Heather Simmons Alexander has been studying the work of Joseph Pilates since 2000 and under the direction of Master Instructor Romana Kryzanowska was certified instructor in the True Pilates Method since 2000. While in Los Angeles, she studied frequently with Master Instructor Jay Grimes.  Heather continues their tradition of authentic Pilates and stays true to the Method that Joseph Pilates created.  Heather has also been studying the work of Kit Laughlin, author of Overcoming Neck and Back Pain and was excited to take his first Stretch Therapy workshop offered in the USA in 2011.  She has taught in Los Angeles, Seattle, and most recently, Chattanooga, TN. 

Angeline Shaka started training in the Pilates method of body control, or contrology, as a dance student in New York City. This led to her certification to teach Pilates by Master Instructor Romana Kryzanowska in 1997. Since then, she has worked with trainers such as Alycea Ungaro, Gina Papalia, and Kathy Buccellato in New York, Los Angeles, and Texas. Having earned her PhD in culture and performance, she is also a dance professor at the undergraduate and graduate levels, teaching at UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC-Greensboro. She continues teaching and exploring the classical method of pilates training, and brings to her classes a concise focus on alignment and dynamics. 

Monica Matherly is a lifelong fitness devotee. She found group mat Pilates classes as a therapeutic response to low back pain over 20 years ago and discovered classical private Pilates instruction a decade ago after chronic low back pain sent her searching for relief. Amazed at how just five sessions resulted in meaningful improvement, she got hooked. Inspired by her classically trained instructors in Richmond, VA; Detroit, MI; and NYC, she immediately enrolled in a classical Pilates teacher training program after a 33-year successful career as an executive in financial services. She is a third generation instructor, trained by Alycea Ungaro at Real Pilates in NYC, who studied under Romana Kryzanowska, Joseph Pilates’ hand-picked protégé. She is thrilled to be giving to others what her instructors gave to her, which is a love of living life free of pain and the ability to do the things she loves to do in life with confidence and energy. She is the mother to two young women, and a soon-to-be grandmother. A recent transplant from NYC, she resides in Raleigh with her husband of 33 years, and is enjoying all that the Triangle has to offer!