ROMANA’S PILATES INSTRUCTOR TRAINERS

Lauren Stephen, RP Senior Instructor Trainer

Lauren Stephen is Founder, Director and Owner of Pilates Seattle International (PSI). She is a graduate of State University of New York, Buffalo, with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater and Dance. Lauren has been dedicated to studying the work of Joseph Pilates since 1991 with his protégée Romana Kryzanowska. In 1993 she and Lori Coleman-Brown founded PSI, the first Pilates studio in Seattle. A Romana’s Pilates Senior Instructor Trainer (Level 3), Lauren has traveled to Barcelona, London and Sydney and all around the United States, teaching workshops, clients and evaluating aspiring teachers to better prepare them to enter the Instructor Training Program. An experienced instructor, Lauren works with a wide variety of clients through all stages of life, including pregnancy and post-partum recovery. She also works regularly with young athletes. Lauren is extremely proud of the flourishing organization she has created at PSI. It’s one that has consistently offered the highest standards of Pilates instruction to clients since 1993, that thoroughly prepares the next generation of True Pilates instructors, and that provides Pilates-integrated Physical Therapy for comprehensive recovery from injuries.

GUEST FACULTY

Sari Mejia Santo, RP Grand Master/Level 1 Instructor Trainer

Romana’s daughter, Sari, also shares her mother’s lifelong passion for teaching true Pilates and has been teaching at Romana’s side for over three decades. Growing up immersed in the Pilates community, Sari’s knowledge is extensive and her skills formidable. She has an incredible gift for teaching – experienced, and warm, with great attention to detail.  Sari primarily teaches at True Pilates New York in Manhattan and travels both to our school and internationally, teaching, guiding, testing and developing the next generation of Romana’s Pilates™ instructors.

Juanita Lopez, RP Grand Master/Level 1 Instructor Trainer

As a professional dancer, teacher and choreographer at Northwestern University, Illinois, and the Evanston School of Ballet, Juanita Lopez began her study of the Pilates method in 1988. She has since been an Instructor Trainer in Evanston working closely with Romana and Sari, and teaching many of the certification seminars. She has developed a private practice with a variety of clientele including those with special needs or conditions.

Cynthia Lochard, RP Grand Master/Level 1 Instructor Trainer

Born in New York City, Cynthia Lochard began learning the Pilates Method in 1976 as a young dancer with the New York City Ballet. During this time she practiced the Pilates Method at Joseph Pilates Studio in New York City with Romana Kryzanowska. In 1987 Cynthia moved to Sydney and from 1990 till 1992 she danced with the Sydney Dance Company and later with The Bangarra Dance Theatre. In 1994, she returned to New York City to study as an instructor under the guidance of her teacher and mentor Romana Kryzanowska, one of the last remaining disciples of Joseph H. Pilates. 

Returning to Sydney later that year as a certified instructor of the Authentic Pilates Method through Pilates Inc., Cynthia began The Pilates Method Studio and Training Center in Surry Hills and in 1998, she became a Teacher Trainer and a Level 2 instructor for Romana’s Pilates and the ITTP program. In 1999, Cynthia began participating as a teacher of teachers, teaching at international conferences in both the United States and abroad.

Trish Garland, RP Master Instructor Trainer

Trish Garland is a renowned studio director and certified Master Pilates instructor in Los Angeles, CA, and has been teaching the Pilates Method since 1983.  As a professional dancer, Trish was in the original cast of Chorus Line, among numerous other productions.  After she sustained an injury, Trish found recovery through the Pilates Method. She turned her rehab into her life’s work, teaching thousands – from beginners to those with advanced certification – in the authentic Method of Joseph Pilates. Trish has received accolades and praise for her dedication and commitment to the work of Joseph Pilates. As she continues to share her knowledge with both clients and trainers in her Los Angeles studio, she appears as a guest instructor throughout the world at seminars, dance symposiums and personal studios.

Roxane Richards-Huang, RP Master Instructor Trainer

Roxane Richards Huang has a B.S. in Dance from Shenandoah University, an M.A. from New York University in Performance and Choreography in Dance, and is a graduate from the Swedish Massage Institute as a licensed massage therapist in New York City.  In 1989 she became a certified Pilates Instructor; four years later she became one of the first Master Instructor Trainers of Romana’s Pilates, trained by master teacher Romana Kryzanowska, a direct disciple of Joseph Pilates. For the next ten years, Roxane studied and taught alongside Romana and Sari. She used Pilates to address a wide range of injuries including back, neck, shoulder, knee, feet and disabilities like polio and multiple sclerosis. Roxane also worked with boxers, fencers, skaters, dancers and runners.

And even more to come!