body central staff
Robin Warden Blum Courtney Adams Meg Nash
Emily Bradley Holle Knowles Donna Scott
Florence Fitzgerald Childs Anna-Katherine Johnston Kerri Affronti
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Co-owner, and lead Pilates instructor, Robin Warden Blum began taking Pilates to strengthen her posture and technique as a professional dancer. Robin received her dance training from North Carolina School of the Arts and East Carolina University. She has performed with Atlanta Ballet, Southern Ballet Theatre, Columbia City Ballet, and has appeared as a guest artist throughout Europe and the Eastern United States.
While dancing with Atlanta Ballet, Robin began her apprenticeship with Master Teacher Romana Kryzanowska, and teacher trainers Sari Pace and Juanita Lopez. Under their leadership, Robin was certified and began teaching in 1997. Since that time, Robin has furthered her studies with Romana, participating in many continuing education seminars and conventions led by Romana herself, and the teacher trainers she hand selects.
In 2006 Robin was awarded the Level 4 status with "Romana's Pilates", in which she assists in the training of future instructors. Robin has a true passion for Pilates and is inspired by her clients and the remarkable changes it has made in their lives, and her own.
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After a serious foot injury, Florence Fitzgerald Childs was encouraged by George Balanchine, Artistic Director of The New York City Ballet, to begin Pilates. She danced professionally for the Company from 1979-1990 under the direction of Mr. Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins. One of her greatest honors was being chosen personally by Mr. Balanchine to be among on the last generation to work directly for him. Other highlights include performing at the White House, touring extensively through Europe, Asia and the United States, performing in a feature film and being a soloist in "Live from Studio 8-H," an ABC Special.
Having been a student of the Pilates Method for 20 years, Flo has a unique insight into the technique. After her move to Atlanta she began training for her instructor certification and had the privilege of being accepted into the Independent Advanced Program with Romana Kryzanowska, who trained with and was a star pupil of Joseph Pilate. Flo became certified in 1998 and is proud to be a recent addition to the accomplished team of instructors at Body Central. She developed her teaching strengths from years of experience as a student practicing the method, coupled with quality instructor education. Her gift as an instructor is the ability to translate verbal instruction into successful physical execution by her students.
Flo is married to Bob Childs, proprietor of "Flemings of Buckhead."
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Emily Bradley was certified to teach Pilates under Romana Kryzanowksa in 1999. In 2005 she was made a Level 4 instructor with Romana's Pilates allowing her to assist with the training of future instructors.
Emily received her B.F.A. in 1990 from the University of Cincinnati, Conservatory of Music. She has danced professionally for twelve years and continues to choreograph new works in and around the Atlanta area.
Pilates is her passion and she enjoys sharing with people the joy of movement and educating them about their bodies. ____________________________________________________________________________________
Courtney Adams began taking Pilates in 2000 to build strength and balance for dancing. After only two mat classes she was hooked and decided to become an instructor. She received her certification from Romana Kryzanowska at the end of 2001 and came to Body Central in June of 2002. She has been teaching consistently ever since, with the exception of a six month backpacking excursion on the Pacific Coast Trail in 2004, as well as a three month leave to care for her newborn daughter Norah. Courtney has a B.F.A. in Dance Performance from Southern Methodist University and continues to dance in Atlanta with Gathering Wild Dance Company and Goldenhouse Dance Company.
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Holle Knowles is an instructor in the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®. She has been involved in a wellness lifestyle for years and her previous experience includes teaching as an indoor cycling instructor and working in a whole grains bakery. She gained her training towards beginning and intermediate mat Pilates from the PhysicalMind Institute. While studying Pilates in 2005, she experienced the GYROTONIC® pulley tower for the first time. She was impressed with the personal benefits that she discovered through the system, which included strength and mobility gains as well as pain relief and accelerated healing while recovering from shoulder and rib injuries. She completed her GYROTONIC® certification in 2006 and her GYROKINESIS® certification in 2007. She has received advanced training from Paul Horvath for using GYROTONIC® methodology to help those with scoliosis and hip issues. She has worked with golf instructor Dave Rasmussen to learn to enhance golf performance through GYROTONIC® work. She trains as often as possible with Juliu Horvath, including spending two weeks in Rome, Italy in 2008 under Juliu’s instruction. She delights in helping people discover the power and freedom of their bodies.
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Anna-Katherine Johnston came to Body Central in February 2003 shortly after graduating from Georgia State University with a B.B.A. in Economics. She was promoted to Studio Manager in May 2003 and has continued to grow in this role throughout her time here. However, her passion for the form and precision of Pilates led her to enter the Romana‘s Pilates certification program to begin her path of helping people find what she truly believes changed her life.
As an athlete since the age of four she has suffered many injuries resulting in several operations, three of which have occurred since her employment. As a student of Romana‘s Pilates since she began her career with Body Central she is well aware of how Pilates can help a person recover from injury, reduce chronic pain and change one‘s body. In February 2007 Anna began her training under the supervision of Robin Warden Blum. She received her certification from Juanita Lopez in September 2007.
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Donna Scott first began practicing Pilates when the doors opened at Body Central in 1998. It was an immediate love affair. Having “worked out” over the years in just about every other discipline, she knew immediately that Pilates was something different for mind and body. In 2007 she made a career change and began her Pilates apprenticeship. Her required seminars were accomplished in Joseph Pilates‘ original studio in New York, while her observation and teaching hours were completed in Atlanta under apprenticeship to Body Central co-owner, Robin Blum. She loves her work, and the life changes it brings for clients of all ages, shapes and mindsets.
Donna attended public schools in Atlanta and graduated from the University of Arizona with a BA in Journalism. She has worked as a reporter for newspapers and in public relations, and writing remains a creative outlet for her. She is also an artist whose faux and decorative painting is evident in many Atlanta area homes, and is the founder and executive director for Visions United, Inc., a non-profit organization that has worked through the arts for more than two decades to improve the lives of children around the world. ____________________________________________________________________________________
Kerri B. Affronti, Nationally certified Licensed Massage Therapist, and GYROTONIC® instructor has had an intricate understanding of her own body since the age of two, when she began what would become a lifelong and profound participation in dance. She currently assists men and women in empowering themselves and gaining confidence in all aspects of their lives through movement and dance instruction. She has taught children from the age of three to adults and has toured nationally as a professional dancer. Since 2000, she has been a highly sought after massage therapist by many at upscale and exclusive spas, developing lasting relationships with her co-workers and clients. Kerri's pursuit of understanding and communicating with the human body has taken her from New York to Hawaii, Georgia, and Las Vegas.
Miss Affronti has achieved Advanced Certificate Training in numerous, diverse healing modalities including: Craniosacral Therapy, Orthopedic & Sports Massage, Feldenkrais Movement Education, and the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®. Her resulting knowledge allows her to employ skills as wide ranging as direct deep tissue manipulation and muscular restructuring to gentle hands-on methods that suggest to the body simple alternatives to improperly patterned movement. She is able to simply speak to and instruct an individual to facilitate postural restoration and greater kinesthetic awareness. Kerri has employed her mind, body and heart with a deep commitment toward improving and optimizing the holistic health of herself and others and positively affects the well-being of people simply by being near them.
