I trained as a professional dancer at the London Studio Centre and Millennium Dance 2000. I later studied at Middlesex University gaining a degree in Dance Science, and was involved in devising the original lactate tolerance dance specific fitness test. Now a Lecturer in Dance at Middlesex University, my teaching includes Humphrey-based technique, Pilates and fitness for dancers. My professional dance credits include David Bintley's Samson et Dalila at the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden), trade shows in the UK and Europe (Paul Mitchell, Daihatsu), workshops with the Humphrey Society (Chicago, USA), and now specialise in the creative work and technique of Doris Humphrey, working closely with Lesley Main and the Humphrey foundation UK. Through this experience, I have a deep and continuing interest in the moving bodyand what it can achieve.
I was first introduced to the Pilates method in 1999, and have found it a valuable tool as a dancer and in everyday life. I believe that it is due to my Pilates practise that I have never sustained an injury and that it can be beneficial to everyone through the positive changes in body awareness and movement patterns that I have seen in many others. Through my passionate beliefs about the benefits of Pilates, I decided to train to become a Pilates teacher to enable me to share my experiences of this wonderful method with others. I undertook a year long intensive and in depth Pilates teacher training programme at The Place to become a PILATES foundation UK matwork teacher under the supervision of master teachers Hana Jones, Susanne Lahusen and Sonia Noonan.
My style of teaching:
My style of teaching is influenced by my dance background to create smooth transitions from one exercise to the next with a sense of energy and flow throughout the class. The exercises build up progressivly using evolved material to gradually lead up to Joseph Pilates' original classical matwork repertoire (it is not commonly known that there are only 34 original matwork exercises, although there are many variations!) as clients develop their body awareness, core stability, control, precision, flexibility and strength, and are eventually able to correct themselves due to increased body awareness and understanding. I teach with an emphasis on length throughout the whole body so that there is not simply one focus, leading to increased body awareness, improved posture and a sense of well being.
PILATES foundation UK:
The PILATES foundation UK is the only not-for-profit professional Pilates organisation in the UK, and works to uphold the philosophy, integrity and standards of teaching the Pilates method. PILATES foundation teachers have to continually further their development as teachers through attending regular workshops, courses, and self practise to enable them to retain the high standards of their teaching and to remain members of the PILATES foundation organisation.
