ze
ze (they/elle/yēhuātl) is a community-made movement practitioner and has been teaching Pilates and designing education programs for over 15 years. ze began practicing Pilates, studying anatomy, kinesiology and somatics in 2008 learning from their mentor, Khita Whyatt at the University of Michigan. ze teaches both classical and contemporary Pilates exercises and is comprehensively certified in Pilates mat and all apparatus equipment.
While working abroad for the Japanese government as a cultural ambassador with representatives from 50 different countries, ze simultaneously held a professional hip-hop/breakdance career and taught Pilates internationally throughout Asia and the Pacific Islands. Upon returning to Turtle Island/North America, ze managed training programs in a variety of organizations including tech companies, and used to own and operate a Corporate Wellness and ergonomics business.
By integrating the Pilates technique into their training, ze has improved the quality of life for folks in their advocacy, administrative and artistic communities, including the Blue Man Group and at DePaul University. ze’s passion and dedication to engage diverse populations of desk workers, pre/rehabilitation patients, athletes, pre/post natal, service professionals and people of all lifestyles inspires them to teach with a holistically human-centered approach rooted in intersectionality and our mixed multitudes to make Pilates accessible and results obtainable.
ze’s Indigenous/Native Mesoamerican and Asian cultural heritages, abolitionist praxis, community organizing, and international experience deeply impacts their life, teaching and informs the why and how they embody their movement practice in ways that support decolonization, bodily integrity, Black reparations, #LandBack and Indigenous sovereignty to move toward and for collective liberation.
ze is known for their clear, direct, informative, collaborative and exhilarating teaching style that fosters a healthy practice of wonder, wisdom and whimsy in how we move.