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Who We Are
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| Aaron Ellis
Owner/Instructor
A dancer on Broadway and off-Broadway for over 15 years, Aaron's first experience with Pilates was while recovering from a knee injury in New York City. He rediscovered Pilates years later while beginning a new career in fitness. He brings his love of movement to his instruction, teaching clients how to move through life with more awareness and happiness.
Aaron trained extensively in Limon and Graham modern dance techniques. Martha Graham incorporated Pilates into her technique work and Aaron's training in this technique has helped him connect with the Pilates method.
He has been teaching Pilates since 2003 and is fully certified by Power Pilates to teach Mat and on all apparatus. He is also a certified group fitness instructor through AFAA, ACE and Les Mills (BODYPUMP, BODYSTEP, BODYFLOW, BODYCOMBAT and BODYJAM.
Aaron has recently been selected as a national trainer for the Les Mills BODYSTEP program, traveling around the country training other instructors to teach BODYSTEP. |
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| Kurt Gesteland
Owner/Instructor
With a background as a professional dancer, Kurt brings an instinctual knowledge of the body and movement to his Pilates teaching that helps his clients understand the essence of the method and truly benefit. After 12 years of pounding the pavement as a dancer/actor, he spent many years in food and beverage management. Long hours and lack of exercise lead to chronic pain, especially in the lower back. Pilates helped him overcome these weaknesses and inspired his career change into the fitness industry. He is now certified to teach on all apparatus through Power Pilates NYC, the standard in Pilates education. He is also certified with ACE and AFAA. In addition to Pilates, he teaches cardio dance, theatre dance, step, strength training and BodyFlow - an addictive fusion of yoga, Pilates and tai chi.
He also serves as a national trainer for Les Mills, a New Zealand-based fitness innovator, who licenses BodyFlow, BodyStep and BodyJam among others. |
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| Claudia Boorman
Pilates Instructor/Massage Therapist
Claudia Boorman has been a Massage Therapist and Pilates Instructor for four years in the Long Valley/Chester area. Since her education at Somerset School of Massage Therapy (where she was a teachers assistant after graduating), she has completed advanced training in Prenatal and Perinatal Massage, Myofascial Release, Neuromuscular Therapy, and Thai-Yoga Massage. She is also Nationally Certified through the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.
Her Pilates education began with both Mat and Reformer Training. She has taught for Xercise in Chester, NJ, Morristown Memorial Hospital, the YMCA, Hackettstown Middle School, M&M Mars, and privately. As her quest for knowledge continues, she will be pursuing advanced training with Power Pilates in NYC.
Claudia is active in the community. She has donated hours of Massage to Health Fairs, publicly spoken on postural education and sports massage, and worked with athletes at local sporting events. |
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| Nadine Kern
Instructor
Nadine is certified to teach classical Pilates through the New York Guild. She came to Pilates in a circuitous
way. Exercise, primarily dance, has always been a necessary element in her life. Eventually a combination of
back problems and a busy schedule made it impossible for her to keep up with her exercise regime. She
suffered many injuries and entered a vicious cycle of not being able to dance due to physical injuries, yet
needing to dance to stay strong and stave off additional injuries. She discovered Pilates and within one very
rigorous mat class, she was pain-free and hooked. She found Pilates mentally and physically challenging,
and was so intrigued by the system - the unusual nature of the equipment (actually the sheer genius of it),
and the sense of personal accomplishment she attained - that she decided to give up her career in
education to become a certified instructor.
After practicing Pilates for well over a year, she auditioned and was accepted into the New York Certification
Pilates Program. She studied, observed, performed and taught under the exacting and watchful tutelage of
Joseph Pilates' protege Romana Kryzanowska, the program’s Master Teacher. During her one-year
apprenticeship she learned to work with individual bodies of various ages, adapting the Pilates system to
body types, levels of fitness and injuries or weaknesses. She strives to enhance the daily activities and
athletic performance of her clients and continues to expand her knowledge of Pilates by attending
workshops all over the country.
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| Michelle Els
Pilates Instructor
Michelle Els was born in Zimbabwe and at age 3 her parents immigrated to South Africa. At the age of 5 she was introduced to ballet dance and by age 8 she included modern, tap and Jazz dance. Dancing soon became her passion and at age 16 she received an award for top regional choreographer of the year. During her college years she joined her first gym and that was when resistance training became an important component of her exercise regime.
From 1988 to 1998 she worked in the Hospitality Industry. Using her strong communication skills, outstanding service and quality standards, she became a Trainer Specialist. Michelle interfaced with all organizational levels developing, implementing and facilitating theoretical and practical training materials for employees and students.
She accompanied her husband to the USA in 1998. Initially Michelle was on a holiday visa and needed to find something to continue to stimulate her mind. Considering her training background and her interest in exercise she looked into Personal Training and in October 1999 became an ACE certified Personal Trainer.
In continuing her quest to train and educate people on maintaining a healthy balanced lifestyle Michelle decided to improve her own skills and knowledge by advancing her training in Pilates. Michelle is certified by Power Pilates to teach Mat and Reformer.
By combining her education and experiences Michelle can help others in their quest to make healthy lifestyle changes a permanent part of the lives. |
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