Are you looking for a unique escape? Better yet, do you need to get in touch with yourself and revel in your spirit? If so, the Life Movement Spirit & Dance Center on Saddle River Road might be just what you're looking for.

The studio was founded three years ago by owner Sigi Nissimov. Originally started as a venue for women, it was then extended to kids, and after that families. Now, there are even some men's classes.

"Life Movement," Nissimov says, "was formed with a vision and a dream–as a place for women to express themselves. Here we bring the mind, body and spirit together."

Nissimov's classes are mostly taken by women in their 20s and up, but one class–which hosts a teen, her mom and and her grandmother–spans generations.

"Women are always struggling," says Nissimov. "Women need to feel good about themselves. This is all about people coming here and feeling comfortable. It's not about being in the best jeans; it's womanhood connected."

Nissimov is a freestyle, self-trained belly dancer.

"We are very unique," she says of the studio. "We offer classes here to enrich yourself, and they are mostly dance. It's about meditation, which is dance, when you connect to the moment."

Nissimov feels that people are often disconnected with the moment at hand. "We are often never in the present, and we need to be," she says.

Life Movement offers a variety of classes which are very personal ("better for the atmosphere," says Nissimov) and average roughly 10 people, with those classes including yoga, pilates, salsa, flamenco, zumba, bellydancing and more to the daring strip tease and pole fitting for adults. Children's classes include beginning bellydancing, hip hop, Broadway vocal, dance, kids fusion, ballet, and capoeira (which includes martial arts, dancing, and singing).

Arts and crafts are offered for toddlers, and for men, physical therapy classes are held. In January, Life Movement may start offering couples' classes. A full schedule is available on the studio's website.

Nissimov is also a recent cancer survivor. "It (the disease) made myself more focused about life," she says. Her best friend is her husband of 11 years, Jack, who she says "pushed me to open the place. He is my biggest love." She is a mother to two children: 10-year-old son Kai (name means "ocean" in Japanese) and daughter Tia ("princess"), age 8.

"When you see it," she says while looking out at her 900-square-foot studio, "you can feel it."

"And when you dance," Nissimov affirms with a smile, "it's the only way to control you and your life."

Life Movement, located at 06-01 Saddle River Road, can be reached at 201-254-9151. You can also learn more about the studio on the Web, at www.lifemovement.org.