Our Instructors

Our instructors are hand picked for their outstanding knowledge of the body and excellent teaching skills.  We have a range of teachers with specialties ranging from remedial work to classical repertoire. Our teachers are registered with The Pilates Foundation, Body Control Pilates Association or Fitness Professionals. 

Melissa has been involved in health and fitness for 19 years and has accumulated a wealth of experience in many aspects of the industry. Initially trained as a Remedial Therapist, Personal Trainer and Piiates teacher in her native Australia, she arrived in the UK in 1994 and worked within a health club as a personal trainer specialising in corrective exercise and running a massage clinic. For the past 11 years, Melissa has managed her own private practice in Notting Hill as a Massage Therapist and Pilates teacher, adding Yoga to her repertoire after studying with Pattabhi Jois in India and John Scott in the U.K..

Melissa is also a qualified Body-Centred Psychotherapist and brings this understanding to working with bodies in movement and the fundamental ways in which the mind affects the body and vice versa.

Most recently, Melissa has spent a lot of time in the USA studying and teaching GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® - a method devised by Hungarian, Juliu Horvath. Melissa enjoys this technique because it sees the body as an integrated whole and satisfies the need for an exercise system to strengthen the body in all ranges of movement, on all planes with conscious use of breath.

“The focus on rhythm and joyful movement ultimately leaves the body strong yet relaxed and refreshed and the spirit uplifted. I love gyrotonic because of its’ combination of a yogic sense of the body with the freedom of dance.”

Melissa now teaches a blend of all these techniques to ensure that the best exercise or practice is given to a client at any specific time.

Ana graduated in physiotherapy in 2003. After working as a volunteer physiotherapist in Cuzco, Peru, she went on to study a postgraduate in sports physiotherapy and worked in private practice where she had the opportunity to work with musicians and dancers and to certify in Pilates Rehabilitation. Ana is also a specialist in myofascial release and cranio-sacral therapy and integrates this in the treament of painful neuromusculoskeletal conditions.

Her desire to develop her area of interest in movement dysfunction and neuromuscular re-education has lead her to work in the Pilates Studio enviroment. She has a special interest in sports injuries, work to postural related injuries and woman's health.

"My focus is on restoring efficient movement, enhancing awareness and reducing stress responses".

Ana lives in Notting Hill since 2006 with her husband and her three years old daughter and is currently undertaking a Dance Science MSc at Trinity Laban.

Daniel has been a therapist for many years. In 1988 he started taking Pilates lessons for his own benefit. Soon afterward he decided to become a teacher when he realized that the Pilates technique complements and blends perfectly with mind oriented therapies. Daniel uses his many skills to suit the technique to the individual.

“What is important to me is to help my clients achieve their goals in accordance with their personal needs and temperaments whilst creating a light hearted and relaxing environment.”

Natasha Davidson's knowledge of Pilates came from her contemporary dance background and since completing her teacher training with Alan Herdman she has spent the last 5 years working in an active rehabilitation clinic with the strong support of the physiotherapy and podiatry team.

Natasha brings to Kinesis her passion for working with postural issues and back pain management.

She also teaches Pilates and is the Sports Masseur for Jonathan Bailey - Lecturer at the British School of Osteopathy in his Hampton Court clinic.

Laura is an ex-national champion martial artist who now uses kettlebell as a quick and efficient way to keep up her strength, speed, cardiovascular fitness, power and balance. A great functional training tool - Kettlebells can be used to supplement your Pilates routine to effectively train all components of fitness.

Laura trains at Kinesis with a combination and karate drills on Sundays - call the studio for more details.

"I believe in Kettlebell because I have a life and I don't want to spend all of it in a gym - but I want the results!"

During her career as a dancer she performed many principal roles from a repertoire of classical and neoclassical ballets and in many gala performances and performed in theatres of around the globe.

Elisa was introduced to the Pilates Technique as a dancer in 1994 to recover from a prolapsed disc injury, which accidentally happened while dancing and keeps doing the exercises regularly to this day. Pilates allowed her to carry on dancing for the rest of her career and inspired her to become an instructor herself to help others.

Towards the end of her career she was introduced to the Gyrotonic System by Monica Zamora and saw potential in it straight away. This inspired her to become a Gyrotonic Teacher and later to become a Gyrokinesis Teacher.

Pole Exercise was conceived by Lucy when she noticed a growing demand for alternative fitness programmes – programmes that help you get fit, but that are fun and motivating at the same time. Having owned her own pole for many years, Lucy realized the true potential of pole as a full body workout for both men and women.

Drawing on her diverse fitness background (including experience as a scuba diving instructor and a skydiver), Lucy adapted and devised many new techniques to develop this innovative take on pole work.

Hilary is a qualified ballet teacher with more than 12 years teaching experience in the UK and abroad. As well as her work at Kinesis Studios, she is currently teaching Ballet and Pilates on the BA (Hons) Dance Theatre Programme at Laban Contemporary School.

Working with Pilates as a multidimensional conditioning programme has been of endless fascination for Hilary.

“This ideology of establishing efficacy in movement ties in with my ethos of Pilates as a tool to enhance health and vitality through the refinement of movement patterns. The challenge to cultivate an efficient and functional body kinaesthetic that enhances harmony between body and mind stimulate my practice and studies.”

Kate is a well-respected teacher at Alycea Ungaro’s Real Pilates, NYC. She was certified by the Pilates Center, Boulder CO, and has worked intensively with

Kathy Grant.  She has also earned a Certificate in Dance from the Ailey School in New York City.

“I have been practicing and teaching Pilates since 1995.  My goal is to communicate the pleasure of movement and the Method with simplicity and integrity.

I focus on conscious breathing, flow, and attention to detail, while remaining true to the Pilates method.

"I encourage my students to develop autonomy and an understanding of the underlying principles of the method.  I respectfully ask them to explore their limits and potential.” 

After years of working in the music industry and undergoing back surgery, Leeanne re-trained as a Pilates teacher under the guidance of Alan Herdman.

Leeanne had previously completed RSA Exercise to Music and Personal Training qualifications and after years of teaching various fitness classes, Leeanne found Pilates a natural progression for her.

Leeanne has taught Pilates at The Harbour Club in Chelsea, The Holmes Place group, Pilates Plus in Richmond and Bodyworks West in Notting Hill.

Having recently given birth to her second child, Leeanne brings a wealth of experience in pre and post natal Pilates to her teaching here at Kinesis.

Sandra’s background is in dance and movement; having danced professionally on the London stage and choreographing shows throughout the world for various talent in the 80’s and 90’s. Sandra then went on to train in Pilates and Remedial Technique with Alan Herdman and Lesley Ackland in London over 10 years ago.

Sandra opened Bodyworks West Pilates Studio in Notting Hill in 1998 and taught there until it’s close in 2007. During this time she continued her physical studies both in the UK and the USA.

Sandra has a keen interest working with Pregnancy and Remedial needs.

“I study Martial Arts and Yoga, which adds more depth to my teaching and I am also a Figurative Painter. My focus remains on keeping the Pilates work fresh and incorporating new approaches in the teaching techniques.

Guest Instructors

Bella is currently on leave and we look forward to welcoming her back with us at Kinesis in the new year!!

After attaining a Ba and Ma in Dance from The Laban Centre in London, Annabelle both taught and performed dance in Tokyo before training in Pilates. After qualifying as a full Pilates matwork and equipment teacher in 1998, Annabelle has accumulated a wide range of both experience and expertise in the field of teaching.

Annabelle has taught in a variety of London Pilates studios, including established Pilates Foundation training centres. She has worked alongside both physiotherapists and osteopaths, gaining a full understanding of specific physical objectives and requirements. She has taught a variety of workshops for the Pilates Foundation and been invited to teach on various training courses. 
Annnabelle is also a fully qualified Gyrotonic instructor and ran her own successful Pilates and Gyrotonic studio in London.

Her interest in teaching lies in the functional benefits of Pilates whilst allowing Gyrotonic to influence the movement quality. In turn, her background in Pilates allows clients to understand the necessity of core Pilates strength to sustain the challenging movement demands of Gyrotonic. Combined, these techniques provide Annabelle with the tools to achieve both a structured and fluid approach to teaching.

Monique is living and working in Amsterdam and we hope that she will come back very soon as we miss her and her lovely teaching!

Monique began taking Pilates lessons over 12 years ago while training to be a professional ballet dancer in Melbourne, Australia. She went on to dance with the Peter Schaufuss Ballet in Denmark and the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
In 2006 Monique returned to Europe to train to be a Pilates instructor with Alan Herdman.
I was passionate about Pilates from the very first day I was introduced to the method. It helped me enormously throughout my ballet career. It is a now real joy to see people discover Pilates for the first time and I feel fortunate to be part of their Pilates experience.
Monique also teachers pre-professional dancers at the Central School of Ballet.

We are all going to miss Mon terribly as she heads back down under but we hope that she will come back and share her new skills with us soon!

Monique is a Level 3 Pilates Instructor who began teaching in 2001.  Having taught in Australia for 5 years, Monique has come to the UK to continue her professional development.  Her teaching encompasses a wide variety of clientele, including adolescents, dancers, pre and post pregnancy and the elderly.

Being experienced in working with injury rehabilitation, pre and post surgery, Monique’s clients have included Professional sportspeople such as Australian Rugby League players, team members from the London Wasps and junior tennis players.

Martin is currently looking after his family business and teaching at Laban - he comes to Kinesis for cover in the holidays.

Martin trained as a ballet dancer at the Arts Educational Schools, London, and the Houston Ballet Academy, Texas. He danced Professionally with Ballet For All, Northern Ballet Theatre and English National Ballet.

After retiring from dancing he trained and qualified on the Professional Dancers’ Teacher Training Course at the Royal Academy Of Dance, London.

10 years ago, Martin then returned to Pilates because of his experience and appreciation of the benefits it gave him as a dancer and trained and qualified in the technique with Alan Herdman.

As well as teaching at Kinesis Studios, Martin is currently Lecturing Pilates and Ballet at Trinity Laban, a Contemporary Dance College.