Senior Instructor, GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® Master Trainer
Preferred Prop: “Foam roller – it can be used as a massage & myofascial release tool, to challenge balance & stability, and to provide proprioception, facilitate proper alignment, and promote increased range of motion.”
Michelle has been helping people move better, feel better, and perform better for almost 20 years through mind-body fitness and movement disciplines. She is a Master Trainer of the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®, a senior Pilates instructor, an all-levels CoreAlign instructor, and a certified MELT Hand and Foot Treatment instructor.
Michelle is the creator and official teacher of the GYROTONIC® Applications for Equestrians Course and the GYROKINESIS® Applications for Vocal Production Course. She is also the creator of Vocalates™ – Pilates Applications for Vocal Production.
A graduate of the Kane School and a “Pioneer” Pilates Method Alliance certified instructor, Michelle was a long-time student of the late “first generation” Pilates Master Teacher Kathleen Stanford Grant. She is also certified in both prenatal and postpartum Pilates, as well as Equilates – a Pilates-based cross-training program for equestrians developed by Betsy Steiner.
Michelle has studied extensively with anatomist and neuromuscular therapist Irene Dowd, including courses in Kinesthetic Anatomy and the Biomechanics of Motion, PNF patterns, Gait, and Ideokinesis. She also regularly takes workshops with Anatomy Trains creator Tom Myers, somatic educator Eric Franklin, and Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement Master teacher David Zemach-Bersin, among others. She studied the Alexander Technique with the late Marjorie Barstow, Taijiquan with Dee Chao, Ben Lo, and Don Ahn, and Ba Gua Zhang and Qi Gong with Tom Bisio. She also studied yoga from the time she was in her teens.
During college, Michelle was a Red Cross Water Safety Instructor, teaching swimming and life saving to people of all ages. She was also assistant coach of the girls’ gymnastics team at the Y.W.C.A. in Newark, Delaware. Michelle is a graduate of the Theatre department at the University of Delaware and attended the acting program at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.
