DIANE AGNEW-WHITE BELT:505.615.4085,Email Diane,Diane's Website
Diane Agnew discovered Nia a year and a half ago and has been love ever since. She holds a Masters Degree in Hydrology from New Mexico Tech and has always loved combining her passion for science with her craving for creativity and body health. Diane is a certified Nia White Belt instructor, who decided to take the training order to enrich her Nia practice. The training was a life-altering experience and Diane made the choice to become at teacher with the intent of sharing Nia, and the many joys associated with practicing the Nia Technique, with others. Diane brings a fresh edge to Nia that will energize and transform in an enhanced group experience.
PAM ARENELLA-BLUE BELT:505.363.2838,Email Pam
From the day she took her first Nia class in 2004, Pam has known that Nia was going to be an important part of her life. The joy and playfulness that she experienced in that first class, was so inspiring to her that she wanted to continue to come to class and to learn more about Nia. Trained as a singer and musician, she has always appreciated the relationship between music and movement. As a physician and psychiatrist, she believes passionately in the ‘mind body connection,’ and feels that Nia’s self healing properties can be helpful for both emotional and physical health. She attended her White Belt training in February of 2008 with the intention of deepening her own relationship to Nia, and the thought that ‘someday’ she would like to teach Nia. Since completing the training, she has felt a compelling desire to share her passion for Nia with others.
ELIZABETH CERVANTES-BLUE BELT:505.681.4339, Email Elizabeth,Elizabeth's Website
In 2000 I was looking for an alternative to typical gym classes and I found Nia - a body, mind, spirit movement practice that is fun! The Nia Technique has reconnected me with my body and shown me the path to experiencing the joy of dance in everyday life with the benefits of fitness and flexibility, and knowledge about how to heal my body through systemic movement. I am also an avid golfer and Nia allows me to maintain the flexibility and strength necessary to play golf. As a Nia instructor, I take pleasure in sharing the joy of the universal dance with others. I earned my Nia White Belt in February of 2008 and my Nia Blue Belt in May of 2009.
ERIN DAMOUR-BROWN BELT: 505.459.3628,
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I have been "dancing through life" for eight years as a student and teacher of The Nia Technique. I am a certified and licensed Nia Brown Belt. Since childhood, I've never stopped moving, skipping, dancing, jumping, and running. I enjoy celebrating the body as a place for fun, expression, exploration, and creativity. I received my BA in Anthropology from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon and have trained in the study of Hatha yoga. My interests include international health and travel and photography and graphic design. As a teacher, I bring calm and supportive energy to my classes which are spirited and filled with my own raw curiosity for sharing Nia's lessons. Come join me for a playful, non-competitive hour of pleasure 5:30 p.m. Mondays and 7:00 p.m. Wednesdays here at Studio Sway.
ANA EDWARDS-BROWN BELT: 505.417.7062,
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Ana Edwards has been practicing Nia on a daily basis for four years. She completed her Nia White Belt training and became a Licensed Nia Teacher in October, 2006. Her intent is to share holistic healing and body harmony via the Nia technique with all those who dream of experiencing the joy of movement through the body's innate sense of dance. Ana's Nia experience is supported by an extensive music education, a Masters Degree from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and many years of Modern Dance training. In February of 2008 she completed her Nia Blue Belt.
JUDY GREEN: 505.281.4533, Email Judy
I've been a yoga practitioner most of my life. Searching out ways to combine the practice with dance movement, I followed a path that led through Feldenkrais, Pilates, Nia, and other movement works. Ten years ago, I began classes with Naomi Milne-Dunn in Santa Fe. Her 37-year experience as a Dance/Movement therapist has changed and greatly benefited my life. Five years ago I was certified by Naomi to teach her work. It is my intention to share and deepen this very beneficial bodywork. Mindful Movement(TM) Naomi Milne-Dunn activates deep core awareness and full body strength. Exercises flow continuously using linear and spiraling motion, with a focus on alignment and balance. I teach Naomi's bodywork here at Studio Sway and in Santa Fe when Naomi is traveling.
SARAH MITCHELL-BLUE BELT: 505.503.0073, Email Sarah
I declared at a young age I would grow up and be a dancer...maybe it was watching Soul Train or Electric Company where everyone was dancing, having some serious fun. Countless nights dancing in front of the sliding glass doors, watching myself and feeling the pulse of the music...dancing in neighborhood shows...dancing in musicals, performing in semi-pro dance ensembles...the fun grew into lifelong joy. Always a firm believer that pleasure is our natural birthright. Nia is a structured fitness program and mind body practice and a homecoming for me. Nia formally entered my life in November 2007. Having been a dancer and performer for over 20 years...I had mixed experiences of dancing and sensing joy in my body. Watching & dancing with my Nia instructor, I witnessed how she moved with such deliciousness and sensuality. Her afterglow and radiating peace spoke to my heart and resonated down to my bone marrow. From her inspiration I jumped into becoming a Nia teacher. Nia is a practice I engage in daily, teaching 5 times a week and practicing...daily. The gifts of Nia continue to delight and amaze me, healing a back injury, maintaining healthy weight, increased strength and flexibility and it has sustained joy and pleasure in my relationships. And that is just the beginning...Nia rocks! Come meet me on the dance floor!
BETH O'NEALL-BLACK BELT: 505.244.9157,
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Beth O'Neall, M.Ed., has been teaching Nia since 2000 and brings experience, humor, emotion, and power to her classes. She is a certified Nia black belt and a first degree black belt in Aikido. Her classes are stimulating, motivating, and transformative. Students come to dance Nia each week with Beth because they love the music, the class energy, the physical challenge, and the group experience.
MAY SAGBAKKEN-WHITE BELT:505.264.2705,Email May
As a lifelong dancer, I discovered Nia in 2002 when I took my first class in Albuquerque. I was immediately mesmerized by the joy and freedom I felt with each Nia move. I also felt a deep sense of community in each class which was very different from other fitness or dance classes. I started taking dance lessons when I was 7 years old in Norway and has throughout my teen and adult life explored jazz, tap, modern and African dance. In addition, I have many years of experience as a yoga student, and have earned a green belt in Taekwondo. I have a dual Masters degree in Community and Regional Planning and Latin American Studies. Professionally, I have been a non-profit director focusing on projects for women and disadvantaged youth. I currently work for APS managing a federal project focusing on safe schools/healthy students. I teach classic Nia classes with a focus on joyful movement and provide special Nia workshops focusing on grief and cancer.
KRISTINE SUSCO-WHITE BELT:505.400.6972, Email Kristine
I found my path back to ‘whole body health’ when I began my practice of Nia 6 years ago. Although I’ve always been ‘dancing’ in one way or another via cheerleading, studying dance technique, teaching modern dance and movement for the performing artist, choreographing musicals and producing dance shows, my pleasure in movement had become obscured by health and life issues in my forties. My practice of Nia provided the framework for my reawakening to the spine-tingling JOY of dancing in my body. As a licensed certified Nia White Belt, I’m now privileged to be able to share that joy with students of Nia. Please join me in class sometime!