Instructors
Meet our certified trainers and instructors who are dedicated to helping you reach your personal well-being and health goals:
- Aimee McDonald-Anderson
- Josefin Ekstrom
- Wendy Holden
- Hanna Zipes
- Chris Mackowiak
- Beth Wielinski
- Elaine Economou
- Carolyn Nouhan
- Laura Shope
- Amy Burnett
Aimee McDonald-Anderson
Gyrotonic®, Gyrokinesis®, Pilates, certified Master Trainer Gyrotonic®, certified Master Trainer Gyrokinesis®, STOTT Pilates Instructor Trainer
Aimee McDonald- Anderson received her BFA in Dance from the University of Michigan. In 1997 she was in the first group to go through full STOTT Pilates training at Equilibrium Studio in Bloomfield Hills Michigan. After teaching pilates there full time for a year and a half, she opened The Movement Center in Ann Arbor.
She fell in love with Gyrotonic® in 2000 and traveled around the country to pursue her training and certification in both Gyrotonic® and Gyrokinesis® studying with many Master Trainers, most extensively with Juergen Bamberger.
She is a qualified pre-trainer for Gyrotonic®, Certified Gyrokinesis® Master Trainer, and enjoys sharing her love of the work with future teachers. She has studied the therapeutic applications of Gyrotonic® with Paul Horvath, and continually strives to deepen her understanding and approach to the work through numerous workshops and courses.
Founder and Artistic Director of Terpsichore's Kitchen Dance Theatre, Aimee continues to present her choreography and to produce showcases of independent choreographers' work. Annually she produces Dancing in Summer.
Wendy Holden
Gyrotonic®, Gyrokinesis®, STOTT Pilates
Wendy is a STOTT trained and certified instructor with seven years prior experience in teaching Classical Pilates. For more than 25 years she has taught dance and fitness in Ann Arbor to groups ranging in age from 3 to 83.
Her experience includes Celtic and Highland dance, world rhythms and international dance, as well as fitness classes that run the gamut from cardio, sculpt, and stretch, to prenatal and senior exercise.
In her fitness career she has nurtured her natural talents and developed patience and sensitivity to the needs and special concerns of many different populations. Individualized attention is the hallmark of her teaching philosophy.
As a teacher she aims to provide informed corrections to maximize the benefit of each movement and to prevent injury. Most importantly she knows the greatest gift she can give is good health.
Hanna Zipes
Pilates
Hanna holds certifications through The Pilates Center and Centerspace Pilates Studio. In 2003, after a car accident, Hanna began taking pilates lessons as part of her rehabilitation. She tried physical therapy, pain killers, and yoga, and found that pilates was the only method that fully relieved her chronic pain.
Following the completion of her undergraduate studies at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, she decided to dedicate herself to studying pilates and entered a year long teacher's certification course. Hanna studied with a number of skilled instructors including master trainers Amy Alpers, and Kim Haroche.
In 2006 Hanna began working full time as a pilates instructor and continued to improve her skills and methods by taking specialized courses in pilates. Through her work with clients of different ages and body types, all with different goals, she has become increasingly aware of the relationship between the mind, body, and spirit in effecting long-term changes in one's life. Hanna strives to inspire her clients to believe in the full physical potential of their bodies, and at the same time, to be patient with themselves and set realistic goals.
Hanna has a Bachelors of Arts in Studio Art and in English Literature and has applied her observation and communication skills to her pilates work. Hanna strongly believes that a healthy mind resides in a healthy body and because of this she has recently relocated to Ann Arbor to pursue a Master's Degree in social work with a focus in mental health.
Hanna's long term goal is to work both as a pilates instructor and as a mental health therapist, helping people of all backgrounds in their struggles towards mental and physical health.
Chris Mackowiak
STOTT Certified
Chris has been teaching fitness classes since 1991. Having taught aerobics, prenatal and postnatal, seniors programs, and resistance work she developed a strong interest in anatomy and alignment and in the value of translating awareness to her classes.
It was a natural progression for her into the STOTT Pilates work. While training in STOTT Pilates she realized she had found a fitness modality that makes sense for everyone.
Chris strongly believes in the Pilates work and enjoys working with a wide range of individuals; from athletes to those with physical challenges.
Beth Wielinski
Beth Wielinski is a classically trained dancer with a background in the visual arts. She has a Masters of Fine Art in Choreography and Performance from the University of Michigan and a Bachelors of Fine Art in photography from the University of Toledo.
As a native Toledoen, Wielinski danced with the Resident ballet company Toledo Ballet for many years before making the switch to modern dance.
She now choreographs and performs modern dance works. She is on the dance faculty of University of Michigan-Flint and is head of the dance minor program.
Aside from her modern experience, she has explored many Eastern dance forms and movement systems such as Bharata Natyium, Javanese classical dance, Butoh, and Yoga. It was not until the summer of 2000 while attending Maureen Fleming's Dance Workshop in Oneonta New York, that she experienced Gyrokinesis®.
After starting each day of the workshop with an hour and a half of Gyrokinesis® she was in love with the system. Upon returning to Ann Arbor from her trip, she started doing Gyrotonic® rehab work with Aimee McDonald on a weekly basis for existing dance injuries.
It is here where she found the most relief, inspiration and growth through movement she had ever experienced in her life. "Gyrotonic® is healing, exploratory and awakening!"
Elaine Economou
Pilates
Elaine has over 25 years of experience in movement, dance, and exercise. As a dancer in New York and Chicago, Elaine studied ballet and modern dance with some of the most well known teachers of the time. Arriving in Ann Arbor in 1995, Elaine began to develop her interest in Pilates and studied Core Grace Pilates before her comprehensive training in STOTT Pilates began several years ago.
Elaine is deeply committed to developing training programs which enable her students to achieve health and wellness goals in a supportive environment.
Using STOTT Pilates as the foundation and drawing from her experience in movement, Elaine has developed a unique approach to private training which builds a strong, healthy body and an awareness that leads to mind and body alignment.
With a strong commitment to the science of the body, healing benefits of movement and personal development, Elaine continues to expand her knowledge and experiences in Pilates, Yoga, Continuum Movement, and Gyrotonic®
Carolyn Nouhan
Pilates, Gyrotonic®, Gyrokinesis®
Carolyn is especially skilled at instruction and attention to detail as it relates to movement, posture, and functional strength through the practice of McEntire Pilates® and the Gyrotonic® system.
Carolyn has received credentials including a Comprehensive Professional Certification in McEntire Pilates® Mat, Reformer, and Cadillac instruction and carried out her training directly under Trent McEntire. Carolyn is working as an apprentice toward her certification as a Gyrotonic® and Gyrokinesis® teacher.
Carolyn's experience with rehabilitation in a clinical setting enhances her understanding of how these movement systems support physical functioning for clients emerging from physical therapy. Her personal experience has influenced her understanding of movement as it relates to performance for those who have entered the post-rehabilitation phase.
Carolyn specializes in assisting clients as a post rehabilitation level in areas such as spine disorders, pelvic floor dysfunction, and traumatic brain injury, as well as supporting the fitness goals of a general population.
She works with University of Michigan students to meet their performance standards in the areas of voice, athletic and dance, as well as clients who have seeking to improve their everyday work and health lifestyle.
Carolyn is a graduate of the University of Michigan. She has taught at The Spine Program at the University of Michigan, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She has pursued Gyrotonic® and Gyrokinesis® training under Master Trainers Juergen Bamberger and Aimee McDonald-Anderson.
Laura Shope
Nia
Laura fell in love with Nia from her very first experience when she recognized Nia as the body-centered approach to accessing the personal wisdom and awareness which precedes transformation. Not to mention that it's just darn fun! She completed her Nia White Belt training in July 2007.
Laura is the founder and creative director of Bluefire Institute for Sustaining Energy, Awareness, Renewal, Transformation, and Healing in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Laura's work with people guides them to make the choices that allow them to feel fully alive, right here, right now.
Josefin Ekström
Gyrotonic®, Gyrokinesis®, Pilates, STOTT Pilates Instructor Trainer
Josefin Ekström is fully certified in STOTT Pilates and is also a STOTT Pilates Instructor Trainer. She holds a certification in Pre and Post-Natal Pilates and is trained in Gyrotonic® and Gyrokinesis®.
Sadly for us in Ann Arbor Josefin has moved back to Sweden and has opened a studio there. We wish her well!
Amy Burnett
Pilates, STOTT Certified
We're sad to see Amy move on, back to California. It has been such a pleasure to have her be a part of our studio and we will miss her! We wish her all the best of luck!
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