About Didi
Fitness has been an interest of mine for as long as I can remember. It happened incidentally growing up, being involved in sports and particularly dance. I studied and assisted in ballet, tap, toe, jazz and ballroom dancing while in school and choreographed (and performed) many numbers for student productions during my teaching career. Over the years, I became involved in yoga, aerobics, speed walking, swimming and hiking but
found something was missing. Really I wanted to DANCE
I took my first Nia class in February 2006, looking for a dance fitness technique that I could offer while introducing clients to my favorite second home, the island of Lesvos Greece. I fell in love with the fun and fitness of it immediately and began researching the best place for my first ‘retreat’. Having visited the island for 30 years, taught English there in 1987 and lived there for most of the past 7 years, I have an insight into the Greek community and a knowledge of the island of Lesvos that is priceless.
I did my first Nia training week in July 2006 and began teaching immediately. After a year of lessons at Yoga by Sarah and The Beamsville Community Center, I opened my own studio in St. Catharines, Ontario. A year after my first class I trained for my Blue Belt level in Portland Oregon with Carlos and Debbie Rosas, the founders of Nia. This photo was taken there with 3 of our trainers. In June 2009, I completed my training for the newest belt, the Green Belt. It was created as part of the 25th Anniversary celebration that year and focuses on the teaching of Nia and ‘delivering the promise’. My most current training session has just ended (November/09) in Portland Oregon. I was thrilled to study again with Carlos and Debbie Rosas and earn my Brown Belt. The personal growth in these sessons is amazing. Now I am preparing for my final Black Belt in December 2010. I continue to hone my skills by hosting and attending workshops and retreats in Toronto and abroad.
As I have always loved Latin dancing, I recently took the Zumba workshop to teach Latin-inspired dance fitness. It is a great compliment to Nia as both are really devoted to fun and can be adapted to any level of fitness. No prior experience is required for either, and both have been created for women and men.
Travel is a passion of mine, as well as dance, and now I am thrilled to be able to combine the two. I am researching more trips to Lesvos, Greece, and Whistler, B.C. at the moment.
In the future I would like to plan retreats to the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, and Bali to begin with. There are many destinations in Canada that I would also like to revisit with fellow Nia and Zumba lovers, including Whistler and Banff. I am excited to be able to share my knowledge of and enthusiasm for these destinations.
