Pilates Instructors - Art of Pilates

Michelle Donati

Michelle completed her comprehensive teacher training with Risa Sheppard. The Sheppard Method of Pilates is based on the original Pilates passed down through Joseph himself. Michelle has her PMA certification, PSC certification, and has completed her BASI certification on injuries and pathologies. She continues to update her knowledge and strives to bring the best in innovative, contemporary exercises. Michelle prides herself in offering eclectic, challenging classes but adjusts levels according to student ability and comfort. She loves bringing variety to each session using various apparatus including the Cadillac, Wunda Chair, and Reformer. Michelle brings energy and joy to her work and thrives in dynamic environments. She looks forward to contributing to a positive and healthy lifestyle for each and every student.

Sarah Thomason

Sarah graduated Cum Laude from Loyola Marymount University in December 2009 with a BA in dance. She was certified in July 2009 in BASI pilates with an emphasis in dance and is a certified pilates trainer through the renowned Pilates Method Alliance. She has taught various places across the country including the Vail Athletic Club, Areia Spa in Vail, and various studios in the Los Angeles area. She has also taken her love of pilates to the next level and is a teacher trainer at Playa Pilates. She continues her dance career and can be seen on the Style Network dancing for Kimora Lee Simmons, and for “ENEWS Ciroc the New Year.” She choreographs for National Winning Battle Mountain High School Dance Team and continues to spread her love and passion for dance. It is through the cross training for dance that she found her love of pilates and enjoys teaching the technique to others while watching their bodies transform.

Pilates brought a new dimension and understanding of bodily mechanics that has not only helped Sarah with her dance career, but her every day physical and mental health. She loves how pilates prevents common injuries for athletes and the strenuous wear and tear we implement on our bodies daily. She loves being able to share these techniques with others and continue to grow as an instructor and share in her love and knowledge of Pilates with her fellow employees.

Aileen Moran

Aileen has been dancing all her life and has trained extensively in Ballet, Jazz, and Modern, and Tap. She has attended training intensives with American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and it was at these intensives that she discovered Pilates as a form of cross training to supplement her dance classes. She became certified in Pilates in Portland, Oregon through Pacific Northwest Pilates. She believes that Pilates plays an important role in strengthening her body and mind, and has helped her recover from and prevent injuries through her years as a Dance major at Loyola Marymount University. She loves sharing the benefits of Pilates with others and is delighted to be a part of the Art of Pilates staff.

Judy McGuire

Judy is an upbeat instructor that fell in love with Pilates during her first session in 2005. She learned from Gerard Hinderlich, a master trainer with Polestar Pilates. Judy loved that Pilates made her mind and body feel stronger in order to live her life to the fullest which sparked her interest in going more in depth by taking on the responsibility of being an instructor and passing on her life changing experience to her clients. Judy truly enjoys sharing her love and knowledge of Pilates, movement, and its healing aspects with people to help them feel longer, stronger, and better no matter where they start. She is flexible with clients who may have past or current injuries, you’ll leave your sessions feeling invigorated and ready to take on the world! In her free time you may catch Judy obsessing over College Basketball, she loves the sport and looks forward to kicking her feet up and enjoying a great game!

Rose Liljestrom

Rose got her comprehensive Pilates teacher training from BASI Pilates in Newport Beach. BASI pilates (Body Arts and Science International) is an extensive and detail oriented style of Pilates, dedicated to remaining true to art, to science, and most importantly, true to Joseph and Clara Pilates. Rael Isacowitz, the founder of BASI, is the first second generation teacher to be inducted in to PMA Legacy circle.

Movement has always been a part of Roses life as she was born in to a yoga school in Denmark where her mother taught yoga and meditation. Rose graduated from the ballet Academy of Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2002, after which she danced professionally and later taught ballet, jazz, modern and muskolosceletal training. She has extensive training in several forms of movement, breath work and aims to continually grow as a teacher, human and student of life.

Rose is passionate about maintaining the joy of movement, the attention to detail and helping her clients deepen their practice and finding the flow.

Kiana Fotoohi

Kiana discovered her love for Pilates in her freshman year taking a Pilates elective course while earning her Bachelor in Fine Arts for Dance Performance at Rutgers University. Being a mover her whole life, the practice of Pilates ignited a spark in Kiana through the physical and emotional benefits she felt after each class. She wanted to dig deeper into this practice and share it with others, not just dancers, but all bodies – to improve their mobility, coordination and find their breath. She received her Pilates certification through Polestar Pilates Education, which had an emphasis on rehabilitation of patients with spinal pathologies, previous injuries, and more. She is nationally certified (NCPT) and taught private sessions in New York City after graduating. Kiana loves helping her clients achieve their goals, see results and feel the same benefits she did with this integration of mind, body and spirit.

Now being back in her hometown of Pasadena, Kiana has had the opportunity to work with a vast range of clients in group classes or private sessions in Pasadena and Los Angeles. In Jan. 2022, Kiana started working as a Pilates Specialist in the dance program at Loyola Marymount University, training dancers in Pilates to enhance their dancing. She guides each person through the type of class their body needs, having them leave their Pilates class with more self-confidence and self-awareness. She has worked with pre/post-natal clients as well as clients with scoliosis, sciatica, herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, rotator cuff tears and more.

Abbie Bell

Abbie is a Doctor of Physical Therapy who became interested in Pilates when she started working at a clinic that integrated Pilates into Physical Therapy treatments. Since 2018 she has been using Pilates as a form of therapeutic exercise for her patients and has since completed her Pilates certification with BASI Pilates. Abbieenjoys working with people of all ages and experience levels and has an in-depth understanding of working with people with injuries. In her free time Abbie enjoys running at the beach, hiking, biking, and surfing.