Kinespirit Teacher Spotlight: Witches of Eastwick, or rather Riverside: Martha, Kierstin, and Michelle--the Detroit-Wayne State-triad
Hi Ladies! Tell us a little about your lives in Michigan and how you all ended up in New York.
Michelle: I grew up in Michigan dancing my whole life and eventually made my way to Wayne State to major in Dance. New York is the hub of the dance world, and after visiting here a few times I was totally in love! I knew I had to move here.
Martha: I was born and raised in Michigan and started dancing when I was 6 years old. I was so passionate about it that I decided to go to school for it. I ended up at Wayne State because the scholarships were unreal, and I always loved Detroit. After school, NYC was basically the only place you could end up. There or Chicago, but Chicago was too close to home. And who doesn't want to live in New York?
Kierstin: I was born and raised in a very small, rural town. My family is very involved in the theatre and I knew from a young age that the arts were definitely going to play a huge role in my career. After deciding I wanted to major in dance, I knew that I didn't want to leave the state. Wayne State was recommended to me by the artistic director of the youth ballet company I was in. After auditioning and getting quite a bit of scholarship money from them, I decided that's where I was going to go. Although the whole town of Marshall was very apprehensive in letting me go to school in Detroit. I craved diversity and opportunity and it was my decision after all ;) and it acted as a great stepping stone for my move to NY!
And how did Kinespirit end up with all three of you at the same time?! Did you know each other before moving to the city?
Michelle: Martha was the first. She paved the way! A few years later Kierstin and I graduated together (Wayne State, same school as Martha) and decided to figure out this New York thing together! About a month after our move Martha reached out to me that Kinespirit was looking for Pilates teachers (when we first moved I was working in Aeropostale Times Square, yikes!). Only a few months later I mentioned to Emily and Aubrey that my roommate Kierstin was looking for more Pilates hours and finally our troublesome trio was complete!
Martha: We knew each other before moving to NYC. I'm a couple years older so I was a senior when Kierstin was a freshman. To this day I still think Michelle was in school the same time as me but she transferred in after my senior year. I discovered Kinespirit through my STOTT training. I had no idea Chantal was looking for instructors until one of my course Instructor Trainers (I guess) suggested me to Chantal. Chantal sent me an email and I was auditioning later that week. Michelle explains the rest perfectly.
Kierstin: We all met in college. Martha, being the eldest, started teaching here first. Once Michelle and I moved here, Martha got Michelle the job and then once I started looking for teaching jobs, Michelle referred me!
Tell us a little about your training. You all did the same Stott program in Michigan, yes?
Michelle: Yes all Stott trained. We had a great mentor/teacher at Wayne State (shout out to Eva Powers!) and she made us all Pilates addicts. One of the first times I even met Martha was when she was back in Michigan briefly and using the Wayne State dancers to help complete her practice hours. She gave me and Kierstin some tips about the city and got us even more excited for the move.
Martha: We're all STOTT trained. One of our professors, Eva Powers, basically told us we had to get certified. Good advice in hindsight. We've all arrived at our certifications in different ways, mine took quite a while. I did my initial mat and reformer training in Michigan, and my Cadillac, Chair and Barrels course in NYC.
Kierstin: Yes, thanks to our teacher and mentor, Eva Powers. It was nice being trained at school because we got all of our practice hours in on the underclassmen. Since they were dancers, not many obstacles were thrown at us, so it was definitely a transition for me when I began teaching non-dancers.
Even though you all had the same initial training, you still have pretty distinct teaching styles. Do you have any insight as to why?
Michelle: I think we have pretty distinct personalities which is reflected in that teaching style. Kierstin is sweet and energetic, Martha is smart and sassy, and I'm...me?
Martha: Like Michelle points out, our personalities are all very different which makes our teaching styles different. We can all describe it different ways but Kierstin is the drill sergeant, Michelle is matter of fact, "you're doing it and you're doing it now," and as Beth Walman has told me, I'm the torturous dominatrix teacher. Haha!
Kierstin: I think our personalities come into play with this one as well as our own personal fitness goals and what we like most to get out of a Pilates session.
What is your favorite aspect of teaching and why?
Michelle: I like getting to know clients. It's wonderful to impart my knowledge of Pilates and give myself to them each hour. It's equally fascinating to meet so many different people and learn about their lives, their past and their bodies. New York is not shy of variety and this gives me endless opportunities to challenge myself as an instructor and to learn more in order to grow.
Martha: I love seeing the "ah-ha" moment in clients. It's something we talk about in dance a lot, but you see it everywhere. That moment where something clicks in your brain and it reflects in your body, that is brilliance. And it really reflects what pilates is all about, and what we often forget, the Mind-Body connection.
Kierstin: I love connecting with clients, learning their story and then seeing them achieve their goals. When they start to notice the benefits of Pilates transforming their bodies, they light up, which ultimately makes me one happy camper :)
What are your lives like outside of Kinespirit and teaching Pilates? Any overlap there, as well?
Michelle: Kierstin and I share a bedroom so you could say our lives overlap... We're all performers and the dance world is very small so there's a lot of crossover in our lives. Martha produced a show in the fall that I choreographed in and Kierstin performed in. For Martha's improv showing at UCB Kierstin and I (and Sofia!) went out to support her. New York is tough and the dance world is tough, so we do our best to find time in the craziness to give each other love and support. That being said we don't get to see each other NEARLY as often as we like, so when we do it's usually non-stop chatter (and usually squeals of excitement from Kierstin).
Martha: It's funny because I kind of led the way in terms of Wayne State alum moving to NYC. Some of my old roommates are here and other people that were great friends in college, and yet, I never really went to school with Kierstin and Michelle, and I see them more than anyone else! They both danced in a show I produced this past fall (Spark Performance Forum - shameless plug - check it out on fb), we see each other at auditions, pass along info on auditions, and try to support each other as much as possible and hang out whenever we can!
Kierstin: Ha! Michelle and I are as overlapped as you could possibly be... We sleep in the same room and share basically everything. Thank god I love her. I love Martha too, but don't get to see her nearly as much as I'd like to!
Do you have any other thoughts you would like to leave us with?
Michelle: In the words of the lovely Ava "Peace, love and narrowing (and one hundreds and downward dogs and massage tables...)"
Martha: #waynestatemafia #DETROIT
Kierstin: Insert Ava's quote here. I like it a lot ;)

















