Back row: Devika Wickremesinghe, Joanie Mullen Smith, Tarquin Gill-Kehoe, Deanna Companion, Michael Phillips, CJ Holm, Philippa Anderson; Front row: Charlotte Butler Penenberg, Rachel Lozoff, Leava Hall

The acquirement and enjoyment of physical well-being, mental calm, and spiritual peace are priceless to their possessors. - Joseph H. Pilates

Kim Almquist is a Pilates instructor and dancer originally from Southern California. She became certified in Pilates by the Kane School of Core Integration in New York City after receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Through Pilates, Kim is eager to help people cultivate deeper body awareness while finding greater balance and strength. She embodies an anatomical teaching style and a continued learning approach. She recently attended FAMI (Functional Anatomy for Movement and Injuries)--a lab workshop at Mt Sinai. Kim creates work for Banana Peel Dance--an ensemble fusing dance, theater, comedy and live music. In summer 2010, she collaborated with new artists while in residence in Cork, Ireland. Kim also teaches hip hop dance to junior high students after school in Brooklyn.

Philippa Anderson's interest in movement education stems from her own experience as a dancer and a student of bodywork. Philippa discovered Pilates after suffering an injury during her last year of dance training at the University of Oregon. Initially interested in the method as a tool for her own recovery, Philippa quickly became passionate about imparting the empowering and healing capabilities of Pilates to others. Philippa became certified through STOTT Pilates in Portland, Oregon, in 2005 and since then, her teaching endeavors have taken her as far as Europe and South America. As an instructor, Philippa enjoys facilitating the individual learning process by drawing on her diverse movement background to find creative ways to challenge her students. In addition to teaching at Streamline Studio, Philippa is a Teaching Artist in New York City public schools with Dancing Classrooms, a non-profit that teaches Ballroom Dance to children as part of a social development program. Philippa also teaches Dance and Movement Improvisation to high-school students in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Philippa continues her education through Dance, Yoga and Tai Chi training.

Maggie Bennett was certified as a Pilates instructor at The Kane School of Core Integration. Her work with clients is heavily influenced by her personal study with Michelle Cohen, Body Mind Centering, the Alexander Technique, the Yogic approach to functional anatomy, her own physical practices as a professional dancer, and her experiences with injury and healing. Maggie uses touch and the Pilates apparatuses in her sessions to facilitate awareness of efficient force translation through the skeleton, which cues the neuromuscular system to respond dynamically to weight. She aims to cultivate the strength and alignment for true grounding and support of the pelvis and legs, which allows the spine to unravel towards the sky. In short, she teaches the body to allow each part to do its job in relationship to the whole, in order that each individual more fully experiences a freedom of movement in the external environment with a sense of calm and ease in the internal.

Jenny Boissere is a dancer and Pilates instructor. She was born and raised in the Big Easy with a love of food and movement. She received her comprehensive Pilates Mat and Apparatus certification through BASI (Body Arts & Sciences International) Pilates. She also holds a beginner/intermediate Pilates Mat certification through Core Pilates NYC. Because she was trained in both classical and contemporary Pilates, Jenny enjoys bringing these two approaches together to address the specific needs of each client. Jenny also leads physical activity trainings for K-5th grade teachers throughout New York City.

Elizabeth Brown grew up in Ft. Worth, Texas. She came to New York to study dance at The Ailey School in 2000. She now dances professionally with New Chamber Ballet and Ad Hoc Ballet, both based in New York City. She sought out Pilates not only to facilitate her dancing, but to increase her awareness of her breath and posture. She is constantly amazed at the ability of the human body to change and grow, and she hopes to encourage a curiosity and sense of empowerment to further that change in others. She trained at the Kane School in New York City.

Diana Deaver: Originally from Dallas, Texas, Diana Deaver graduated with honors from Florida State University, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. She currently dances professionally from Broadway houses to more intimate settings with several groups including, among others, the New York City Opera Ballet, Ballet Verite and as a founding member and Assistant Artistic Director of Adele Myers and Dancers. Diana is a certified Core Fusion instructor at the esteemed Exhale Spa in New York City and the Hamptons. Her extensive dance and yoga background qualifies her as an expert in alignment, posture, stretching, balance, and core strengthening. This allows her to create well-balanced workouts with minimal equipment at any location. Additionally, Diana completed a course in maternal fitness allowing her to train new and expecting mothers with safe and effective pre and post natal exercises. Diana enjoys challenging clients of all ages, levels and abilities and hopes to see you in one of her classes at Streamline soon.

Leava Hall has been teaching Pilates mat and equipment for six years. She graduated from The New School in Dance Therapy and Dance Education. Her approach to Pilates is traditional, with lots of stretching. She helped start a Pilates program at Crunch Fitness in 2008. She has been teaching Dance at NYU since 1990. She also loves working with children and taught at the Lee Strasbourg School for six years with children. NYU students, and foreign students. Eager to help people with body issues she now works with clients with Scoliosis, herniated discs and all-over body fatigue.

CJ Holm is a dancer and choreographer who has been studying Pilates since 2000 and teaching since 2006. CJ is a graduate of the Kane School for Core Integration. Her teaching is informed by an ongoing curiosity about the body and is supported by continuing study in dance and other mind-body forms. Her greatest hope for her students is to have a richer, more fully-integrated experience of living in their own bodies. CJ joined the family at Streamline in 2008.

Varvara Kalinin, who was born in Moscow and raised in Los Angeles, New York and Australia, studied at the School of American Ballet and earned a BFA from Stephens College in Theatre. After graduation, she spent 10 years working professionally with various theatre and dance companies nationally and internationally. Introduced to mind-body movement in Los Angeles while recovering from a dance injury, she became a devotee, becoming certified in Pilates and Gyrotonic® herself. Varvara has studied holistic healing and strengthening methods, including the Alexander technique, Feldenkrais, Thai Bodywork, and gait analysis. She also has extensively studied anatomy, biomechanics, body assessment and injury prevention.

Rachel Lozoff received her Pilates Mat and Apparatus Certification at the Kane School in New York City. She is also a nationally certified massage therapist and has been teaching Pilates and doing massage since 2003. She has trained as a dancer for most of her life and has performed throughout the New York area for the past 13 years. Her teaching style has a strong emphasis on anatomy and alignment. One of her major influences is master anatomy teacher Irene Dowd with whom she has been studying since 2007.

Rebecca Lubart is a dancer and Pilates instructor originally from New York City. She graduated cum laude from The George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Theatre. She is a certified Pilates instructor through the Kane School of Core Integration with continuing education credits in Pilates through Pregnancy, Dysfunctions of the Sacroiliac Joint, Dysfunctions of the Psoas, Breast Cancer Surgeries-Muscular and Fascial Implications, and Osteoporosis In Depth: Recommendations & New Perspectives. She became actively engaged in the Pilates lifestyle when as a young dancer, poor movement patterns led her to herniating four discs in her upper back and neck, and she was left in excruciating pain. Through her own use of Pilates, she was able to rehabilitate her spine by teaching her bones and muscles how to move more efficiently and with better integration. She is so thrilled to be dancing fully again...something she never imagined possible back then. Whether your goal is to rehabilitate an injury or you are looking to tone up and get in shape, she enthusiastically believes that Pilates can bring every body to its highest potential.

Charlotte Butler Penenberg has been teaching Pilates since 1998 and is the owner of Streamline. Trained through PhysicalMind Institute in New York City, and a member of the Pilates Method Alliance, she has studied with Jean-Claude West, Madeline Black, Irene Dowd, and Kate Smith. Originally from Chicago, she received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin--Madison in 1988. She is a certified massage therapist and brings 18 years of experience in massage and structural bodywork to her Pilates practice. She enjoys working with people of all ages and levels; from those rehabilitating injuries or suffering from chronic pain to those who want to stay fit and strong. She is currently getting her Masters Certificate in Pilates from The Pilates Center in Boulder, Colorado, and also manages a Pilates studio out of the Heights Casino on Montague Street. She lives with her husband and two daughters here in Brooklyn Heights.

Joanie Mullen Smith enjoyed a long career in modern dance and has been teaching Pilates for over 10 years. She has danced with numerous choreographers performing and teaching workshops in the U.S. and abroad. Her training and teaching Pilates started with Peter Vaillancourt in New York City where she worked with young dancers from School of American Ballet and Alvin Ailey. She went on to complete her certification in 2001 with Romana Kryzanowska, who has spent a lifetime continuing the work of Joseph Pilates. Joanie continues to study with Romana's Pilates. She was an adjunct instructor of dance in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Tulane University in New Orleans where she started the first course in Pilates at Tulane University. Joanie last performed in DUMBO with Tsunami Dance Company of New Orleans. Today Joanie continues to teach Pilates in Manhattan and, since moving to Brooklyn in 2007, at Streamline Studio. Joanie also teaches dance to children at Plymouth Church School in Brooklyn Heights. She is the mother of two boys.

Jacqueline Tuorto is certified in both Gyrotonic (Studio Riverside) and Pilates (The Kane School of Core Integration). Jacqueline is also an American Council on Exercise certified personal trainer. Ms. Tuorto has studied anatomy with Kelly Kane and Irene Dowd. She has an extensive Background in Dance, earning her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Ballet from Point Park College. Jacqueline enjoys utilizing all of her movement and fitness experience with sound biomechanics to create effective and safe workouts for her clients.

Alice White is a dancer, choreographer, Pilates instructor and massage therapist living in New York for the last 5 years. She received dual degrees in Dance and Business Administration from UC Berkeley in 2004. During this time she also studied massage with Steve Coleman of Golden State Health and the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Alice's classes combine elements of her training in dance and massage, focusing on fluidity and length while achieving a balancing of muscular groups and strengthening of the core. She is very excited to be a part of Streamline's team.

Josephine Yeh received her Pilates mat and equipment training through Kinected and the Kane School. She works with her clients to develop greater physical intelligence, empowering them to move with grace, strength, clarity and awareness. Josephine is also a modern dancer, a former lawyer, and an avid cook and traveler.