At Pilates Downtown, it is our instructors that make the difference. Each instructor is a trained and Certified Pilates Instructor.

Tia is the owner of Pilates Downtown and is a Certified Pilates Instructor from the nationally renowned Pilates Center in Boulder. After graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a BA in Marketing, she spent two years working for a local technology company. After many years of playing sports and long distance running, Tia discovered Pilates through her efforts to find a gentler way to gain strength and flexibility. Tia quickly became hooked on the discipline and left the corporate world to pursue a new career in Pilates. Tia has served as an instructor at Pilates Downtown for almost three years, and purchased the studio in December 2004 from its founder. After giving birth to her first child in 2003, Tia has seen the incredible benefits of Pilates during and after pregnancy. She is passionate about teaching Pilates and strives to inspire her clients to work hard in order to achieve their fitness goals.

Mande became a certified Pilates Instructor in 1999, received her training at the Pilates Center in Boulder and began teaching at Pilates Downtown in 2000. Mande holds a BFA in dance and brings her love of movement to her teaching by helping clients find peace in their bodies and its unique movement patterns. She has patience, experience and zest for both the “in pain” body and the “fitness” body. Mande has danced professionally with the No Name Dance Company, Kim Robards, Speaking of Dance, and currently enjoys being a seasoned member of the Hannah Kahn Dance Company.

Beth is a Certified Pilates Instructor who came to Pilates shortly after being diagnosed with acute leukemia. Her results with Pilates along with support from her instructor encouraged her to become certified through Body Arts and Science International with master teacher Rael Isacowitz and dance repertoire specialist Karen Clippenger. Beth also has a BS degree in Health Science, which helps her to encourage people to lead a healthy and happy lifestyle. She stays current with her training by attending Pilates workshops, seminars, and by training with other instructors. Beth’s clientele has ranged from the rehab patient to the advanced Pilates client.

Chris has been teaching Pilates and running studios for the past 12 years in Telluride, Colorado where she owned Club Pilates USA(R). She is a graduate of the Pilates Center of Boulder and currently completing the TPC Masters Program. Chris has synthesized her 17 year practice in structural integration (the Rolf Method) with her 12 years of Pilates practice, teaching and training. Bringing the two skill sets together gives Chris great breadth and depth in her ability to analyze movement and recreate function and form using imagery as a favorite tool. She teaches joyfully at all levels, is a master at rehabilitation and is looking forward to sharing her skills here in Denver!

Maya, native of Chicago and raised in India, discovered Pilates at age 12 through her ballet coach who was trained and certified under Romana Kryzanowska. Maya received a bachelor of science from Indiana University in Ballet/Performance and Broadcast Journalism. She went on to perform professionally with numerous ballet, modern, jazz and opera companies, always dancing through her injuries and succeeding until a car accident in 1999. She returned to Pilates then for rehabilitation, after being told her dance future would now be difficult. Within six months, she began performing again, feeling technically stronger, more balanced, aligned and flexible than before. She continued for the last ten seasons with the Radio City Rockettes as a dancer, and currently as an assistant choreographer and dance captain. Maya moved to Denver six years ago to be with her husband and pursued commercials and a debut series on the WB network, while searching for Pilates in her new home town. Her passion for Pilates finally led her to study and graduate in June 2006 from worldly renowned, The Pilates Center in Boulder, Colorado. She uses Pilates in her own dance movement, instruction and choreography and draws upon her love of movement with her clients when teaching Pilates.

Dina's passion for Pilates began at age nineteen when she became a student of the method to rehab a shoulder injury. Since being certified by the Pilates Center of Boulder in 1997, Dina has been teaching and running Pilates Studios for the past 10 years in Colorado and New York. Through her continued study of the Alexander Technique, physiology and Iyengar Yoga, Dina has an especially keen eye for spotting imbalances and working with her students to change poor postural habits. Good posture is crucial for maintaining muscular-skeletal balance which allows one to move with ease and without pain in all daily activities. Dina previously owned The Intelligent Body Pilates Studio in North Salem, NY where she has spent the last 5 years. Back in Colorado, Dina is excited to share her teaching and expertise with the Denver community!

Katie is originally from Seattle, Washington and has enjoyed all Colorado has to offer for seven years. She lives in Conifer where she has a small studio, and has taught at several studios in Denver and the foothills. Katie earned a B.S in Communication from the University of Colorado in 2005. Katie Graduated from The Pilates Center Teacher Training Program in Boulder, Colorado where she completed the 900 required hours of study. The Pilates Center is known nationally and internationally for training teachers in classical Pilates handed down from Joseph Pilates himself. Katie began taking Pilates lessons in an attempt to have more endurance for equestrian sports, running, skiing and other outdoor activities. She enjoyed Pilates so much, and experienced such a change in her own health holistically; she wanted to share the method with others through becoming an instructor. Katie believes the confidence that can be gained from doing Pilates will greatly enhance your energy and lifestyle. Katie’s goal as an evolving instructor is to inspire her clients to feel more empowered in their daily lives and favorite activities. She hopes you too will find Pilates integrates your body and mind through movement, resulting in a healthier happier you.

Shana has spent most of her career working at health care facilities, physical therapy clinics, universities, education facilities, and health clubs around the country in a variety of areas of expertise such as training and mentoring Pilates teacher trainees, working with people with HIV/AIDS and autoimmune diseases, and doing Muscle Activation Techniques and Pilates for clients with chronic pain associated with accidents, athletic injuries, trauma, pre and post surgery, fitness, and chronic disease. She has 14 years of experience in the field of orthopedic rehabilitation and fitness. She has received humanitarian awards for her work with HIV patients, and been a featured instructor and writer in fitness publications, and has appeared on NBC and WB2 featuring fitness trends such as BodyPump and Salsaerobics (with Jared from Subway!).