The Presenters
Melanie Christou
Melanie's career over the past decade spanned in the Performing Arts, Higher Education and Pilates industries. She always chose roles that were all about supporting others with their education and personal, or career, development. Her back injuries due to dance training were what drew her into Pilates. Becoming a Pilates teacher and business owner was a transformational experience, but that's when she realised that she needed to do a lot of work on her anxieties and confidence if she was to avoid falling out of love with Pilates. After a life-changing experience with her own coach, she felt motivated to certify as a Holistic Coach and share the benefits of coaching with other Pilates trainees and teachers. Melanie qualified as a Body Control Pilates teacher five years ago and continues to teach in London and offers regular popular coaching workshops for Pilates teachers. Melanie was recently highlighted in a wonderful article in the Guardian newspaper, read the article here : https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/dec/01/pilates-took-me-from-crippling-back-pain-to-amazing-health 
Alan Herdman
Alan Herdman studied at the London School of Contemporary Dance and was working as a teacher and dancer when, in the late 1960s, he was invited to New York to learn about the Joseph Pilates Method. There he worked intensively with Carola Trier and Bob Fitzgerald, two instructors who had been trained by Pilates himself. Although well-regarded amongst New York’s dance fraternity, Pilates was unknown in the UK at that time and Alan returned in 1970 to set up Britain’s first-ever Pilates studio. Among his first clients were actors, dancers and singers, but word soon spread as doctors and physiotherapists began recommending Pilates to patients struggling with chronic injuries. Alan now lectures on Pilates around the world, and he has written several successful books, including The Pilates Directory (2004), The Gaia Busy Person’s Guide to Pilates (2003), Pilates for Men (2007) and The Complete Pilates Tutor (2014). He runs a training course for Pilates instructors in London and supervises courses in both Athens and Istanbul. As well as running his own studios, he and his assistants teach in dance schools and designated Pilates studios internationally. Alan is the Chair of Pilates Method Alliance UK Chapter, designed to foster professional interaction and continuing education opportunities for Pilates professionals. 
Cameron Angus
Cameron is a Chartered Physiotherapist, International presenter and movement teacher. He has practised in dynamic rehabilitation for over 40 years and has been teaching Pilates since the 90s, with a classical and contemporary Pilates education. He presents physiotherapy, movement and Pilates workshops internationally and practices, teaches and educates teachers from his base in Bridge of Allan, Stirling. Cameron uses his extensive background as a researcher, clinical specialist, advanced Pilates education, plus his movement teaching journey to passionately bring evidence based programmes and knowledge to all. He has a strong belief in seeing the person in front of you. His somatic approach is deep and liberating for those with pain and injury or those who just want to discover the joy of movement and health. 
Debbie Robbins
Debbie is a proudly Scottish based Pilates teacher who has taught Pilates for over 17 years and has been an aerialist and professional performer for 12 years. In 2015, with thanks to receiving funding from Creative Scotland, Debbie toured across Scotland with personal show ‘In Her Shadows’ as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival and DanceLive. ‘In Her Shadows’ was a dance-mindscape piece, featuring aerial and physical theatre and supported by stunning visual projections and haunting music. In 2013 Debbie combined these two worlds and introduced Pilates to the highly physically challenging aerial world, which is thirsty for knowledge and expertise. Debbie worked to develop syllabus to combine Aerial arts using the aerial hammock as a prop for the Pilates method and by 2016 Air Control Pilates ® teacher training was launched. There are now qualified Air Control Pilates teachers in U.K. Europe, Middle East, Asia and America. For this years Pilates Gathering 2020 Debbie's bringing this artistic way of thinking to you...on the mat. A grounded yet liberating way of moving and being, experience flying in the face of fear and limitation, in this unique experience! |
Roberto Cerini Every Pilates Teacher was something different before being a Pilates Teacher. Roberto had to learn to adapt, accept and rearrange his life. Pilates is about going beyond your own dreams, being strong enough to recreate yourself when everything seems lost. And so did Roberto. He studied Law and Psychology, played guitar, read a lot of books but he never would have believed he would have become a Pilates and GYROTONIC® Teacher within a Professional Dance School. When you have structure, muscles and nervous system coming together you have a body. When you have structure, muscles, nervous system and emotions coming together you have an athlete. When you have structure, muscles, nervous system, emotions and meaning coming together you have a dancer. Since Roberto met Dance and Ballet I fell in love with the highest possibilities of the human body. Roberto started my training with Polestar® Pilates in Milan and Padua and with Serafino Ambrosio in Rome. Then he improved his skills in London with Alan Herdman and in Los Angeles with Marie José Blom. While in Los Angeles Marie-José asked me to join the Smartspine® Academy as the first non-american member of it, which he did and is still proudly part of it. For a few years he worked as a Mentor for Polestar®, then Nora St. John invited me to become a Balanced Body@ Master Instructor for Pilates and Anatomy in 3D®, which I am now. I lead Balanced Body@ training courses in Italy and wherever I’m needed around the world. Blackroll® is another company he serves for as a Master Trainer. Roberto is especially focused on the Blackroll® applications for Ballet and Dance training. When Roberto is not travelling around for workshops or training courses he is warmly hosted by IlBalletto® in Castelfranco Veneto. An amazing Professional Dance School directed by Susanna Plaino. 
Julie Driver Julie is a passionate believer in the power of Pilates. She has been teaching for nearly twenty years and in 2014 won the prestigious international ‘Pilates Anytime Instructor of the year” competition. Whenever her schedule allows, she returns to the US to host new online classes for them as a returning guest Instructor. Julie is an perennial student of the method, continuing her own education with regular 1-1 lessons and studying with mentors. Her North London studio provides a learning environment that nurtures continued growth and progress for both Pilates teachers and Pilates enthusiasts. When a ski accident in 2008 resulted in serious damage to her left leg, surgeons predicted a year long recovery and a permanent limp. Using the expert guidance of her teachers, complemented by her own knowledge of Pilates and the apparatus, Julie was walking unaided and without a limp within less than 9 months. With a lifelong passion for equine studies, Julie knows that Pilates is the perfect way for riders to improve their technique and create a stronger and deeper relationship with their horse. Julie is also a regular teacher and presenter at Pilates conferences internationally. 
Lee Morgan - 'The Pilates Genie' Halfway through the lease term on my studio, Lee was struggling to break even… One simple change in focus transformed everything. Lee was an experienced personal trainer, comprehensively certified in Pilates and travelling the world training other Pilates teachers, therefore, opening my own studio seemed such a logical step, as Lee had so much experience in my favour. Yet after three years of providing many people in my community with an exceptional standard of teaching, I was achieving only a modest level of class & lesson capacity, customer attrition levels were high and turnover was at a point where he was barely breaking even. Reading a book on the power of creating ‘Raving Fans’, changed everything. He discovered that his customer focus was too broad… Lee learnt that I was not providing enough solutions… he found that altering my focus to make the deepest, long-term impact on my customers he possibly could, was the key to my long-term success. Lee's experiences of high and lows are now the basis of his trainings… Lee looks forward to helping you avoid the same highs and lows, and instead, propel your business on an upward trajectory of success. |
LaBriece Ochsner
LaBriece, as unique as her name symbolizes, is identified by her Pilates clients as a role model for healthy living. She has strength not just of body and mind but also of character, integrity and values. LaBriece approaches teaching with a full heart, extraordinary insight and precise attention to detail that not just personalizes your exercise experience but allows you to achieve your full potential. Going beyond her job as Pilates Teacher, she is often referred to as a life coach. LaBriece incorporates her extensive knowledge of the Pilates Method and blends that with her innate ability to help motivate individuals tap into their best self. Open minded from being raised in Berkeley, California, she has deepened her own personal growth by fully integrating herself into the country, culture and language of her Swiss-born husband. After studying at the University of California, San Diego where she was a top student, competitive rower, and modern dancer, LaBriece ran a successful Pilates studio outside of metropolitan Phoenix for a decade while raising her three children. Now residing in Switzerland, she leads the Balanced Body Authorized Training Center for German-speaking Switzerland in her comprehensive Pilates Studio. As athlete, mother, nutrition coach and Pilates Master, you are in the absolute best care with LaBriece. 
Michael Fritzke & Ton Voogt Michael and Ton are internationally recognized Pilates presenters, educators, consultants and innovators with over 25 years experience in the fitness industry. They believe that Pilates is both an Art and a Science. It is an Art because it requires ability in execution and it is a Science because it is based on a systematic theory. It is this systematic theory, with concepts and principles, that is the common thread in all approaches, traditional and evolved. Michael and Ton both worked with Romana Kryzanowska, one of Joseph Pilates’ protégés, for over 10 years in New York City where they were Teacher Trainers for her original international Pilates certification program. Since 1996, Michael and Ton have collaborated specializing in the Pilates method. They co-founded ZENIRGY, LLC. and together they developed and created the revolutionary TRIADBALL™, TRIADBALL™ manual, numerous DVDs (commercial and educational) and several independently owned and operated Pilates certification programs in Norway, Austria, The Netherlands and Portugal. They have also collaborated with a wide range of Physical Therapists to integrate the Pilates method into patient-based therapy programs. Michael and Ton have appeared on ABC, NBC, FOX, Oxygen and Lifetime promoting the Pilates method. Their work has also been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers such as: Pilates Style, Self, More, TimeOut New York, New York Post and others. The TRIADBALL™ was used and featured in the Bulletin of NYU Hospital for Joint diseases, “Rehabilitation after Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty A New Regimen Using Pilates Training”. 
Dr Suzanne Martin
Dr. Suzanne Martin, PT, DPT is a physical therapist and Pilates expert with a private practice in the SF Bay Area, Total Body Development. She has authored four titles on fitness for DK Publishing, a division of Penguin Group, and has a new book coming out in 2018 through Handspring Press. She has written regular columns on health topics for Dance Magazine, Pilates Style and Dance Studio Life. Suzanne presents workshops and master classes worldwide and in the US, through Balanced Body University, the Pilates Method Alliance (PMA) and other providers, as well as through her own company, Pilates Therapeutics LLC. Pilates Therapeutics is an education company, formed in 2002 to produce and distribute educational videos, workshops and continuing education courses, designed to present the Pilates Method as a rehabilitation modality for a variety of health and fitness conditions. Pilates Therapeutics LLC is an approved Continuing Education provider for the California Board of Registered Nursing, California State Physical Therapy Association (CAPTA) and the PMA. |