INSTRUCTORS

HAVEN CARAVELLI – Master Trainer

Haven Caravelli, born and raised in Nevada County, has been a dancer since the age of two. During her formative years, she danced with several local dance studios and competed in numerous dance competitions around Northern California. Professionally, Haven has taken master classes with Los Angeles based Tremaine Dance Company and nationally recognized Dupree Dance Academy. She has taught multiple forms of dance at Sierra Dance Institute for over 12 years. To better incorporate her love of dance and respect for the human body she was certified with Integrated Teacher Training Pilates in 2005. Integrated Teacher Training is a comprehensive training program using the exercises developed by Joseph Pilates to understand and appreciate movement, with sound biomechanics. Haven is now a Master Level trainer with ITT and is excited to be the first off site certification studio and educator.  Haven is also certified in Bodykey and Master Stretch from Italy with Kelly and Victor Uygan, and Bodycode with founder Pino Carbone. Haven’s extensive training and years of teaching have made her a true healer. She works from the perspective of rehabilitation therapy as well as conditioning the body to be healthy and work more efficiently.

JULIE KOENIG – Mama Pilates and Functional Fitness, Pilates and Holistic Health

Mama Pilates & Functional Fitness – Wednesday & Friday 9:30AM-10:30AM

8- Week Post-Partum Pilates (begins February 5) – Wednesday 11:30AM-12:30PM

Facebook: MnMe Pilates & Functional Fitness
Instagram: M.n.Me Pilates
Julie Koenig has an Associates of Science Degree from Sierra College, a Diploma in Holistic Health Practice from the American College of Healthcare Sciences and is certified from Integrative Teacher Training Pilates in San Francisco. She has trained under Jean Sullivan, Haven Caravelli, Ashley Beldon and Margaret Tappan. ITT Pilates uses a strong foundation in anatomy and biomechanics to teach corrective and rehabilitative exercises.

Through low impact exercises Julie trains clients how to find proper posture, increase flexibility and gain body awareness.  With a background in holistic medicine, gymnastics, dance, Pilates and functional fitness Julie has a passion for educating others in health and wellness.  She has two sons and after the birth of her second began to focus on postpartum care.

She has over five years of experience working with prenatal and postpartum clients, specializing in classes and workshops that support women before, during and after pregnancy. Achieving solutions for total well-being is a goal of Julie’s with every client. She is an advocate of comprehensive care and educates clients how to take a collaborative approach with their health.  Julie is truly interested in supporting her client’s overall health and wellness.

“Julie is the best kid friendly Pilates instructor you could ask for. I don’t have to find a babysitter to get fit ever again.”  –  Browne Cureton – Client since 2014.

RACHEL GRIVAS – Mama Pilates & Functional Fitness

Mama Fusion – Monday 9:30AM-10:30AM

8- Week Post-Partum Pilates (begins February 5) – Wednesday 11:30AM-12:30PM

Facebook: MnMe Pilates & Functional Fitness
Instagram: M.n.Me Pilates

Rachel believes that through knowledge and guided workouts of various forms that any body can be a healthy body. It is this belief that her own practice and group classes are based upon. Rachel is certified in ITT Pilates, Bootybarre and has a certification for personal training and nutrition from Sierra College. Her background stems from many years of dance training, cheerleading and gymnastics.

Combining functional fitness, Barre and Pilates Rachel’s classes are always unique, effective and safe for any fitness level whether you are a beginner or have had many years of fitness training. She harnesses the power of music during her classes which she believes make exercise feel more like fun rather than exercise.

Rachel is the Mother of one year old Maverick who inspired her to start the Post-Partum Pilates Series with business partner Julie Koenig. Together they help new moms gently get back into their bodies with focus on rebuilding the pelvic floor, healing diastasis recti and regaining strength after birth. Rachel believes the more you move the happier you will be.

“Rachel makes us feel like badasses.” -Gabby T (long time student of Mommy and Me functional fitness)

BETH KOPPE – Pilates and Personal Training

Facebook: Beth Koppe

Beth, a competitive athlete all her life, enjoys skiing, mountain biking and riding dirt bikes in and around the Tahoe area. Throughout high school and college she played soccer, basketball and track and field. Beth has worked as a snowboard instructor, an outdoor guide, and coached mountain biking for almost 20 years. She competitively raced mountain bikes for 10 years and in 2005 she won the US National Championship in Downhill Mountain Biking.

Eventually accumulated injuries and limited mobility led Beth to discover Pilates. The benefits of Pilates training were immediately beneficial. Beth experienced Pilates from the ground up. She came into the studio barely able to move and through her Pilates training is now more mobile and more physically fit than she has ever been.

Beth is certified as a Pilates Instructor from the Integrated Teacher Training program in San Francisco. She has trained in functional anatomy, postural analysis, mat, and apparatus Pilates. Pilates training can rehabilitate injuries, increase mobility, improve balance, and develop strength and fitness. Wherever you are on the spectrum, Pilates can really improve the quality of movement in your life.

ERIC KENYON – Form is Function

Monday, Wednesday and Friday 7:00AM-9:00AM

Monday 6:30PM-7:30PM

Wednesday and Friday 5:30PM-6:30PM

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Instagram: _formisfunction_

YouTube: Form is Function

Website: Form is Function

I am the owner, founder and chief instructor of Form is Function, based in Grass Valley, California. It is my good fortune to guide professionals and amateurs to success in their careers and physical goals since 1999. These include professional snowboard racers, volley ball players, dancers, acrobats, strength coaches, military special forces, wildland and urban firefighters, LE officers,  and martial arts instructors. Also high level competitors in road bike racing, mountain biking, triathlon, rock climbing, golf, soccer, rugby, powerlifting, strongman/strongwoman sport, Scottish Highland games, jiu-jitsu, judo, cage fighting, and whitewater kayaking. 

If you are not an athlete, maybe even severely challenged: injured, disabled, senior, very weak, or deeply de-conditioned, FIF has helped many people like you. If you feel you have been under-served or left out by mainstream fitness culture, we want to meet you. 

In the Sierra foothills since 2008, Form is Function has a unique reputation for safety. A large number of local clinicians and other professional healers send their patients to us while in treatment. The healers trust their people will be safe, and that they will do exercise that powerfully supports the progress of treatment, or improves health and quality of life  without impeding treatment.

At FIF we are are trained and experienced in many modes and methods of physical practice. We are beholden to none. These methods are only tools. Like a hammer or saw to a master builder. Our unique ability is finding clarity for you and your goals, the reality of your starting point, and then bringing you safely and swiftly to your goals, and usually  well beyond. 

Our only focus at Form is Function is results. This simple  intention makes our process safer, quicker, more efficient, and unfamiliar looking compared to what is typically experienced on the American fitness landscape. We create success.

CHANTHOU LAM – Afro Funk/Hip Hop Dance

Family Funk & Groove – Friday 3:00-3:45PM

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Chanthou Lam is a human being who is realizing more and more how interactions with the people around her, as well as the connections with the world that surround her is vital to her happiness. She is a mother of three beautiful, bright daughters who consistently keep her on her toes, giving purpose and meaning on a daily.

Before relocating in Summer 2016 to Grass Valley, she was a dance professor for American River College teaching jazz, hip hop, contemporary dance and a HIIT fitness class. She holds a well deserved MS in Kinesiology with a focus on Movement Studies and a BA in Dance and Theatre from California, State University of Sacramento. Chanthou has taught dance at Sacramento Charter High School and the Visual and Performing Arts Charter School concurrently serving as the artistic director for the dance company on campus. During her last year at SCHS, Chanthou assumed artistic direction for the campus’s all girl step team, MISSES, managing performances for both the dance company and step team on and off campus which included festivals, fundraisers, stage productions, downtown business events, and even a mayoral inauguration.

Chanthou continues to train and dance as much as possible with all of the beautiful people in the dance community, including her longtime mentor and professor, Dr. Linda Goodrich in an Afro Caribbean dance company, Sacramento/Black Art of Dance (S/BAD), with Beatriz Godiñez-Muniz in an Afro Cuban Folklorico drum and dance company, Ebo Okokán, and with Professor Lorelei Bayne in a modern/contemporary movement exploration group, Dancers Investigative Group (DIG) and more recently, Samba Lua with Deanna Figueira. She hopes to offer her own dance classes in the very near future to serve the Nevada County area.

Dance is Chanthou’s way of life. It feeds her soul and would like to thank every single person that has encouraged her to thrive through her craft, especially her husband, Andy Shepard, who has been by her side for nearly 18 years.

LAURA WAGNER BALCH – Pilates

Mat Pilates – Saturday 8:30AM-9:30AM

Website: Pilates with Laura Wagner Balch

Laura Wagner Balch was certified with Integrated Teacher Training Pilates in January 2017 after practicing mat and apparatus Pilates with the Center of Movement for fifteen years.  An educational researcher and writer by profession (Stanford PhD., 1983)  Laura has realized the benefits of Pilates in addressing common ailments of a former sedentary life style and the opportunities afforded by engaging the body’s mind and core to move differently in the world. Her Mat 1-2 class introduces clients to the basic building blocks of Pilates, with both Essential and Mat exercises tailored to address clients’ needs and growth.

NICKY MALONEY – Pilates

8-Week Special Combo Pilates – Wednesday 8:30AM-9:30AM and 11:00AM-Noon

Mat Pilates – Tuesday 5:30PM-6:30PM

Equipment Pilates – Monday & Wednesday 5:15PM-6:15PM

Instagram: PilatesWitch

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Nicky Maloney has a passion for transformation, healing and personal growth in body, mind and spirit. Nicky is an instructor of ITT Pilates and Inner Radiance Qigong. Working with individuals to help improve their lives, achieve their goals, experience more joy, love, fulfillment, healing, personal freedom and care well for themselves is most rewarding to her. Her offerings incorporate aspects of Spirituality and the Consciousness of Loving which may include prayer, affirmations, meditation and mindfulness practices, guided visualizations and inner journeys and exploration. Nicky is committed to helping others and being of service to the world to create more peace, love and happiness in our community and on the planet.

SARAH HOOLEY – Studio Owner

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Sarah Hooley began her education in the body on her 8^th birthday when her parents took her to her first gymnastics lesson.  Over the next 10 years she would learn about the body in a very dynamic way eventually becoming a nationally competing Level 10 Gymnast.  After she retired at the ripe old age of 18, she started coaching at Miyagi Gymnastics Academy in Auburn, CA where she coached the Competitive Girls Team for another 10 years.  Sarah trained with Janice Gagnon of Spirit Winds Thai Massage in Northern Style Thai Massage and is a Thai Massage Therapist.  She has over 400 hours of training in Northern Style Thai Massage, Nerve Touch and Thai Foot Massage.  Being a competitive athlete was not without its injuries and always seeking to find balance and understanding of the body, she found her way to Center of Movement and began her Pilates journey. Her love of teaching coupled with her love of movement lead Sarah to become a Pilates Instructor furthering her continued exploration of the body.  Sarah is a certified Pilates Instructor through Integrative Teaching Training Pilates based in San Francisco, studying under Jean Sullivan and Haven Caravelli.  She is certified in Mat and Apparatus Pilates including the Reformer, Cadillac, Wunda Chair, Ladder and Barrel, the Small Arc and the Magic Circle.  Pilates has been the missing piece for Sarah and an invaluable tool in her life to heal injuries, recover and find strength after the birth of her daughter, and to gain overall balance.  Pilates is a mind, body practice creating stability and mobility in both. Consistency and commitment have been the greatest assets on her journey in the body.  Try taking 1 hour a week to take care of your body and you will begin to feel and see a difference.  Sarah teaches Private and Semi Private Lessons.

CATHERINE STIFTER – Restorative Exercise and Natural Movement 

Restorative Movement – Thursday Noon-1:00PM

Website: Your Movement Project

Instagram: YourMovementProject

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Catherine looks forward to long and active life, moving with ease, strength and grace every day. She is certified by Nutritious Movement as a Restorative Exercise Specialist. She credits this method to her continued healing from serious injuries (leg fractures, back pain) beyond surgery and physical therapy. In her 60s, she is an avid whitewater raft guide, backpacks and hikes the Sierra and walks daily, in minimal shoes and barefoot. She continuously practices the movements and alignments that she teaches. Catherine offers a weekly class, personal coaching and focused workshops. “You must become aware of all the ways your preferences reinforce the former version of yourself and allow your state of health to perpetuate.” – Katy Bowman, founder of Nutritious Movement.

GABRIEL CESTA – Pole Fitness

Pole Fitness – Monday 5:00-6:00PM, Wednesday 7:00-8:00PM

Open Pole – Monday 6:00 – 6:30PM

Instagram: GrassValleyPoleFitness

Gabriel Cesta has a background in pole dance, gymnastics, and yoga. He began his yoga practice at the age of 8 at his family’s yoga studio. With a mother who teaches Bikram Yoga and a father who teaches both Bikram Yoga and Baptiste Method Yoga, he was inspired to share the many gifts of yoga. In July 2015 he became certified in the Baptiste Method Vinyasa Flow at Power Yoga on Main Street. By August 2015 he was teaching both Vinyasa Flow and Yoga Sculpt. While exploring new practices he fell in love with Vertical Fitness and participated in the 2018 Northern California Pole Presentation. With a deep passion for physical and spiritual growth, he is excited to share Vertical Fitness with everyone.

JULIE BANWELLUND – Buti Yoga

Buti Yoga – Tuesdays 9:30-10:30AM

Instagram: yoga_by_julie

Julie has a background in yoga and art. She studied Digital Media Studio Art and loved bellydancing in College. She loves creating, has a laser cut art business and enjoys learning new skills.

After a rough postpartum recovery from her second son, she found a boutique gym that paired strength, conditioning and kettlebells with self love. It reignited her love of fitness. While she thrived in weight training, she missed her yoga practice and discovered Buti Yoga.

Buti Yoga was the perfect mix of power yoga, cardio, dance and creativity. She felt an immediate connection to it, certified, and brought the practice back to their gym in Paradise, where it flourished.

Everything changed on November 8th, when the Campfire destroyed her town, home and community and sent her family on a harrowing 4 hour journey to safety.

Julie has recently relocated to the Grass Valley area with her husband and their two young sons. She is excited to connect with the community and share her passion for teaching Buti Yoga.

Julie has her 200 hour RYT and is also certified in Merge: the Practice which incorporates mindful, fluid movements that balance the body’s fascial lines and reconnect our awareness of our bodies.

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