Instructors at Pink House Studio

Amy Parnell E-RYT, Yoga

     I am amazed everyday by the gift of Yoga. Whether it is a growing inner connection to myself or meeting wonderful people Yoga is the source. According to my mom, I began practicing Yoga on PBS with Lilias Folan, a child in Child’s Pose. Some years later I began the practice once again, recovering from knee injuries and looking for a way to alleviate back pain caused by scoliosis. The positive affects on my body and mind led me to earn a 200 Hour Teacher Training Certificate and am a Experience Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) with Yoga Alliance. For the past three years I have had the honor to teach in community colleges, studios, and health clubs. In all the classes; no matter age or ability, simply being in the moment of the breath a greater understanding of who we are and our connection to one another is attained…this is Yoga.

Rebecca Schuster Bio

         I was introduced to yoga by my mother and sister at a neighborhood studio in my native city of New York. Since then I have practiced at different studios in various cities.
I am a graduate of Kanyakumari's Yoga Teacher Training program under Sarah Filzen. This program taught me not only the physical intricacies of asana but also energetic anatomy as well as a basic foundation in Pranayama (Yogic breath work) and yoga's sister science Ayurveda. This program has broadened my knowledge of yoga and also how much more there is to learn.
      I love yoga in that my practice is ever evolving and deepening. Yoga brings stability and openness to one's mind and body. A greater understanding and acceptance of one's self and place in the universe. My classes aim at giving a sense of empowerment and grace to people. I also aim to help people become more aware of their breath and internal movements. The practice of yoga is a life long lesson that anyone can learn. I aim to continue learning and to be inspired by those who attend my classes.

 

Tom Thoreson Contact Improvisation

     Tom Thoreson is a dancer, teacher, trainer and artist who has a passion for dancing which he likes to share with other people.  His movement practice has included Contact Improvisation since 1986 and includes the forms of modern dance, martial arts, somatic body work, and athletic training.

Eileen Nyholt KIS Yoga

        I started my relationship with Yoga at the age of 16. I was bright eyed and seeking the answers to BIG questions. I practiced sporadically, on my own for many years. After graduating from college I started a yoga class and met a teacher who greatly inspired me. Her name is Linda Pon Owen, previously Linda Ryan. She taught through her actions, lifestyle and quietude. I studied with Linda for 10 years and when she moved away she asked me to take some of her classes.

          I have been teaching yoga for eleven years. I have taught beginning and advanced classes through UWM and ongoing classes through the Yoga Center, Yoga Space and at HotCakes Gallery.

          The yoga that I practice is simple gentle Hatha style yoga. The class that I offer is a culmination of what I have studied and found to be helpful in my own practice.       

         I believe that Yoga is not a competition; it is a journey that can make life long changes that will enhance One’s life. You do not have to be flexible, strong, fit or young to do yoga. Yoga is for any shape or size, what is needed is an open mind. Hatha translated means to yoke, a yoke is a long pole that has a pail at each end and if weighted evenly allows the person carrying the load to comfortably carry more weight. Yoga is a discipline that brings the mind and body into balance.

          Interconnection I practice as a nurse midwife am a certified massage therapist, a mother, friend, lover and student of life. I have found that the common threads that run trough my life have been service and breath.   I was once told that as long as I serve “the People” that I would be taken care of, and have found this to be true.   Breathing is obviously essential to life but is totally taken for granted.   Breath becomes the focus of childbirth, parenting, relaxation, stress, and life.   The breath work that I have incorporated in my life has saved my life as well as enhancing it.   I hope to be able to share that with my students as well as some laughs and flexibility.

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Claire Moore,  Pilates
     BFA, CMT,PTA and Certified Pilates Instructor:  My movement training started as a ballet dancer as a child and young adult.  My first massage course was at the age of 16 from which I was inspired enough to move to New Mexico after high school for Massage school.  I fuse my over 25 years of massage, 7 years in injury rehabilitation and movement education with my art and dance to create "Kinesthetic Coaching" I love helping people be in their bodies, easily and playfully so the energy of life can flow.

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Kate Marvel-Lewis, yoga

I truly believe that yoga is for everyone – not just the physical practice of asana, but also the transformative power of yoga as understood through ancient teachings. While the physical benefits are important, as they improve the body's strength and flexibility, the greater benefits of yoga come from developing a deeper connection to ourselves and the world around us. Through my own practice, I have found that the lessons that we learn on the mat are a reflection of what we carry into the world. Practice for me is a process of continuing to find and refine my life’s purpose. In my classes, I seek to support and learn from each person’s unique journey. My goal is to create an open, and welcoming class that offers everyone access to the physical, mental and spiritual benefits of yoga.

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Michelle Hatfield,  movemefree dance
       Stagnation breeds disease, movement frees. I don’t teach dance steps, I facilitate movement. Movement of the body, mind, and soul. In 2000, I created “movemefree” to begin this work. In these classes I create an environment that ultimately leads to the discovery of one’s own creative expression and ecstatic dance. There are no pre-requisites but a body to move in. I have worked with 1 year old children to 94 year old women. I have worked in schools, workplaces, with theater groups, with individuals, and offered workshops to the public. My classes aim to break down barriers, lose inhibitions, relieve stress, build self-confidence, provide cardiovascular activity, inspire enjoyable and empowering movement, and encourage communication within the community and with Self. I utilize a wide range of dance styles, activities, journaling exercises, and global music to create ecstatic dancelebrations through the journey of self outward to community…
I have had the fortune to study with: Chuck Davis and the African American Dance Ensemble, (1998); Haremandir Khalsa, (1999); Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater, (1999); Ola Petune Orisa Tolu Thunder Mother, (1997-2002); Starhawk, (1997-2000); Jalaja Bonheim, (2002), Gabrielle Roth and her son Jonathan Horan.
Teilhard de Chardin Said “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” With this belief, I claim ownership of and gratitude for my physical body, and as long as I’m living in it, commit to using it as a conduit for divine alignment, (in other words- to feel good!). Dance is my spiritual practice, my prayer…
Move your body, free your mind, dance your spirit…                

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Tania Fischer

         Yoga has been a part of my life since I was a little girl and my father had a yoga studio on the east side of Milwaukee in the early 70's. I was also living in an ashram in Southern India when I was 5 years old while my mother studied yoga. This early introduction to yoga & its philosophy has influenced a lot of my adult choices & I have always been interested in health & wellness especially eastern medicine. I was in a professional dance group for about 15 years & received my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from UW-Milwaukee. I was fortunate to take yoga classes from Sarah Filzen who inspired me years later to become a certified yoga instructor through Kanyakumari Ayurvedic Education & Retreat Center. It seemed natural that I would find myself on this path & I am so happy that I did. I wanted to share this gift of yoga with others and guide them on their journey to wellness. The study of yoga has a welcoming familiarity and I enjoy the mental & physical benefits. I feel blessed to have been teaching for over a year, most recently at the downtown YMCA, a local H.S. & at a studio I previously owned. My classes are influenced by the Ashtanga teachings of Pattabi Jois as well as the importance of alignment from B.K.S. Iyengar & I have taught beginner to advanced as well as Prenatal Yoga and Kid's Yoga. I feel yoga is accessible for anyone no matter what your level of flexibility. If one is willing to take that first step onto the mat and make the mind-body connection, then they will achieve a happier healthier life.

Sarah Moore
I am proud and excited to be opening this studio space with my sister.  My own personal movement experience has been centered around dance, in which I received a BFA in from U.W. Milwaukee in 1994.  After graduation I danced with Wild Space Dance Co. and received praise and was awarded grants for my own choreography.  In 1997 I moved to San Francisco to try being a littler fish in a bigger pond.  There I was exposed to so many wonderful ways of working, playing and dancing, including percussion theater, action theater and putting your rock band in the middle of your dance performance.  I was blown away by "Core" (Keith Hennesy. Jules Beckman, Stanya Kahn, Stephanie Maher and Jess Curtis) I spoiled myself with yoga classes, which could be found throughout the day all over the city. The classes I now try to create are the ones I wish I could take. Classes that mix all that I love and think we should all experience every day or at least every week!

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Arturo German Hernandez Capoeira

         better known in the world of capoeira as "Artista,"  was born in Colombia, and raised in Los Angeles. He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Professor Dan Lee's Academy of Tai Chi Chuan, Pacific Dance Academy, and the Performing Arts Center Annex before coming to dance at the Milwaukee Ballet Company.
     He still trains at the Milwaukee Ballet, with Capoeira Nagô Milwaukee (www.mkecapoeira.com), Ritmo Caliente (East Towne Ballrooms), and Ajula African Dance (Milwaukee Public Theatre). Another facet of Arturo's work is that of Spanish-language voice overs. He has worked with Nonbox Studios, Fifth Floor Recordings, and Avicom Entertainment to name a few. Also look for him in Strata Productions new film, "No God, No Master" playing the role of Mario Buda this spring.
      Arturo is happy and excited for the opportunity to share his knowledge with the Pink House and surrounding Riverwest community. Incorporating different techniques, he hopes that students grasp a solid basic foundation of the beautiful art of capoeira.

Jacob Plevin Samba
      Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jacob graduated from DePaul University with a degree in Spanish Language and Painting. While studying Spanish in Oaxaca, Mexico, he attended a Salsa seminar, which ignited his newfound passion for dance. Back in Chicago, Jacob enthusiastically pursued his growing interest in dance throughout his college career, by studying dance alongside his degree studies, namely Modern and Traditional Latin American Dance.  
      He has since danced with and managed BAILE, a University affiliated dance troupe (Folkloric Latin American Dance), Tierra Colombian Folkloric Dance Company (Traditional Colombian Dance), Sur Taal Dance Company (Ballet, Modern and Classical Indian Dance fusion) as well as training Brazilian Samba under Samba 1 dance troupe in Chicago. Jacob has performed all over Chicago and the Midwest, including performances at annual Chicago parades, including the nationally televised Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2009.   
      Jacob has been a member of Capoeira Nagô Milwaukee (www.MKEcapoeira.com) for five years, and currently dances with the Milwaukee Public Theatre’s Ajula African Dance Company. He aims to not only create a more diverse and entertaining dance scene in Milwaukee, but to create a sense of artistic identity among Milwaukee’s vibrant communities, culturally and creatively, in an attempt to convert positive energy into artistic change and progress that we can see in our own lives and communities.

Stephanie Sandy YogaKids

        A certified YogaKids teacher and trainer.  Stephanie has practiced YogaKids with children from 3 through 17 at the Urban Ecology Center, Golda Meir Elementary School, Tippecanoe School for the Arts and Humanities and Humboldt Park School among other public and private schools throughout the greater Milwaukee area. She has a million tricks up her sleve to inspire children and keep their focus.

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John Shea Full-Wave Breathing

        I have been involved with meditation, Reiki and the “Creative Process”, since first meeting one of my teachers and friend, Swami Premananda (Judith Jarchow) in 1987. I spent many years learning from her, and there was one phrase she often repeated: “everything is within us”. These words left a lasting imprint in my awareness, which led into a journey of what this meant for me.

          The experience of working with her was the motivation into working further into the creative process, where I completed my MFA graduate degree in 1994. What I learned through part of this formal education, was how the creative process can be understood, not only as a method for creative representation, it is also a very useful within other aspects of our lives, as we open to “its” mystery.

        Part of this mystery led me into the training of Dr Tom Goode, who developed Full-Wave Breathing (FWB) from over 30 years of research into breath- work, and the many esoteric teachings therein.

         What I like and have learned from Full-Wave Breathing, it can help us actively get back into our feeling body, where the heart can become the source of our creations.

         I have been so moved through working with Dr Tom Goode, that I have wanted to share this method with others. There are many avenues that are used to assist us in opening, and I have personally found, if we are not breathing fully, the full energy of our efforts may not be engaged. It sounds so simple, to just breath but how conscious are we of this simple process, and do we let the breath take us to where it wants to lead us, back into our hearts? It is one of my efforts, that others will benefit, as I have, from Full Wave Breathing.