.
Every teacher will bring theirown magic and their own
expression.
So that's a wonderful,incredible, amazing place to
(42:14):
start.
So you're gonna find yourselffinding one person, it's, oh my
God, I love this.
And, and a particular personthrough their style, perhaps
through their personality,perhaps through their choices of
music being incredibly auditory.
Music for me is everything.
And you might find that yougravitate more towards something
(42:37):
like that and some others lessso.
But yes, it's a, it's awonderful place to begin your
exploration Check it out.
It's awesome.
Just like groove, you know,there's like so many really
great and cool things online andYeah.
(42:58):
We're just blessed that we canexplore all these things.
Lisa (43:02):
Yeah, I think it's wonderful that there's many
avenues to find, you know, to,to dance.
So, and that, that reminds me, Ithink on the n a page itself,
you can look for Zoom classeswith instructors.
Is that right?
Alba (43:21):
I think so because I don't do it very much, but yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yes you can.
And it's well worth exploring.
There's so many really coolreally cool teachers.
They're on, on demand for sure,and many of them are not.
(43:45):
Especially during Covid, youknow, everybody kind of got an
online presence, so I feelreally blessed.
I feel during that period oftime I was able to hop around
and really explore dancing withso many amazing talents and
every one of them brought alittle something that was their
(44:07):
unique gift and their uniqueoffering within the same Kind of
the same pool of, ofpossibility, but everybody
brings in their own spark andthat that's the magic.
That's really the magic.
I love exploring.
I love Trying new things and,and I find playing with, with
(44:30):
different teachers and findingthose that really inspire me on
a soul level is is one of thegifts of, of different online
presences.
Lisa (44:41):
Wonderful.
Alba (44:42):
then there's YouTube, and even YouTube has some things
that you can, that you can findthat are amazing as well.
Lisa (44:49):
Great, great advice.
So as we wrap up here, is thereanything you feel like we need
to still cover or talk about?
Anything that you wanna add tothe conversation?
Alba (45:02):
No, I feel kind of talked out about it in a way.
It's really fun to to talk aboutit all, but none of it is going
to touch you in the same way asactually finding your music
finding.
That simple joy of movement andthat, that beginning of, of.
(45:29):
Really coming into your body inways that just feel really good
to you.
There is also, I will say this,this is an important thing for
many people who are new to Nia,and there's a lot of this on
Nia, on Demand as well.
There is an offshoot of Niacalled Moving to Heal which is
(45:50):
simply a gentler version withmore.
Awareness of of a little morestability and maybe not so many
turns not so fast paced.
And that's a, a really beautifulway to start if you are New or
coming back to moving after awhile.
(46:11):
And it, it's also, it'sextremely accessible and there's
some wonderful teachers outthere.
So, so that, I think that's areally important thing.
'cause I, I know for many themoving to Heal would be a
wonderful step into And it maybe all the movement you need.
It, it's, it's yeah, but it'sall the principles, all the
(46:36):
benefits, all the beautifulmusic, but in a gentler and more
accessible format for everybody.
Truly, everybody.
Lisa (46:44):
That's wonderful.
It sort of reminds me too thatI, I forgot one question that I
wanted to ask you is just howwelcoming you feel like Nia is
to people, maybe with differentgender identities or racial
backgrounds or,
Alba (46:59):
It's so welcoming.
I mean, every like, I wish.
Everybody would come, everygender, every orientation, every
race, every color, every ethnicgrouping.
I wish everybody would come.
As it stands, it tends to be,and for whatever reason that is,
(47:20):
it tends to be white women.
Tend to create, tend to make upthe bulk of it.
I wish there were more men, Iwish there were more people of
color.
And I will say that Niainternational is really working
hard to really make, to open upthose doors to really invite
(47:41):
accessibility as is groove.
I, I really love groove for thattoo.
It's, it's, the invitation oftenis, is there and It's, it's the
work of our times to reallyinvite that in so that everybody
everybody can come in andbenefit not just from the
(48:03):
physical thing, but also fromcoming together, you know, in
more diversified groups.
Lisa (48:08):
That's, that's great.
I love hearing that.
'cause I think that, as you say,that is so important for these
times, but,
Alba (48:14):
Yeah.
Yeah, it is.
It's, it's the work of ourtimes, isn't it?
Bringing us all together, theoneness.
That's, that's it.
Lisa (48:24):
So if anybody's interested in connecting with you or
finding out more about you, doyou have a, a webpage or email
or something that you'd like toshare?
Alba (48:35):
I have a Nia, Sedona page on Facebook, which I'm rarely
on.
So it's got basically like alittle something on there about
my current classes.
I do have a, a really sweetnewsletter that I put out every
week, and if anybody would liketo be on that, they're welcome
(48:56):
to send me an email and my emailaddress.
Shall I give it to you or do youwanna put it under somewhere?
Lisa (49:04):
I will definitely link it in the show notes, but if you
wanted to say it as well rightgreat.
Alba (49:08):
my email address is alba elena@msn.com, and it's spelled
a L b A e l e n a@msn.com.
And it's a, it's a lovely littlenewsletter just about.
Music and our class for thatweek.
(49:29):
It has our playlist for the weekand you know, maybe a little
something or other dance relatedand I just send it out once a
week.
If anybody would like to be onthat please just email me and
I'll be happy to add your name
Lisa (49:43):
Wonderful.
Yeah, I'll definitely, I'll putthat in the show notes and I
just recently got on your emaillist and I really enjoy your
newsletter, so thank you forthat and thank you so much for
your time, Alba.
It's been really wonderfultalking to you.
Alba (49:58):
Lisa, thank you.
It's really, really good talkingwith you and seeing you again.
And, and I I wanna say thank youfor like, asking all these
questions because it's kind ofneat for me too to.
Even kind of go within myselfand, and find the answers to
your questions, even for myselfto kind of crystallize certain
(50:20):
things in my own being withregards to this thing that we
do.
So thank you my friend Thankyou, anybody who's listening,
and I do hope you find your wayto something, that movement
practice that brings you joy.
Be that what it may.
Lisa (50:42):
Absolutely.
That's perfect.
Thank you Alba.
Alba (50:44):
All right, my friend.
Take care.
Lisa (50:47):
You too.
Alba (50:48):
Bye.
Lisa (50:48):
Bye
Welcome to the Happy Sweat Life Podcast.
My name is Lisa Rung, and todayI'm very excited to be talking
to Alba Wejebe
Track 1 (00:20):
Alba is Nia instructor, but we met while we were doing
Lisa (00:26):
world Groove facilitation training.
So she has a really interestingapproach to her Nia instruction
because she's sort of blendedthe two.
So we're gonna be talking aboutboth of those forms of Dance
based exercise and herbeginnings and a bunch of other
things.
(00:46):
So welcome, Alba.
Alba (00:48):
Hi, Lisa.
It's really good to be here.
Thank you for having.
Me.
Lisa (00:52):
Oh, you're welcome.
So maybe you could start withyour take on what Nia is and
then a little bit about worldGroove as well.
Alba (01:01):
Alright.
And again, this is my take.
I've, I've played with so manythings in my dance and my
movement teaching life and I,God, every one of those things
I.
Has their own.
I, I think like really beautifulstrengths that lean a little bit
in kind of one direction oranother.
(01:25):
And Nia is, it's just fabulous.
The elevator pitch is basically,it's a fusion fitness that draws
from dance arts, from martialarts and from healing arts.
And it really was, I think, oneof the first way back when it's
(01:46):
almost 40 years old now, wayback when it was one of the
first, during that whole aerobicboom to really Kind of move into
a different kind of fitness,something that was more holistic
and less driving and less, youknow, with that thumping music
and kicks and, jumps and allthat.
(02:07):
So it has a combination of dancearts.
Martial arts where you have moreprecision, more power, you have
sound healing arts, which drawon things like yoga, meditation
Feldenkrais, and it'scombination of.
(02:29):
Choreographed things whereyou're always invited to modify
for your body, make sure that itfeels really good for your body,
and then more freeform,expressive movement.
So it really is a nice mix.
Of so many things that you cando in so many ways of moving in
(02:53):
a body.
And one of the things about Niais that it's, it's really more
based on the concept of movementas life rather than exercise for
getting fit.
It's more like a, a, a very,very beautifully holistic Form
of movement practice that doesget you fit for sure, but it's
(03:16):
really more based on inclusivityof all aspects of your being.
So,
Lisa (03:24):
Great.
I'm curious whether the personthat developed it had experience
in all of those styles or didshe sort of incorporate them as
she went along?
Like as she developed the Niamovement?
Alba (03:41):
Yeah, that's a really good question.
And as far as I know, herstrength and her background was
fitness, so it's, she did nothave a background, I don't
believe in dance or martialarts, perhaps in, you know, some
of the yogic things.
Yeah.
And It's a fusion fitness, butit's not a pure form of any of
(04:05):
those arts.
They're more influences and, andthey're very definitive
influence influences in thesense that dance is expressive.
There's modern dance.
So you have, you have elementsof like shapes and space drama
using the core body using yourlimbs and expressive and Perhaps
(04:31):
more fluid ways.
There's also jazz dance, whichbrings in the energy of
showmanship, letting yourself beseen.
So, and in the martial artsthere, you have precision.
Your movements are stopped.
They stop, they start, there'ssound, there's breath, there's
(04:53):
power, and Her background wasnot in those disciplines per se,
but it's more the energetics andcertain aspects of those
disciplines that are broughtinto Nia as a practice, as
inspiration and also alsoexpression of those movements.
(05:16):
But they're not the pure.
Essence of any of those forms,which is why they call it fusion
fitness.
And it's kind of cool because Ithink so many people want to, to
be able to play in thosedifferent things.
Each of those, each of thosedisciplines brings something,
you know, the, the, the dancereally does allow for Expression
(05:42):
in different ways.
Drama, joy, flow, fluidity, themartial arts lets you find that
sound and that power and thatbelly strength and I.
And then of course the, theyogic and the fluid and the more
meditative aspects, they allexpress different parts of us.
(06:04):
They allow us to expressdifferent parts of us.
And I really think like I.
Everybody's gonna have theirplaces where they feel most
comfortable.
You know, for me, for so long itwas like, gimme flow, let me
dance, and I, I will be a happycamper.
That's my happy place.
And then things like the martialarts aspects of it took a while.
(06:28):
I.
For me, because I'm probablymore yin in my essence, to feel
comfortable with, to like makesome sound and give it grit and
give it power.
And I found as I found my happyplace and my, my comfort and my
ease in doing those things, Ialso feel like it started to
(06:51):
bring into my life and myexpression more at homeness with
those aspects of my personality.
I.
Same thing with quieting down,for example, the more healing
arts, the yogic things quietingdown and my natural thing is to
kind of be in a lot of motion.
So for me, even those quietthings and centering and
(07:13):
breathing We were really, reallyhelpful.
And again, I, I did especiallyover time, see the, the parallel
from being able to pull thesethings forth in my movement
practice to being more at easewith these same aspects of
(07:33):
myself in life.
Lisa (07:36):
Do you know if she was inspired by something or having
come from the fitness side ofthings?
Was there something she feltlike was missing or, I know you
can't really speak for her, butI don't know if you've read, you
know,
Alba (07:49):
the whole story of Nia is out there to be found yeah.
And actually she very much, thatvery much was her experience
with her then husband at thetime.
They were in that real aerobicsworld and she was very
successful like, you know Andmany, many gyms and training
(08:10):
teachers, and she found thatmany people were getting
injured, were being injured, andso they started to explore
different things and, and goingto a martial arts dojo, they had
the sensei a teacher there.
This is the story that I've readand I really love it.
Who had them come in.
(08:31):
And so they came in and theywere all in their like tights
and leotards and leg warmers.
It was that period of time.
And so they came into the dojoand he, he had them take off
their shoes, and that right awaywas like, oh, take your shoes
off.
You know, we're aerobic dancers.
We don't dance without shoes.
And so that was the beginning ofsomething.
(08:52):
He said, okay, now move.
And so they started to likeawkwardly move and do some
jumping jacks and kicks and, andI think the quote was you have
about 15 seconds worth ofknowledge with regards to
movement.
So that as the story goes, wasthe beginning of their journey
to.
(09:14):
First of all, take off theirshoes.
Really connect with the earth,connect with the, the ability of
the, of your feet to feel theearth to move in a different
way.
That wasn't all kind of externaland hot and power and things
like that.
And so they they started toexplore things also like some of
(09:37):
the dance art.
So I think it was an explorationand a development over years
that has continued to be refinedto this day.
And it's a, it's a just awonderful, wonderful practice in
so many ways.
So, yeah.
Lisa (09:56):
I am on the Nia email list, and I think they had a
link to one of their earlyvideos where it might be her
husband, but they're both insort of the high cut leotards
Alba (10:09):
Oh yeah, I remember that.
I was there at that at thattime.
Yep.
Lisa (10:13):
Oh my gosh, it was so funny to see.
But yeah, I didn't reallyrealize it had come from that,
from that era so that'sinteresting.
Alba (10:22):
Do you remember the Jane Fonda days?
That
Lisa (10:24):
Oh,
Alba (10:24):
of when I started everything and it was a neat,
you know, it, it was likeeverybody, it's like, oh,
aerobics.
It's like the beginning of thatreal like joy of moving and
dancing and, and, and feelingphysical feeling in your body.
So yeah, it was yeah, yeah, thatwas the beginning.
(10:46):
Those times, way back when.
Lisa (10:49):
I am wondering too, was that when the first like fitness
recordings came out, you know,probably on V H S and then D V
D, I wonder ones before then.
Alba (11:00):
when they started it, it did begin like that.
It was for, they were, theybegan at the V H Ss time.
Yes.
So that, if that gives you, I,I'm not very good with dates,
so, but that will give you kindof the timing and then yes, they
moved to D V D and likeeverything and everybody, now
it's streaming, which is whichis I think a great thing.
(11:23):
A great thing.
Yeah.
Lisa (11:27):
So maybe you could talk about your journey with your
dance, like whether you dancedwhen you were younger and how
you got introduced to Nia.
Alba (11:37):
Yeah.
I grew up Really, really, reallyshyly.
And my family, I come from a, atraditional Cuban family and we
all came over in the sixties andkind of grew up with big family
get togethers that always,always always included music,
(12:00):
piano and bongos and singing andeverybody dancing.
And very often except me, youknow,'cause I was a shy kid and
Over time, once I started to Iprobably started a little bit
later.
I did grow up with it, but Ithink I started in taking ballet
(12:25):
when I was maybe 13, like in myearly teens.
And I think that was thebeginning of my official, you
know, training.
And I took ballet, I took jazz,I took some modern dance.
And then I, I got into ballroomdance and I taught that for
several years.
I taught and I competedprofessionally.
(12:47):
And even though my, my.
Official dance training per se,didn't start until very late.
I was always a very physical andkinesthetic kid, so I think
it's, it's an easy thing for meto express through my body.
It's, it's where I'm quitecomfortable and I.
(13:09):
And then after the ballroomyears, I found Nia almost by
surprise.
And this was back in the v h sdays.
I found it in Santa Fe goingthrough a, a yoga studio there.
And I walked in and I kind ofpeeked through a window.
They were having a class and Iwas really intrigued by it.
(13:32):
And then I went home.
I looked it up.
Oh, I don't know, what did I do?
Did I look it up?
'cause the internet wasn'taround.
So anyway, somehow.
Without ever having taken aclass, I signed up for the
training in Santa Fe, and thiswas, oh, many, many, many years
ago, maybe 25, 30, 30 years ago.
(13:56):
I took the training, which was avery extensive and really
wonderful week long training.
It's, it's called, it was calledthe Nia White Belt, now it's
called the Art of Sensation.
And I took the training and thenI went home and I promptly
forgot about it.
Because at that time, therewasn't the web of support that
(14:17):
there is now with the internetand with videos and streaming
and all that.
At that time, they would sendyou home with a couple of VHSs
and you were invited to learn.
The routines and begin to teachthem.
But being who I am, I neededmore support and so I just kind
of let it go.
Although there were manybenefits from the training that
(14:40):
I'm sure created the base andstarted me on this, on this path
to Teaching.
And then I started teachingZumba, of which there was plenty
around and there was plenty ofsupport.
And so I did that for severalyears.
And then At some point, I,rediscovered Neo.
(15:03):
It was maybe seven years later.
And I really did love Zumba.
I loved it.
I did find it was a littleintense on my body at the time,
and I still love it.
I think it's, it's again, Allthese forms that are available
to us.
I think they're all amazing andthey've all got something that
(15:24):
can inspire a different facet ofwho we are, you know?
But then I just kind of floatedback to Nia.
It's, you know, just this veryorganic kind of fluid dance of
life and inspirations and then Ijust started teaching the Nia,
probably a little Zumbainspired, I, and then, branching
(15:47):
out into different things.
I've explored some otherconscious movement practices.
One is called Wild Core.
Which brings in conscious dance,a lot of conscious dance, a lot
of dance, you know, fusionfitness as well as Nia.
and then groove, which I love somuch.
(16:11):
I love, love, love the, theexpression of groove and the
simplicity of it.
And the fun and so that's kindof where I am now, this whole
big plate of neat things that Ithat I draw from.
Lisa (16:30):
I know when we had talked at an earlier date, you had
talked about your time overseasand learning to teach aerobics
and I, that was such a lovelystory.
I wondered if you could sharethat again.
Alba (16:43):
Sure.
So that's actually probablywhere I started my actual
teaching experience.
I was living in Italy and beforethat I had taken dance.
I hadn't done the ballroom yearsyet.
This was when I had just alittle bit and it was Jane Fonda
days, so there were sometrainers there that were looking
(17:04):
for people, and, and being anAmerican, overseas at that time
had a certain mystique andclout, because of course, Jane
Fonda was Starting this wholenew thing and it was kind of new
and fresh and American was, youknow, it had a mystique.
So I, I was lucky enough to findthis, just a wonderful,
(17:26):
wonderful trainer there who wasteaching a group of us how to
teach aerobics.
And this was the old styleaerobics I had, you know, my
high-waisted leotards, legwarmers, you know, the shoes,
the whole bit.
And it was it was a really,really, really wonderful
(17:48):
experience.
I remember being terrified.
Terrified.
The, the morning before I got anactual gig where I was going to
teach and just like feelinglike, I don't wanna do this.
And then, you know, of courseyou get in there and you do
something that you're terrifiedabout.
And then Your whole world kindof blows open, right?
(18:10):
Because you walked through thatfear and you did something.
And it was just the beginning.
It was just the beginning.
You know, of course, I'm sure I,I was less than stellar.
I'm quite sure of that at thosebeginning times because
experience is the teacher.
But I was so blessed to havethat experience and then I ended
(18:33):
up teaching overseas for manyyears and and then came back
home and, and, you know, startedmore like my Nia Zumba journey
here.
Yeah, yeah.
It had, okay, listen, I'm havinga memory.
From way back when, from when Icame back and I had my little
(18:55):
flyers and everything and I, itwas like, and this is kind of a
sign of the time, it was greatBody dance aerobics, that was
the name right?
Great body.
So it was like, Sue, it's aboutthe body, you know?
Get tone, get fit, get buff.
Oh, that's so funny.
That little memory, great bodydance aerobics and my whole
(19:17):
paradigm is just so differentnow.
You know, and it's just a sweetmemory.
Lisa (19:24):
That's great.
Thanks for sharing that.
Alba (19:26):
Yeah.
Thanks for, for inspiring thememory.
Lisa (19:32):
Are you, teaching groove at all or is it that you're
incorporating it into your Nia
Alba (19:38):
I'm incorporating it into Nia because in Groove they're
quite specific about Notfollowing the leader and not
doing necessarily choreographedthings.
And I find that I really lovethis combination of some
(19:59):
choreography, even some that canbe a little bit intricate
because that is gonna develop adifferent thing in you, a
different, it develops adifferent body mind connection.
It, it It's exhilarating toowhen you have a little
combination that you could notget right away, and then you do
(20:20):
get it and it's like inside you,you're going, yeah, okay, I got
this.
I'm, I've expanded my movementbox, I've expanded my life
vocabulary a little bit.
Right?
And that to me is a very,Valuable and special part of the
whole movement repertoire.
And not that groove doesn't haveit, but it has a, in a, in a
(20:43):
different, and I think morelimited way than does Nia, which
is, and by limited I don't meanthat it's less than it's just
That particular aspect of, ofhaving some of that really great
choreography because you get totry different things in your
(21:04):
body.
You get to develop differentthings.
You get to explore and do thingsthat you're never gonna do on
your own.
You know, on our own, we alwaysfall into.
Our, our movement habits and ingroove.
There's also the invitation, youknow, there's always these
verbal invitations to expand outof that, to make it different
and things like that.
(21:26):
But but the choreography is itsown unique magic.
And I think for me, thatdefinitely has a place in in
What I share and my strengths asas a teacher or as a facilitator
in in the movement world.
Lisa (21:46):
That's such a, a great point.
I was just interviewing somebodywho does West Coast swing and
she was saying part of the valueof it is the mental challenge of
trying to, Anticipate what yourpartner is doing in your steps
and following that person andmore choreographed than, Groove
(22:07):
is,
Alba (22:07):
Yeah.
And then when you have partnerdancing, that also invites an
entire other universe ofsensitivity and awareness and
connection.
It's I remember that from theballroom.
It's, it's fabulous.
It's just fabulous training.
It's like a whole, You'relearning a whole other language
(22:28):
than once you bring in partnerdancing, leading, following,
sensing.
Yeah.
It, it's the whole, they'reuniverses.
Every one of these disciplinesor, or art forms, they're whole
universes in and of themselves.
Lisa (22:43):
And I think to your point, I mean, people have to find what
they're looking for.
You know, groove.
Groove does invite You toexplore your own body to dance
freely.
But as you say, it may notchallenge you enough to, step
out of your comfort zone in somerespects.
(23:06):
So, if you want more of a leadedprocess, then it sounds like Nia
could be a wonderful option forpeople.
Alba (23:14):
Yeah, I do, I do really love Nia because the, the Nia
umbrella also allows for thegroove expression, which is that
kind of a, a more guided formof, personalized dance.
So that's, that's under theumbrella of of Nia.
(23:36):
For me, whereas my sense ofgroove is like, no, you don't do
the choreograph stuff becausewe're not following the leader.
But you know, sometimes I feellike in following the leader,
you're going to receivesomething that you haven't.
I.
That isn't born of you, but onceyou've experienced it, then you
(23:57):
infuse it with your expression.
And that's the beauty, that'sthe, the beauty of blending.
All those things.
And yeah, you know, just, we're,we're, man, we live in a, in a,
an amazingly rich time to beable to experience so many truly
wonderful gifts of movement and,and all this, you know, it's all
(24:24):
there for us to explore and flowwith depending on where we are
at any given point.
Lisa (24:33):
do you recollect any moment when it was particularly
memorable, when you were doingNia or perhaps somebody who was
in your class that they sharedwith you?
Alba (24:47):
Lisa, there just been, have been so many moments, but
there is one moment that Ireally remember, and this was
after one of my classes.
One of the students in my classcame up to me and she was in
tears and she said, thank you.
That I never thought I would be.
Able to move in this way again.
(25:09):
And it was, it wasn't was shewas said at something like that,
but it was this thing of like,thank you.
I never thought I would bemoving like this again.
So, yeah.
So that, that was reallymemorable.
But for me, every single classand that sense of Coming
(25:36):
together as a unit, as thisbeautiful collective that is,
the group experience is soprecious, and then taking
whatever that is, and then alsomaking it your own.
So for me, every and everysingle class has this, you know,
(25:57):
coming together, playing,letting some of that stuff out.
It's almost like we empty out.
Some, we empty out a lot of themuck.
We allow space for joy and forflow to come in, and sometimes
for other stuff too.
Sometimes in that emptying themuck process, you know, there's
emotion there.
honestly, every class ismemorable.
(26:17):
Every class has a moment I'msure after we're finished I may
think of like a dozen otherthings, but that's, that's what
comes to me right now.
Lisa (26:44):
So building on that, what benefits would you say you've,
you've noticed from taking orand leading Nia?
Alba (26:54):
Well, for me personally, it, it's, it's very much a a
devotional thing.
It's a form of service.
I.
It's something that I love todo.
I mean, I love to do it.
I love to bring that feeling toother people of, of.
Finding themselves back in theirbody in a joyful way, doing a, a
(27:20):
practice that invites play, thatinvites joy, that invites
sustainability in a body becauseyou're moving your body in these
ways that will keep you agileand limber and able to move
well.
And freely and joyfully in abody, hopefully till your final
(27:43):
days, you know?
So, so that, that's huge.
The, the.
Ability to feel that I can move,that I can get up and down off
the floor to feel good in mybones and my muscles for that,
for myself.
And I know that for everybodyelse too, especially, I tend to
(28:06):
find at least the, thedemographic where I am, that
we're, we're a little bit older,so it is a.Precious gift to stay
in movement to keep that abilityalive.
Being embodied, keeping italive, keeping yourself healthy,
fluid fit, and also movingenergetically, moving energy.
(28:30):
Many times things get stuck inour bodies and movement is the
best.
Or one of the best.
Certainly it's, it's one of thevery best for me, ways to move
things through so they don'tland and just stay and get stuck
and, and turn into other things.
So yeah, moving your body,moving the fluids, moving the
(28:53):
energy, moving your spirit, thebenefits are just endless.
Lisa (29:00):
As a, a young person, I never thought I would lose my
fitness or not be able to dothings, so it is wonderful to
find a exercise.
I'm putting that in quotes, thataccommodates the aging process,
but also helps you, as you weresaying, to keep as much mobility
and strength flexibility as youknow, you possibly can.
Alba (29:26):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And in, in doing that, you'realso really, I think keeping
also your mind and your spiritagile and flexible and it's so
all encompassing this thing ofembodiment and really
(29:47):
recognizing that we're in thisvehicle and this vehicle is, its
gold.
It's, it's beyond a Ferrari.
It deserves care.
And especially as we get older,it maybe deserves And needs a
little bit more care that's finetuned so that it can keep moving
and it can keep us growing bothin, in body and spirit for all
(30:09):
of our lives.
You know, the vehicle isimportant.
It's not the all of it, butit's, it's very important.
It's the way that we're able tomove in this world and have
these experiences and it's a,it's a sacred temple and and
caring for it should be a joy.
And I think that's what I reallylove about any number of these
(30:33):
practices is that they truly arejoyful and that in addition to
the actual very, very importantbenefits is what kind of keeps
us coming back.
Lisa (30:45):
I was gonna ask you if people tell you, like why they
keep coming back to the class orfor yourself, why you keep
coming back to the Nia?
Alba (30:59):
I think because of that, the joy is a huge thing and I
think our own wisdom as we getolder tells us, Hey, we need to
do this.
And then also, especially inthese post covid times now that
we are able to move together incommunity, in person, for me,
(31:23):
And that's been enormous formany of us.
And for my classes, I teach twoclasses a week and it has become
a true community.
So people keep coming back forthe movement, for the music, for
the benefits in the body, forthe community Also for a place I
(31:43):
think, where, you know, at leasta couple of times a week, you're
going to go through this fullgamut of the range of motion or
the, the expressions of movementthat your body can do so that
you'll be able to continue doingthat again for the rest of your
life, hopefully.
And and that is that's abeautiful thing They just love
(32:07):
it.
They love it, they love it.
They love, you know, the varietyand the music and yeah, they
love it.
So, and I love it too.
So
Lisa (32:19):
Do you have people that have been coming for a long time
or do you find people are kindof in and then out of it or?
Alba (32:26):
I.
have both, I have women thathave been with me for years and
years and years, and.
From pre Covid, I've been herein Sedona for a very long time.
Accepting a year, you know,accepting the Covid times where
I moved around and we stoppedin-person classes.
So yes, I have women that havebeen coming, that have been
(32:46):
dancing with me for over adecade.
And I have many people that comein and out.
They stay for a while, theyleave for a while, they might
come back.
Some come and they try it andthey really love it.
Some come and they never comeagain, and some come once and
(33:07):
then come back.
You know, everybody's got theirown kind of natural time and
their rhythm and flow and it'sall good.
Yeah.
So, yeah, a little bit ofeverything.
Lisa (33:20):
Do you have any recommendations for somebody
that's thinking of trying itout?
Alba (33:27):
Try it out.
Try it out.
One of the, one of the things Ireally, really, really think,
like you can sit and watchsomething and that's not gonna
give you the vibe, honestly.
You've got to just kind of getin there.
Even doing it a little bit.
And that's one of my challengesI have Like many of us, my
(33:50):
attention span when I'm aloneand just a screen, I, I, you
know, I might incorporate somelaundry folding in with my
dancing and things like that.
So for that reason, I reallyappreciate either live Zoom
classes or in-person classesbecause they will keep me in the
experience.
(34:11):
So for somebody that's wantingto start out It might be
wonderful for you to come intoan in-person class to give it a
try.
It's also wonderful to exploresomething on YouTube to even
sense to get the sense, is thissomething for me?
But try it.
(34:34):
Read sometimes for some people,and it is for me, if I read a
little bit about something andthe philosophy behind it appeals
to me, that gives me a littlemore meaning around it.
Yeah.
And that can help be a motivatorlooking or exploring the
benefits that both the physicalbenefits and the mental
(34:57):
emotional benefits.
Can also be a motivator forgetting out and trying
something.
So everybody's a littledifferent in how they're wired
to, to move towards something.
So yeah.
So it's an exploration, right?
But however it works for you,find your way to try it and find
(35:21):
what.
Works for you because differentthings are going to appeal to
different people, and that's asit should be.
Lisa (35:31):
It sort of reminds me of, I think there's a saying, your
vibe is your tribe, or
Alba (35:36):
Your vibe attracts your tribe,
Lisa (35:38):
Tribe.
Yes.
So I, I love that about yoursuggestion to kind of read
about, read about Nia and see ifthat's something that resonates
with you, because then I thinkif it does, then you will find
your tribe, you know, within theNia community.
Alba (35:56):
Yeah.
Lisa (35:57):
So if somebody comes to a class, what might be the
components of the class?
Like what can they expect tohave happen?
Alba (36:04):
You know, Seven cycles.
So there's a, an an in first.
There's the introduction,especially if people are new.
You talk a little bit about whatto expect and what the class is
gonna be about.
And for me it's super, superimportant to really use language
of permission, language wherepeople really get and, and
(36:30):
continue to, to use thatlanguage throughout.
They really get that no matterWhat is being offered or what I
may be doing that the finalresponsibility, the first and
the final responsibility restswithin them to choose the thing
that feels right for their body.
(36:51):
So they're really invited totweak things, maybe make them
smaller, make it bigger Sothat's a, that's the first thing
of really setting up that baseof permission.
I know that Groove is verystrong in this too.
And that's a, that's awonderful, it's just a wonderful
thing.
Cause often you really have tohonor the courage of many people
(37:13):
coming to a dance fitness classfor the first time with You
know, many people don't have abackground and so they come with
perhaps fears or thoughts or Ican't do this, or I don't wanna
look stupid or whatever.
So really inviting that languageof permission is a, is an
(37:33):
important thing.
And then we step in, it's a, aconscious leaving behind the day
and coming fully into thepresent.
So, Sometimes that's like a, alittle ritualistic act of
actually taking a step or twointo the practice and leaving
your day behind.
Then there's the warmup, andthen Nia calls it get moving.
(37:54):
But that's the more cardio andmore active part of the class.
And again, there's, there's somefree dance within that.
There's some choreography withinthat.
And then there's a cool downfloor play.
It's what they call work or playon the floor, which I think is
(38:15):
really cool.
And that can be, that's a moreyogic, more healing, more
meditative, te meditative, morestrengthening things on the
floor.
And and then there's thestepping out or the stepping
yeah, the stepping out of yourClass, which is in some ways
(38:39):
like a, a ritualistic thing ofstealing your practice and
moving out into your day andmaybe taking a moment to
consciously think about whatyou've experienced or what
benefit or what upliftment youexperienced and in any given
way, and then taking that intothe rest of your day.
And I'll say this, that's alsokind of a neat thing.
(39:00):
And Nia, we do work with afocus.
And an intent, and that's like atheme surrounding the class.
For example, I taught thismorning and I used today's theme
was Root to Rise, and that'swhere we had these, this special
(39:21):
awareness of really sendingenergy down through your feet
into the earth to stabilize yourmovement.
And from that strength andstability coming up through the
body so that your movement uphere isn't kind of flopping up
here, but it's, everything isrooted and there's more of a
sense of connectednessthroughout.
(39:41):
So There are a zillion differentkind of themes or, or focuses
that can be utilized with withina new experience to just bring
like a little extra lens ofawareness because as an
embodiment practice is, it isalso educational as, as, as you
(40:04):
know.
And yeah, so that's a, a reallyneat aspect of it as well.
Lisa (40:10):
That's, that's really cool.
I thank you so much for thatexplanation.
I, I didn't really know what thecomponents of the class be, so I
love hearing that.
Alba (40:19):
It is a really neat component of it.
And It, it's neat.
It's neat.
It, it gives a whole otherflavor and, and like the very
same class, if you dideverything the same from
beginning to end and it neveris, but it, but simply using a
different focus, it would be acompletely different experience.
(40:42):
And it's, it's quite creative.
It does bring elements inelements of your own imagination
and your own inspiration.
So Yeah, it's, it's a coolthing.
It's a more conscious, you know,there's conscious dance.
It's, it's a more conscious,more gently aware form of
(41:03):
moving.
So,
Lisa (41:07):
Cool.
I know we didn't really touch onthe streaming service, but Nia a
does have a online presencewhere if people are interested
in, you know, where they maybecan't find a Nia class or,
Alba (41:22):
Yeah
Lisa (41:23):
Don't have the time or whatever, that there is a Nia
yeah.
Streaming service.
Do you, have you had experiencewith that or?
Alba (41:32):
you know, I have had an experience with it and it's
really, really, really, reallygreat.
I tend to sometimes gravitatemore towards certain teachers
that are not even necessarily onthat service.
There's there's perhaps astronger sense of parameters on
(41:54):
the, the Nia presence online,and it's fabulous.
It is fabulous.
There are many, many, many otherteachers individually here and
there.
Every teacher will bring theirown magic and their own
expression.
So that's a wonderful,incredible, amazing place to
(42:14):
start.
So you're gonna find yourselffinding one person, it's, oh my
God, I love this.
And, and a particular personthrough their style, perhaps
through their personality,perhaps through their choices of
music being incredibly auditory.
Music for me is everything.
And you might find that yougravitate more towards something
(42:37):
like that and some others lessso.
But yes, it's a, it's awonderful place to begin your
exploration Check it out.
It's awesome.
Just like groove, you know,there's like so many really
great and cool things online andYeah.
(42:58):
We're just blessed that we canexplore all these things.
Lisa (43:02):
Yeah, I think it's wonderful that there's many
avenues to find, you know, to,to dance.
So, and that, that reminds me, Ithink on the n a page itself,
you can look for Zoom classeswith instructors.
Is that right?
Alba (43:21):
I think so because I don't do it very much, but yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yes you can.
And it's well worth exploring.
There's so many really coolreally cool teachers.
They're on, on demand for sure,and many of them are not.
(43:45):
Especially during Covid, youknow, everybody kind of got an
online presence, so I feelreally blessed.
I feel during that period oftime I was able to hop around
and really explore dancing withso many amazing talents and
every one of them brought alittle something that was their
(44:07):
unique gift and their uniqueoffering within the same Kind of
the same pool of, ofpossibility, but everybody
brings in their own spark andthat that's the magic.
That's really the magic.
I love exploring.
I love Trying new things and,and I find playing with, with
(44:30):
different teachers and findingthose that really inspire me on
a soul level is is one of thegifts of, of different online
presences.
Lisa (44:41):
Wonderful.
Alba (44:42):
then there's YouTube, and even YouTube has some things
that you can, that you can findthat are amazing as well.
Lisa (44:49):
Great, great advice.
So as we wrap up here, is thereanything you feel like we need
to still cover or talk about?
Anything that you wanna add tothe conversation?
Alba (45:02):
No, I feel kind of talked out about it in a way.
It's really fun to to talk aboutit all, but none of it is going
to touch you in the same way asactually finding your music
finding.
That simple joy of movement andthat, that beginning of, of.
(45:29):
Really coming into your body inways that just feel really good
to you.
There is also, I will say this,this is an important thing for
many people who are new to Nia,and there's a lot of this on
Nia, on Demand as well.
There is an offshoot of Niacalled Moving to Heal which is
(45:50):
simply a gentler version withmore.
Awareness of of a little morestability and maybe not so many
turns not so fast paced.
And that's a, a really beautifulway to start if you are New or
coming back to moving after awhile.
(46:11):
And it, it's also, it'sextremely accessible and there's
some wonderful teachers outthere.
So, so that, I think that's areally important thing.
'cause I, I know for many themoving to Heal would be a
wonderful step into And it maybe all the movement you need.
It, it's, it's yeah, but it'sall the principles, all the
(46:36):
benefits, all the beautifulmusic, but in a gentler and more
accessible format for everybody.
Truly, everybody.
Lisa (46:44):
That's wonderful.
It sort of reminds me too thatI, I forgot one question that I
wanted to ask you is just howwelcoming you feel like Nia is
to people, maybe with differentgender identities or racial
backgrounds or,
Alba (46:59):
It's so welcoming.
I mean, every like, I wish.
Everybody would come, everygender, every orientation, every
race, every color, every ethnicgrouping.
I wish everybody would come.
As it stands, it tends to be,and for whatever reason that is,
(47:20):
it tends to be white women.
Tend to create, tend to make upthe bulk of it.
I wish there were more men, Iwish there were more people of
color.
And I will say that Niainternational is really working
hard to really make, to open upthose doors to really invite
(47:41):
accessibility as is groove.
I, I really love groove for thattoo.
It's, it's, the invitation oftenis, is there and It's, it's the
work of our times to reallyinvite that in so that everybody
everybody can come in andbenefit not just from the
(48:03):
physical thing, but also fromcoming together, you know, in
more diversified groups.
Lisa (48:08):
That's, that's great.
I love hearing that.
'cause I think that, as you say,that is so important for these
times, but,
Alba (48:14):
Yeah.
Yeah, it is.
It's, it's the work of ourtimes, isn't it?
Bringing us all together, theoneness.
That's, that's it.
Lisa (48:24):
So if anybody's interested in connecting with you or
finding out more about you, doyou have a, a webpage or email
or something that you'd like toshare?
Alba (48:35):
I have a Nia, Sedona page on Facebook, which I'm rarely
on.
So it's got basically like alittle something on there about
my current classes.
I do have a, a really sweetnewsletter that I put out every
week, and if anybody would liketo be on that, they're welcome
(48:56):
to send me an email and my emailaddress.
Shall I give it to you or do youwanna put it under somewhere?
Lisa (49:04):
I will definitely link it in the show notes, but if you
wanted to say it as well rightgreat.
Alba (49:08):
my email address is alba elena@msn.com, and it's spelled
a L b A e l e n a@msn.com.
And it's a, it's a lovely littlenewsletter just about.
Music and our class for thatweek.
(49:29):
It has our playlist for the weekand you know, maybe a little
something or other dance relatedand I just send it out once a
week.
If anybody would like to be onthat please just email me and
I'll be happy to add your name
Lisa (49:43):
Wonderful.
Yeah, I'll definitely, I'll putthat in the show notes and I
just recently got on your emaillist and I really enjoy your
newsletter, so thank you forthat and thank you so much for
your time, Alba.
It's been really wonderfultalking to you.
Alba (49:58):
Lisa, thank you.
It's really, really good talkingwith you and seeing you again.
And, and I I wanna say thank youfor like, asking all these
questions because it's kind ofneat for me too to.
Even kind of go within myselfand, and find the answers to
your questions, even for myselfto kind of crystallize certain
(50:20):
things in my own being withregards to this thing that we
do.
So thank you my friend Thankyou, anybody who's listening,
and I do hope you find your wayto something, that movement
practice that brings you joy.
Be that what it may.
Lisa (50:42):
Absolutely.
That's perfect.
Thank you Alba.
Alba (50:44):
All right, my friend.
Take care.
Lisa (50:47):
You too.
Alba (50:48):
Bye.
Lisa (50:48):
Bye
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