Instructors
Rachel Friedman is the proud owner of GYROTONIC® Olympia / Motion in Balance Studio, which opened in January 2007. As owner and Certified GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® Trainer, I have been physically active for the last 25 years, practicing yoga, tai chi and pilates, competing in marathons, biathlons, and triathlons, and dancing samba, modern and improvisation. I performed for 2 years with the Wild Grace Arts Dance Theater, currently dance with RADCO, a modern dance collective. I have been practicing GYROTONIC® method since 2005 and GYROKINESIS® since 2010. I have had the honor to train with Magali Messac from GYROTONIC® Seattle who has been practicing since its inception in the mid 1980s, and with Emma Kingston of Center GYROTONIC® in Portland. I am authorized to apply GYROTONIC® principles to aid golfers with all aspects of their golf swing. In addition, I can help golfers with injury prevention and injury treatment, in conjunction with their health care professionals. In addition, I have training to apply GYROTONIC® applications for elite athletes, work specifically with the psoas, and have specific training with the pelvic and shoulder girdles. I thoroughly love working with all of my clients. Each and every one is unique. They all allow me to bring my varied skills and passion for movement to their exercise practice.I am also a Certified GYROTONIC® Pre-Trainer. I offer Pre-Training workshops, the first required class on the path to becoming a Certified GYROTONIC® teacher. I am certified to teach on the Archway, the Jumping Stretching Board and the Leg Extension Unit. I am very excited about the growth of GYROTONIC® teaching in Olympia.
Susan Pilar Gresia joins GYROTONIC® Olympia as a new Level 1 GYROTONIC® trainer. She comes with a wealth of experience in movement studies including ballet, jazz, modern, creative movement and gymnastics. In 1977, she performed with the Seattle SeaGals and Seventeen Magazine’s Road Show. Susan studied dance and performance at the University of Washington, Cornish College of the Performing Arts and The Evergreen State College. She received her certification in Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies in 1992 and a Yoga certification in 2006. She has taught dance and yoga for ages 3 through 85 for over 15 years. In 1999, she co-founded RADCo- Random Acts of Dance Collective where she continues to choreograph and perform. Susan realizes the importance of maintaining strength and flexibility as we mature and has found GYROTONIC® to be the ultimate vehicle to support all types of movement expressions. Susan is thrilled to be teaching at GYROTONIC® Olympia and hopes to share the GYROTONIC® system with anyone looking for a dynamic approach to health and fitness.
Roel Hammerschlag is a certified Level 1 GYROTONIC® trainer. He loves working with every kind of client, but has a special interest in completing recovery from physical trauma like accidents, surgery, or strokes. Roel is also a dance improviser, choreographer and performer. His studies began with Beth Soll in 1986, and have continued over the years with Barabara Mahler, David Dorfman, Karl Frost, Hannah Wiley and many others. Roel focuses his dance work in the field of contact improvisation, where the challenges of two or more bodies moving together combine demands for technique, adaptability, sensitivity and storymaking. Roel loves bringing the sophisticated intelligence about the body that has been developed in the world of dance, to all of his clients through the lens of GYROTONIC® which was itself developed by a professional ballet dancer. Roel’s academic training in science (he earned a degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) fleshes out his understanding of the body’s mechanics and the GYROTONIC® machinery he works with. Roel is a member of Olympia’s Random Acts of Dance Collective.
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Melissa began studying the Gyrotonic Method under Rachel Friedman many years ago when Rachel was an Apprentice. She then had the opportunity while working overseas to continue moving with this system under Trainers in Russia, Hong Kong and Italy. Melissa comes from a dance background, studying and teaching primarily ballet but also belly dance, modern, and jazz. She currently has a toddler and practiced the GYROTONIC method throughout her pregnancy. She is particularly happy to work with dancers, parents (or parents-to-be) and office workers.
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Jehrin Alexandria's love of dance and movement studies started when she was 4 years old attending her mother’s ballet/modern dance class. At a very young age she joined the Severo Ballet Company that then led to a professional ballet career in NYC. She worked with infamous Maggie Black and performed with Annabella Gonzales Dancer Theater. She trained as a Pilates Instructor under Carola Trier and Fran Lehan for 10 years. During this time she became a massage therapist specializing in sports injury, rehabilitation and treatment under the tutelage of Ben Benjamin. Jehrin started teaching classical ballet, pointe, jazz, afro-jazz and tap upon retirement of her career. She moved to Washington state and trained with Julio Horvath founder of Gyrotonics. She worked with Magali Messac at White Cloud Gyrotonics.
Her years of dance and massage training led her to co-developing a dancers exercise system that she currently teaches at The Evergreen State College and the Northwest Dance Intensive, which she is director of. Gyrotonics helps support her love of movement and the healing benefits it affords the user. She loves to see people come in and connect to their bodies, their breath and leave rejuvenated after a session. She has a keen eye for detail and a lighthearted, even manner with her clients. |
