Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now

A writer takes a minute for a closer look

recent posts

  • Wild thing

    Day 13 of Nia dance challenge

    Thank god for my inner hippy. It’s been a day. I’m burned out, I’m cranky. It’s dark. Summer’s pretending it won’t leave me. It’s late Sunday. There’s no Nia classes. I’ve been semi-well-behaved all day. I mean, I cleaned the mildew out of the shower for heck’s sake. (Also, if you know me at all, you know “heck’s sake” is me being under extreme control.) I haven’t danced today. Damn it. And I made this personal commitment.

    So bring on Led Zeppelin! Yeah, not in Nia’s official choreography. But it’s what I need. Kashmir, Black Dog, Immigrant Song, Living Loving Maid, When the Levee Breaks. Rock my world, boys.

    Thank you Nia. Thank you rock ‘n’ roll.

  • Focus and intent

    For heck’s sake. What a mess. My play table. I mean, I could call it a work table but everything on it is about play: making art from dried flowers, midway through an embroidery project, editing a manuscript, sending cards to distant friends.

    It’s like leaving the kitchen a mess after baking bread and then making dinner, then getting up in the morning to make breakfast. Sheesh.

    Nia leaders take a moment at the beginning of dance to set a focus and intent, and I’ve started using this in daily life. Today my focus and intent will be to respect the space. Part of the play can be finding a home for projects that are midway along.

    When friends come to visit, this table is tidy. I clean it up for them since this room doubles as a guest room. I can also respect that I like coming into a tidy room too.

  • Down with it!

    Day 12 of 52 Nia dance challenge

    Cue the music! I’m working to memorize the hour-long Bloom routine, written by Nia choreographers Christina Mae Wolf, Kellie Chambers, and Rossella Vanti. Today I spent 50 minutes just repeating the first four songs of this routine, using the Nia on Demand video to guide me.

    My energy level was low, but my interest in dancing the steps, remembering what came next and listening for the musical cues was high.

    The third song is a waltz, “Roots of Levant” by Jimmy Wahlsteen, and it’s interesting how the choreographer’s guidance on hand and arm movements suggesting a figure-eight or infinity shape feels like it fits perfectly into the 3/4 time.

    When I had the opportunity to interview Nia founder Debbie Rosas last month for a story in our local paper, she talked about the importance of the movements being integrated with the music, and this just seemed to exemplify that to me to today.

    Even though I won’t start working on memorizing the steps to the fifth song until next week, I couldn’t help dancing at least once to  Katharine Appleton’s “Rebel Soul “. Woo hoo!