Work It Dance and Fitness is proud to introduce a new class, Flexibility and Stretch, taught by Naja. We welcome Naja to the WIDF team and look forward to taking her class tonight (Monday) at 6:30PM. This 60-minute class is for anyone who would like to increase their flexibility and range of motion. You will learn how to safely stretch your legs, hips, shoulders, and back while building the muscle and balance needed to use your flexibility. Techniques are drawn from Naja’s many years of circus contortion and dance training. This class is ideal for dancers (especially pole dancers), martial artists, yogis, athletes, and anyone else who would like to open up their body to a new way of moving.
More about Naja:
Naja has over 10 years experience in Circus Arts, as a teacher, choreographer and performer. Her performance, teaching and production skills are solid and extensive. She studied in San Francisco at the San Francisco Circus Center where she received specialized training and study under Master Lu Yi and Xia Ke Min in Chinese acrobatics, doubles, hand-balancing and foot juggling. She also studied rope, static trapeze, hoop and tissue. She worked on the west coast for 10 years gaining performance experience with The New Pickle Circus, Vau de Vire Society, Velocity Circus and Earth Circus and professional experience at the San Francisco Circus Center as a Choreographer, Coach and Asst. Director for the SF Youth Circus productions; at Windmill Gymnastics as a Gymnastics Coach; at Velocity Arts and Entertainment as Associate Artistic Director and Troupe coach; at Head over Heels Gymnastics and Circus Arts as contortion, acro, hand-balancing and doubles coach/choreoegrapher for Splash Circus; and finally at the Kinetic Arts Center as the CircusSpire contortion,acro,hadbalancing and doubles coach/choreograher. Naja has performed mostly on the corporate circuit with various bay area production companies in contortion, doubles hand-balancing and hoop.
Naja was also an instructor at the renowned San Francisco Circus Center and is well-versed in Chinese acrobatics and aerial arts. She choreographs individual and group acts as well as large scale productions and has trained private students including contortionists, hand-balancers and aerialists. Naja was also Co-Director and Choreographer of the SF Youth Circus touring production “Impressions” and was Stage Manager for the Circus Center Annual Showcase- Cabaret. Not only is Naja a highly skilled instructor and performer, she is also skilled in the art of circus and fashion make-up techniques and has been the make-up artist for many of her students’ shows. She was Make-up Director for the SF Youth Circus and an artist for Velocity Circus as well as for numerous corporate productions.
Prior to living and working in California, Naja graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts with a Ballet Concentration and has worked/performed in New York and Connecticut while continuing her education at Joffrey Ballet, New Haven Ballet and Hartford Ballet, where ballet was her primary focus of study. She also acquired working knowledge of modern, ballroom, character, hip-hop and jazz dance. Prior to circus arts she was a classically trained dancer and performed with the New Haven Ballet, Hartford Ballet, Moscow State Ballet and the Paul Hall Contemporary Dance Theater.
