For me, teaching Nia is a perfect synthesis of my passion for dance and movement, artistic expression, and joyful, creative teaching. My classes offer a supportive, positive and fun community in which students are invited to develop their skills and feel comfortable and free in their self-expression. I encourage and facilitate experimentation and the 'letting go' of inhibitions and barriers, and guide the exploration of the relationship between freedom/playfulness and precision/control in movement. Students gain trust in their bodies and develop body-mind connection through sensation. They learn to move fluidly, confidently and with tremendous variety. It is wonderful to see students experience Nia's transformation-- healing and growth occur, inhibitions are shed, and positive new paths emerge.

While Nia is an energetic, powerful, fun, and tremendously creative workout that meets the unique and varied needs of each person, Nia is also a profoundly transformative spiritual practice. Nia goes way beyond just being a workout. Nia has changed my body and my life in countless positive ways. I continue to go deeper and deeper, and I am loving every moment. Nia inspires me to deepen my own creative process; in addition to teaching Nia routines, I am also enjoying the ongoing process of developing and creating choreography for my classes. I am always learning and growing. Nia is my passion!

Nia is a multi-dimensional practice that invites everybody to discover, develop and enjoy personal potential in body, mind, heart and spirit. Join us on the dance floor!

Valerie Beller has a long background in dance, music, art, fitness and teaching. Valerie is a painter and exhibits her work nationally. She spent many years teaching art after earning her MFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and taught fitness classes from the age of 17. In addition to teaching Nia, Valerie is also a group fitness instructor, specializing in creative fitness classes that focus on the core, balance training, weight lifting and stretching, as well as a Level II Reiki practitioner.