Instructors

Michael Alba teaches our Dancer Yoga Work-out and Vinyasa Flow classes.  Certified in the vinyasa and Hatha traditions, Michael enjoys inspiring students to grow and challenge themselves through yoga.  His teaching combines focus, movement, precision and gentleness in a natural and unrushed manner.  
Michael first came to yoga when he took a corporate yoga class at a small law firm.  He built on his earlier gymnastics training to pursue this endlessly stimulating and nurturing discipline.  He has studied extensively with David Magone, Kara Jasinski and Mimi Loureiro and completed his certification at Frog Lotus Yoga, under the instruction of Jacqueline Heisel and Jenn Yarro.   For more information on Michael, visit www.michaelalbayoga.com.

Anita Botnen Fisher's KinderGym classes will emphasize "FUNdamentals" of fitness including balance, agility, flexibility, and strength.  Her (Dancers') Stretch class is a unique program she developed with Parren and Trinidad, blending stretching and exercises to promote good posture, flexibility and strength. Her Rise and Stretch class educates adults on correct form and methods to promote overall flexibility and performance, as well as injury prevention principles and individual issues. Anita is an Olympian gymnast who represented the Canadian gymnastics team in 1984 in Los Angeles and in 1988 was voted NCAA Division 1 Senior Gymnast of the year while at the University of Florida.  Her dance training for gymnastics was under the direction of Cirque du Soleil principal choreographer, Debra Brown. Her commitment to high-level sport and training naturally lead her to study movement and injury prevention through a degree in physical therapy.  She practiced as a sport- and orthopedic-based physical therapist at both Boston University and University of Florida.   She has taught preschool through to elite level gymnasts periodically for over 30 years.  Now a Brookline resident and mother of three children, she has renewed her appreciation of children's motor development.  She marvels at the pure joy and confidence children gain as they master body control and coordination.  Anita feels that early childhood is the essential time to teach gymnastics to nurture development and achieve key milestones as cornerstone for ballet and other dance, sports and all physical disciplines, promoting life-long enthusiasm for movement!

Ross teaches a challenging Vinyasa flow style of yoga, with meticulous attention to alignment and safety.  A Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200), Ross received yoga teacher training from Rolf Gates and Baron Baptiste (among others).  He teaches weekly yoga classes at Prana Power Yoga,  Exhale Spa and elsewhere in the Boston area.  Ross also practices Thai yoga bodywork.  Describing his philosophy, Ross writes “For me, yoga is the convergence of a lifetime of separate endeavors in self-exploration, self-healing, and self-improvement -- from martial arts to philosophy and religion, from Al-Anon to Outward Bound.  Yoga integrates all aspects of my life, helps me find clarity, gratitude and compassion, and offers a growing community of like-minded souls.  Teaching yoga is an opportunity for me to share with others what I have learned so far, to spread the joy and healing that I have found, and to deepen and strengthen my own practice.”  In his spare time, Ross is a software consultant specializing in Java and server-side technology.

Joanne teaches Toddler’s Yoga. Her yoga training includes the Radiant Child Yoga Program with Shakta Kaur Khalsa, and through Karma Kids Yoga in NYC.  She has taught yoga classes at Boston Children’s Museum, Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center, Brookline Center, and in local family and corporate daycare centers in the Boston and surrounding area.  Joanne is a social worker and currently works as a psychotherapist in Brookline. For more information on Joanne’s philosophy, approach and classes go to Yoginikids.

Catherine “Cat” Murcek is a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher at the 200-hour level and a professional modern dancer. Her Yogaworks training with Natasha Rizopoulos has been her strongest influence in her teaching, a method that combines the breath-with-movement aspect of Astanga yoga and the attention to alignment and sequencing from Iyengar yoga. Being a dancer—and having studied the body for more than half her life—she brings a refreshing and illuminating sense of body awareness through movement as well as through each and every asana. Her goal is for each of her students to learn something new in every class and to find their “edge” by finding that perfect balance between effort and ease throughout their practice. Catherine also teaches yoga at The Mount Auburn Club and teaches dance to children, as well as being a member of several local modern dance companies, including Lorraine Chapman The Company, Zoédance, and The And So No Sin Performance Troupe.

Amy’s ballet and body conditioning work spans over four decades, incorporating time-honored principles of classical ballet technique to create beautifully toned, lithe, graceful, intelligently strong, muscular bodies. She has studied ballet from childhood, both in Boston and her hometown, New York. She is well acquainted with both cecchetti and vaganova syllabi and her teaching is a classic American mixture of both. She performed in chanber companies in Boston and NYC, but ended that part of her professional life after the birth of her children. She says “One of my major ‘eureka!’ moments was the discovery that tip-top fitness can be achieved simply by doing housework on the demi-pointe.” She has taught ballet and floor barre conditioning to all ages, from pre-school to pre-professional. She additionally holds a graduate degree in special education with a specialty in dance therapy, which she practiced for four years in Massachusetts public schools.

Liz Roncka has been teaching Pilates in the Brookline area since 2003. She is certified to teach Mat Pilates, as well as Reformer, Cadillac, Chair and Barrel. Liz has had the opportunity to teach Pilates in a variety of settings from private studios to universities to a physical therapy clinic. In 2007, Liz opened her own studio Axis Pilates, LLC. Liz’s teaching style is greatly informed by her experiences as a physical therapist and a professional dancer. Liz received her Master’s Degree in Physical Therapy from Boston University in 1997 and spent over ten years in clinical practice before focusing exclusively on Pilates training. Liz’s knowledge of anatomy and physiology allows her to give her students a deeper understanding of their own body. For over a decade Liz has been performing modern dance and improvisation both locally and internationally. Her current performance projects include directing her own company lizroncka/Real-Time Performance Project and generating work as part of the Mobius Artists Group. Liz has experienced first-hand how the Pilates method can enhance dance technique, increase endurance and lower the risk of injury. She is thrilled with the opportunity to share this knowledge with young dancers and non-dancers alike. In addition to training on the equipment noted above, Liz has completed continuing education on a variety of subjects including Prenatal Pilates, Pilates for Breast Cancer Survivors, and Pilates for Individuals with Osteoporosis and Scoliosis.

Lisa Simon has been a professional dancer, teacher, choreographer,and personal trainer for over thirty years. She spent many years touring Europe with a variety of dance companies. Locally, she has danced with everyone from the Opera Company of Boston, Jeannette Neill Dancers, to the Kamikazee Jitterbugs. She has her own repertory group, The SimonSays Dancers. Lisa was the director/choreographer for The Mainly Jazz Co. at Harvard University, and The Wellesley College Dance Co. Besides teaching her unique stretch class at many dance studios and colleges, she has taught it at many Tae Kwon Do studios and been a stretch consultant for The Boston Running Club, the Wellesley College team coaches and some of the Martial Artists in the film "Mortal Kombat".

Margaux Skalecki Medicine Dancer, BFA in Dance, Boston Conservatory, MA in Personal and Global Transformation though Performing Art Education, Lesley University, is the founder of Being Seen Being Heard®, an inter-generational, multicultural performing ensemble that includes people with different abilities. She is a registered yoga teacher, certified Roth 5 Rhythms® teacher, as well as a Reiki master, master dancer and teacher, performing artist, singer/songwriter and author of children’s books. As an advocate for children (and the inner child), Margaux has created workshops and teacher trainings, including A Teacher's Path, Magical Movement for Children that support the growth and empowerment of children and the adults who teach and love them. Her CD is Light Workers of the Dance. Look for her new release of Dancing on Holy Ground in 2010. Margaux has been teaching in the Boston, Brookline, Cambridge areas since 1991. She continues to teach throughout the New England area including Kripalu, Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in New York and Internationally. www.margauxskalecki.com