Touchstone Pilates

Lisa was trained and certified through Romana’s Pilates® by
Joseph Pilates’ world renowned protégéRomana
Kryzanowska and her daughter, master instructor Sari Mejia
Santo. Over the course of two years, while working in corporate
finance full time, Lisa completed more than 800 hours of training
in New York, Boston, and Paris. Certified in all levels of Pilates
mat work and apparatus Lisa is dedicated to maintaining and
teaching the original system of exercises and philosophies
developed by Joseph H. Pilates; what is today called True Pilates.
Prior to leaving Boston Lisa was on staff with The SportsClub LA
teaching all levels of Pilates in private, semi-private, and group
sessions. Lisa is one of only two currently
accredited Romana’s
Pilates® certified instructors in Pittsburgh.
Involved in athletics her entire life, Lisa was a championship
springboard and platform diver for the Penn State University Lady
Lion diving team. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Penn State University and a Master of Business Administration from
the Katz School at the University of Pittsburgh.
It is Lisa’s belief that Pilates can benefit everyone, young and
old, from fitness enthusiast to professional athlete. Therefore,
she maintains a training philosophy of providing a safe,
challenging, and fun experience that fosters a desire for lifetime
fitness, health, balance and vitality.

Annalee was first introduced to Pilates during her time in high school at the North Carolina School of the Arts. She went on to receive her BFA with honors in dance performance from Point Park University after which she started dancing professionally with the August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble.  In 2014, she relocated to Los Angeles to continue her dance career, and her interest in Pilates was reignited after teaching at a gym alongside classically trained Pilates instructors.  Incredibly inspired by the detail and quality of the True Pilates method and instruction, she decided to embark on the long, yet extremely rewarding training process through the prestigious Romana’s Pilates Certification Program. She is so happy to return to Pittsburgh and have this wonderful opportunity to share her passion and knowledge of the work with the Touchstone Pilates community!

Christy Martin is a professional ballet dancer who has danced professionally with companies such as Texas Ballet Theater, Tulsa Ballet, and Avant Chamber Ballet. Christy started her study of Pilates and her ballet training from a young age. She has studied with many elite ballet companies and schools across the country including American Ballet Theater, School of American Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, and Walnut Hill School for the Arts. During her ballet studies she was introduced to Pilates and has used it throughout her ballet career. Christy is a Romans's Pialtes certified Level V instructor and trained under Amanda Owens at Park Cities Pilates in Dallas. She has recently moved to Pittsburgh to continue her academic education and is excited to continue to teach and grow in Romana’s Pilates.

While working at a stressful job in a law firm in
Florida, Anna received a gift certificate for Pilates classes. She
grew to look forward to her evening mat classes and always left
feeling taller, leaner and clearer of mind. It was then that she
decided to train to become a Romana's Pilates certified instructor.
Anna's desire was to make her clients feel better when they left
the studio than when they came in. Anna completed over 600 hours of
training and she attended seminars in New York, California,
Seattle, New Orleans and Florida. in 2005 Anna also became a
certified Gyrotonics instructor. Anna says, “The more you
understand the Pilates method, the deeper and more challenging it
becomes. It is a genuine mind and body connection. Anyone can jump
on a reformer and get a good workout, but not everyone is doing
Pilates if they haven't made that connection.” Anna's goal is to
teach her clients well so that they are able to carry the
principles of Pilates into everything they do.
 
We are so pleased to welcome Anna to Touchstone
Pilates. We hope that you get a chance to meet, talk with and work
with her.