DJ Gray is a Certified Pilates teacher, Teacher Trainer for Pilates Mat Class and Pre-Trainer in GYROTONIC®.
DJ has been teaching Pilates for over 20 years in both California and New York. She began her movement training at the age of 7, as a competitive swimmer. She continued the sport throughout her college career, earning the title of a 4 Year All-American. In her final year of college, DJ found her passion in dance. To achieve a dancer’s physique and deeper connections that aids in dance technique, DJ turned to Pilates. The core movement technique of Pilates enabled her to establish a deeper understanding of dance, leading to a strong foundation, and knowledge in injury prevention and healing techniques.

DJ has worked on Broadway as a performer and an associate choreographer of several Broadway shows. She recently moved to Bloomington to join the staff at Indiana University, as a Professor of Practice teaching Musical Theatre dance to the BFA students. She continues to teach private Pilates and GYROTONIC movement at Lotus, an independent studio in Bloomington. She earned her Teacher Training in Mat Pilates from the Kane school in January 2020. She is teaching her first course at Indiana University this Spring, under the umbrella of the Kane school. Extending knowledge of skills and insight is a true passion for her. To pass on the art of Teaching is a dream realized.

DJ taught the first Core Muscle Anatomy and Comprehensive Mat training in the spring semester 2021 at Indiana University Bloomington. Email: dtothej@mac.com

Fran is the owner of Saugatuck Studios and the creator of Power Plate Pilates®. She comes from a clinical research background and parallel background in Pilates. After studying chemistry and then becoming a chemist, she quickly learned she needed to be around people and she shifted her focus from being in the lonely lab to traveling around the planet conducting clinical research for the same global pharmaceutical company.

Fran started teaching movement and received her AFAA certification in 1989 at the Vertical Club in New York City. She continued to add modalities until she was exposed to Pilates after recovering from a spinal injury. Fran received her first Pilates certification from Power Pilates in New York.

She continued her Pilates education and was lucky enough to be exposed to amazing teachers, including Juliet Harvey, Mary Bowen, Kathy Grant, Ron Fletcher, Jill Miller, Tom Meyer, and eventually found a perfect fit at the Kane School, a rigorous training program combining the classic principles of Pilates with a modern, clinical perspective on the human body. She joined the faculty at the Kane School on 19th Street New York, and continued to work in the Pilates department at Equinox in Darien, Connecticut for 11 years. After several home studios, started a Pilates studio right on the Saugatuck River in Westport, Connecticut. Fran now runs Kinected/Kane School Teacher Trainings, as well as the Bridge Program for those already certified, from this beautiful studio on the water. Email: fhoyte@me.com

Shila Tirabassi LaGrua, LMT, CNS, owner of Body Center St. Pete, received her BFA from the Juilliard School in NYC and was an internationally touring professional modern dancer with Merce Cunningham, Lar Lubovitch, Martha Graham, Robert Battle, and Stephen Petronio. Shila was trained by Cyndi Lee at OM Yoga Center NY, where she taught yoga classes for many years, numerous yoga teacher trainings and developed the Core Yoga Program which integrated yoga and Pilates. She was certified in both Pilates Mat and Apparatus through The Kane School.

Shila retired as a professional dancer and returned to her hometown of St. Petersburg, FL, where she found Neurosomatic Therapy under the tutelage of Paul St. John. Shila devoted years of her attention to the healing arts as a Neurosomatic Specialist at the St. John-Clark Pain Treatment Center. She was also faculty at The Center for Neurosomatic Studies where she taught and developed the Therapeutic Exercise curriculum.

After opening Body Center St. Pete in 2018, Shila continues to teach anatomy and functional movement in yoga teacher trainings throughout the country, as well as retreats in Costa Rica. Proudly, Body Center St. Pete is also now an Offsite Training Center for the Kane School. Shila’s never-ending interest in the body led her to continue her education in NASM Personal Training, Prenatal Fitness, Thai Yoga Bodywork, Restorative Yoga, Postural Respiration, Muscle Activation Technique, The Schroth Method, Alexander Technique, Oov, and Feldenkrais. As a Reiki Master, she is also interested in the subtler realms of the body and believes that all body work is also energy work.

Shila compliments her practice as a Neurosomatic Specialist with her love of functional movement to help her clients find alignment, strength, and ease through manual treatments and movement reeducation. Body Center St. Pete’s mission is to bring awareness to postural alignment and its relationship to pain and discomfort and become co-healers with each individual that walks in the door. This process involves unwinding destructive biomechanical patterns by releasing soft tissue through Structural Therapy and re-defining movement through Pilates, Yamuna Foot Fitness, GYROTONIC and the Oov. Individuals are empowered through all these modalities with information and self-care tools so they can recognize when the body gets out of balance and utilize their tools to regain optimal function. Email: shila@bodycenterstpete.com

Since achieving her full Pilates certification 2004 through Pilates Academy International in NYC, Susan went on to complete 2 other International Pilates certifications giving her 3 different methods of teaching The Pilates method. Her goal has been to incorporate a multitude of modalities to offer her clients an integrated experience of wellness and fitness. Specializing in Pre/postnatal Pilates, joint and spine injuries and others joint conditions, Susan’s focus is rehabilitation and strength training and the recruitment of the deeper, local stabilizing muscles of the core and spine. In keeping with her commitment to health and wellness Susan achieved her Holistic Health license, Nutritional Consultant Certificate and her Master Health and Wellness Coach Certification, adding to the wealth of knowledge and experience she acquired over the last 18 years.

Susan opened Pivotal Pilates Fitness in 2010 and is now a teacher trainer for The Kane School Pilates Teacher Training at her studio in Matawan, NJ. Email: susan_markowitz@yahoo.com

Carson Murphy is a professional tap dancer, Pilates and Gyrotonic Method® instructor, mom, wife and studio director of sound MOVEMENT in Larchmont, NY.

Carson is certified in Pilates through Marie Jose Blom Lawrence/Long Beach Dance Conditioning and the Kane School of Core Integration; as well as a GYROTONIC® teacher for over a decade. She has studied Laban and Bartenieff techniques as well as Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education, the Alexander Technique, is a lover of Yoga and all things that are about connecting to our magical bodies! Carson holds a BA in Dance and Philosophy from Loyola Marymount University. More about sound MOVEMENT here. Email: carson.murphy@gmail.com

Movement has been a central theme of Leila’s life since age 4, beginning with ballet. Her introduction to Pilates was as a young teenage ballet dancer and a VHS tape of Pilates mat work! With a BA in Sociology and a BFA in Dance, she moved to New York City to pursue a dance career.

Leila’s friend had recently been certified in Pilates through the Kane School of Core Integration NYC and had a home studio, where Leila had her introduction to the pilates equipment while working through a dance injury. “I started to see a difference in how my body felt and performed, and I was hooked!”
In 2010, Leila began her Pilates teacher training at the Kane School with mat work and in 2011, began her equipment training. “I loved Kelly Kane’s hands-on, anatomy-focused and creative approach and I saw how everyone benefited from this method. I became interested in making it a career.”

Leila’s interest in the Women’s Health aspect of Pilates came as she transitioned out of the professional dance world and into what would become the greatest learning curve of her life –motherhood. When Leila first became pregnant, she began studying with women’s health experts such as Deb Goodman and Carolyne Anthony to learn more about Prenatal movement and Postnatal recovery.
“I have a passion for the Mamas, because we inevitably put ourselves last. The Prenatal class gets women thinking about how to prioritize their physical and mental health before their babies are even born.”

Flash forward to today — Leila has become a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher, a Certified Pre/Postnatal Specialist and a Practitioner of the Center Method of Diastasis Recti Recover and now, Owner of Ebb & Flow Pilates and Movement. She has enjoyed working with and learning from people recovering from hip, knee, back and shoulder injuries & surgeries, scoliosis and just simply helping people get some movement in after a long day of sitting at work. She is passionate about movement education.

“Ultimately, the people I work with are my best teachers, each offering me a chance to learn more about the human body and how it works. Pilates has given me a vehicle for helping them feel better in their bodies while doing the things they love to do.”

When not teaching, you can find Leila being her kids’ best cheerleader at all their sporting events, searching for time to have full, uninterrupted conversations with her husband whom she adores, dreaming of beach trips, watching comedy shows or reading about anatomy like a true nerd. More about Ebb & Flow Pilates here. Email: leila@ebbandflowpilates.com

I have always been a mover. Starting at a young age, I began to pursue my dream of becoming a professional dancer. This journey has taken me through many professional schools and companies throughout Canada and New York City. I have performed throughout the United States and Europe with the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company for 14 years.

My love of movement has inspired me to work as a group fitness instructor and personal trainer. In 2003, I enrolled in Kelly Kane’s School of Core Integration for my Pilates Certification. I chose the School of Core Integration because of their focus on anatomy and biomechanics, while adhering to the system of movements developed by Joseph Pilates.

After completing my certification with the Kane School, I received my certification as a Movement and Postural Analyst through Anatomy Trains, developed by Tom Myers. Combining my experience and education in movement, pilates and anatomy, I work with my clients to obtain life-long body alignment and postural improvements by focusing on the structural health of each individual. My goal is to empower my clients to learn more about how their bodies move through space, and how they can achieve freedom of movement without pain, whether they are training, rehabilitating or looking to improve their current level of fitness. Wendee is also a certified Buff Bones instructor. Buff Bones is a medically-endorsed system of movement for bone and joint health. It integrates Pilates, strength-training, functional movement and therapeutic exercise with bone strengthening and balance techniques, and is safe for those with osteoporosis.

Wendee learned how amazing our gift of life is and the amazing abilities of the human body when she completed a dissection of a human cadaver with Anatomy Trains, Tom Myers and Todd Garcia.
She has completed FAMI One and FAMI Two: The Functional Anatomy for Movement and Injuries (FAMI) Workshop is a six-day immersion course in anatomy and injuries for movement professionals through Kinected.She has completed a variety of Anatomy Trains Masterclasses, Workshops on the Feet as well as the Hip and the Spine and Psoas with the amazing Kuan Hui Chew.

She currently completed Myokinematic Restoration and Pelvis Restoration with the Postural Restoration Institute.

She is also a certified aerial yoga instructor through Michelle Dortignac, founder of Unnata Aerial Yoga.

Wendee is excited to be an Off Site Training Center for the Kane School. Email: scarboroughpilates@gmail.com

Heidi Brewer, Pacific Northwest native and University of Washington alum, has worked as a dance artist in Seattle, NYC and LA since 2001. Her own work has been shown at Pieter and Highways Performance Space in Los Angeles, and at The Studio at 620 and Sarasota Contemporary Dance in Florida. She founded the LAYERS platform in LA to produce 3 workshops between 2017-2018, and returns to LA periodically to work with Pennington Dance Group. Heidi teaches community dance classes in St. Pete as well as for the Sarasota Ballet’s Conservatory program. As a dance artist she regularly works with ProjectALCHEMY as well as Jeanine Durning and a collective of incredible women including Clare Croft, Andee Scott and Mary Williford-Shade, and creates her own work throughout Tampa Bay and Southern California. She is a Certified Pilates teacher through the Kane School & kinected in NYC, where she also works as the Communications Director. She is also a certified Oov Instructor and works as a Pilates instructor & Kane School teacher trainer at Body Center St. Pete in FL. She and her husband Will are proud cat parents to Penny.