Trainers| > | Elizabeth Donahue |
| > | Nicole Dessoye |
| > | Frances White |
| > | Fran Sholly |
| > | Jessica Adams |
| > | Amanda McGovern |
| > | Michelle Mangelli |
| > | Iddy Thompson |
Elizabeth Donahue
Owner/Director, Certified GYROTONIC® and Pilates Instructor
Elizabeth is a certified Pilates and Gyrotonic instructor. She began training in Pilates as a modern dance student at the University of Utah and soon combined her joy for movement with her interest in body mechanics. She completed her Pilates certification work in 2000 with Madeline Black, a nationally recognized leader in Pilates and co-founder of Integrated Teacher Training. She was certified in the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM ® in May of 2003 with Master Teacher Debra Rose.
Elizabeth began teaching at A Body of Work with Jean Sullivan and was a senior trainer when she left in 2004 to open The Corner Studio. Her training is influenced by a of a number of esteemed teachers in the Bay Area known for their in depth work in Body Correctives including Jean-Claude West and Anna Schmitz. She continues to advance her studies in both Pilates and Gyrotonic, most recently completing a 6-day seminar for Medical Applications applied to Gyrotonic training. Elizabeth’s goal in her work is to help each client move towards his or her optimal health in body and spirit.
Nicole Dessoye
Owner/Director-Certified Pilates Instructor and Rehab Specialist
Nicole Dessoye initially found Pilates as a dancer in Philadelphia while rehabilitating from a dance injury. She continued Pilates training in New York City as she found it to be beneficial to her professional dance career and essential in keeping her strong and injury free.
Nicole earned a B.F.A in dance at University of the Arts in Philadelphia, including areas of concentration in kinesiology and anatomy. In 2000 she received her Pilates teacher certification from Ellie Herman. Before opening The Corner Studio in 2004 Nicole taught Pilates at The Ellie Herman Studio as well as The Sanchez Street Studio and continues to learn and educate herself more about The Method.
Nicole’s motivation to teach Pilates comes from a desire to share information with others that she has learned through dance and movement study. She believes personal responsibility for healing is important so she strives to instruct clients on how to take healing into their own hands so that they can be pain free and self-reliant.
Frances White
After dancing professionally for 15 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, Frances White became a Certified Pilates and Advanced Gyrotonic Trainer. Both knowledgeable and gentle, Frances currently specializes in injury rehabilitation with an emphasis on pelvic/spinal support and Gait Pattern.
She has successfully worked with clients that have had a variety of injuries and surgeries including: knee and/or hip replacement, arthroscopic knee surgery, cervical and lumbar bulging discs, TOS, Pre and Post partum conditioning and most recently nerve degeneration.
Frances is also highly skilled in Swedish, Deep Tissue/Sports and Cranial-Sacral massage and in 2004 Frances became a Somatic Experiencing Trainer. Developed by Dr. Peter Levine, Somatic Experiencing offers a safe, gradual way to resolve many of the physical effects caused by overwhelming events such as car accidents. This process gently restores the body's correct firing patterns in the muscular-skeletal system, restoring natural function, strength and fluidity. It has been a great joy and honor for her to support her clients and witness their transformation.
Fran Sholly
Certified Pilates and GYROTONIC® Instructor, LMT
Fran Sholly began her 20-year journey into the world of bodywork as an actress and singer seeking to create a balanced, strong, and fully expressive body. She brings the fruits of this enriching exploration to her teaching of the "P" method, also drawing upon Yoga and the Feldenkrais method. Fran was certified in the Gyrotonic Expansion System in 2001, the Hendrickson Method of Orthopedic Massage and Manual Therapy in 2005, and also Trager bodywork.
Jessica Adams
Certified Pilates and Gyrotonic Instructor
Jessica Adams has been working as a certified trainer since February, 2000. She taught Pilates and Gyrotonic at the studio A Body of Work for 5 years until joining The Corner Studio team.
Fascinated with her exploration of the function of the human body, Jessica is greatly inspired by and devoted to educating people about their bodies. She has studied Pilates for nearly ten years, primarily with Carrie Field, Mercy Sidbury and Elizabeth Larkham, Jean Sullivan and received her certification through Madeline Black. She studied Gyrotonic® with Debra Rose, Elizabeth Dawson, Tamara Yoneda, and Mike Luque at White Cloud West, and was certified in Gyrotonic® in February, 2002. She loves the way Gyrotonic® helps clients expand their movement range and work with the energy in the body. She is also certified in Yamuna Body Rolling, a muscle releasing massage technique using small balls.
Jessica applies her experience as a professional modern dancer, choreographer and Yoga practitioner to her teaching style. She has had the honor of working with acclaimed choreographers Kim Epifano, Joe Goode, Scott Wells, Rapt Performance Group and others. She is the founder of Enchanted Ridge Dance Retreat, which focuses on bringing dance artists in touch with nature while dancing. She is incredibly happy to work amongst The Corner Studio’s talented and professional staff.
Amanda McGovern
Certified GYROTONIC® Instructor
Amanda McGovern began dancing ballet at age 8. As a teenager, she realized how the body can be used as an expression for emotion and soon became a professional ballet dancer performing with Nevada Ballet Theatre, Sacramento Ballet and Oakland Ballet.
She began studying modern dance to understand different motivations to put the body in motion and was invited to work with Lisbon Dance Company in Portugal, locally with Robert Moses and Kunst-stoff, and toured internationally with Moving Arts Dance.
Shortly after, she discovered Gyrotonic and fell in love with the body expansion system that helps to awaken an internal dance and meditative practice. She is very happy and fortunate to be working at the Corner Studio sharing her knowledge of body awareness and conscious exercise. Along with Gyrotonic, Amanda enjoys teaching ballet and creative movement to children and young adults.
Michelle Mangelli
bio coming soon.
