Nia in the Oakland Tribune

Author: Natali T. Del Conte
CONTRIBUTOR Section: Bay Area Living
EVEN NIA instructors have a hard time explaining what NIA is."NIA has to be experienced," says East Bay instructor Danielle Woermann."It is a fusion fitness," explains San Rafael instructor France-Laude Gohard."It's a fitness class or a movement technique," says Monica Welty, a San Francisco instructor. None of these descriptions prepares you for what NIA is. NIA, which stands for Neuromuscular Integrative Action, is basically an anything-goes dance-and-movement class that is catching on in exercise studios around the Bay Area. Think of it as guided crazy dance. It is the kind of dancing most people do when no one is around, using a hairbrush as a makeshift microphone. It's like the hyped-up dancing in clubs but without the alcohol and uncomfortable shoes.

NIA was created in the 1980s as an alternative to high-impact aerobics classes. Its founders, Carlos and Debbie Rosas, who taught aerobics in Marin County in the days of sweatbands and leg warmers, were in search of a safer and more spiritual movement class. They kicked off their shoes, quit jumping up and down and started a flowing dance class that they called Non-Impact Aerobics.

Although the meaning associated with the acronym has changed, the focus has not. The program was born out of the fitness industry but is closely tied to the world of alternative health. It is a fusion of dance arts, martial arts and healing arts. In fact, a NIA class is a hodgepodge of all the other classes on a typical aerobics schedule: boxing, yo! ga, t'ai chi, salsa dancing.

But it's not "an anything-goes class," Gohard says."It is grounded in science, but the artful way of movement is in line with dancing, which is an art. This multidimensionality is what I love about it.

"Gohard, a native of France, moved from Manhattan to the Bay Area in 1989 with the solepurpose of studying NIA. A professional dancer, she enjoyed taking aerobics classes but was constantly asked to leave when she took her shoes off. After reading a book about NIA, she packed up and moved west so that she could make NIA her life. Gohard's classes are like a Martha Graham performance. Her body moves gracefully at times and spastically at others. She leads by example, shouting few precise instructions over the Afro-Brazilian music. No one in the room looks as cool as she does, but everyone smiles and giggles trying. It is nearly impossible to do NIA with a straight face.

Last year, Carlos and Debbie Rosas published an instructional book called "The Nia Technique." Since then, NIA's popularity has risen. In 2004 there were only four NIA classes offered in San Francisco. Today there are 11 in San Francisco and at least 10 in fitness centers in Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro and Mountain View.

Enrico Ferruco, a 62-year-old San Francisco resident, has been taking NIA twice a week for eight months. His favorite aspect of the class is his instructor's energy, attitude and smile."That is what NIA is," he says. Ferruco takes Monica Welty's NIA class at the YMCA. The class has a much different vibe than Gohard's. It is not as wildly rhythmic but more lyrical and dramatic. Still, it is a challenging workout. Welty explains that the dynamic in class depends on the instructor's personality, but there's always a common thread. Gohard says she doesn't mind if her students call her their "aerobics instructor," but she thinks that the exercise routine is much more than an aerobics class. "When I see that I can touch people, that is very satisfying for me," she says. "If there are other byproducts like losing weight, that's good, too. But what I love is to know that I can give a class where people are looking forward to being themselves and expressing themselves.

"Rose Love of Daly City found NIA when she was going through a particularly difficult time in her life."When I walked into that class for the first time this little bitty woman put on this African beat and she just told us to sway so I closed my eyes and I started swaying," she recalls. "After class I was crying and someone asked me if I was OK and I said, 'I'm fine. I haven't felt this good in a long, long time.' "Love feels that NIA allowed her to cope with her problems and feel good about herself. "I look good!" she exclaims. "You see me shaking off them pounds?

"Welty says Love's experience is not unique."It sounds cheesy, but it will change your life in a very real way," she says. "Not just in a 'send me $100' kind of way but in a real way, and I can see it in people's bodies, in their attitudes and in their confidence."

Like many dance fitness classes, NIA participants are mostly women. But Catherine Valentine likes to take classes with her husband."I know a lot of guys are turned off to the idea of dance, but it's really not just about dance," explains Valentine. "He loves the fact that he's not restricted to how he likes to move. He likes the freedom that it has, he loves the music, he likes being able to dance barefoot and that's pretty much the same thing that I love about it."But the freedom and expressive movement that draws some people to NIA may turn others off.

People who like their workouts to be more structured or who perhaps are uncomfortable dancing freely in public may feel uneasy. "I do see people who are uncomfortable with NIA from time to time," says Welty. "I was that way at first, but now the things I'll do in front of people are things I never would have done before. NIA helps people break out of their ! shell." For more information, visit http://www.nia-nia.com or http://www.sfbay.niasite.com.