Teachers
For independent teachers who offer classes at Studio One, please refer to the timtable.
Iovana Velasquez
Studio Director/Comprehensive Pilates Instructor/dance Movement Psychotherapist
After 8 years directing Body Alliance in Brixton, in 2016 Iovana set up Studio One Pilates & Movement in order to expand a variety of quality classes that can be joined by the whole community.
Iovana constantly practises and experiments different disciplines to support her thorough teaching. With a dance background and practices such as the Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais, Dance and Yoga, among others. She incorporates the best of each into her Pilates teaching to protect, improve and balance one’s body as well as provide remedial support for those recovering from injuries.
Putting together 20 years of movement experience and her PILATES Foundation® UK teacher training, Iovana provides a deep understanding of human anatomy to best approach each individual body and injury. Iovana designs comprehensive and bespoke exercise programmes for each client. She teaches how to move mindfully which she believes it is an important path towards physical and mental recovery from any type of injury or trauma.
“Awareness is key. A connection between body and mind brings about a healthy mobilisation for people of any age with any level of pain, fitness, stiffness or mobility.”
After teaching for more than 15 years at various studios in London, Iovana has now settled in South East London where she combines her work as a Pilates teacher and the practice of her latest studies as a Movement Psychotherapist.
Mariana Camiloti
Mat Pilates Instructor
Mariana is a level 3 certified Body Control Pilates® matwork teacher and an experienced dance artist born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
She first experienced the benefits of Pilates during a ACL knee injury rehabilitation and found Pilates' holistic approach important not only to recover from her surgery but also to enhance her dance technique, awareness and injury prevention. Since 2008, Pilates became a regular practice that has enabled a 10 years of professional contemporary dance career in London, where she has been working with a range of companies and independent choreographers across the UK and abroad.
Mariana also specialises in Pre and Post Natal Pilates which she is passionate about.
Brenda Nassali
Pilates Instructor
Brenda fell in love with Pilates during her college dance education and continued to come back to it to help in recovery from injuries during her degree course, as a working dancer and in pregnancy and postnatal recovery. The benefits of Pilates motivated her to train to teach and share her knowledge.
She recovered from a major setback from an Achilles tendon rupture using her teacher knowledge of pilates to help keep her body balanced and mobile while in long term recovery.
Her class focusses on mind and body connection and building body awareness, improving strength, freedom of movement and functionality while focusing on breath and release.
Gloria Fuson
Pilates Instructor
Gloria Fuson has been in the movement, health and wellness industry for her whole life. Former dancer, she got her diploma as a dance teacher with I.D.A. International Dance Association and worked as an educator and choreographer for over a decade. She currently teaches workshops and seminars spreading awareness about body conditioning for dancers using her own method and approach (The Fusion Method), helping dancers to improve technique while preventing/rehabilitating injuries.
She also discovered Pilates when she was a dancer and it was love at first sight: she got her teaching qualification in 2012 with F.I.F. and she has been teaching ever since. She became a pre and post natal specialist in 2014 studying with Carolyne Anthony's The Centre for Women Fitness and this became her main area of interest. She has also just finished her doula qualification course and she is currently helping pregnant women offering free online antenatal consultations and birth preparation courses during this sanitary emergency.
She is also the creator of "GraviDANZA - The Soul Body Movement for Mothers", a new body movement class for pregnant women that meets the idea of women's circle. She launched it and taught it for the first time in Stockholm, Sweden, in January 2020.
Luisa D’Ambrosio
Luisa’s movement practice stems from dance and theatre : She trained in dance and physical theatre in Italy and then in the UK at Trinity Laban. She has worked as a dancer and physical theatre performer for many international choreographers and dance companies. Her interest in understanding body mechanics and training for performance led her to study pilates and somatic technique .
Luisa completed her mat-work pilates training in 2002 with Pilates foundation. She started to work at the Place in the same year as a teacher in the adult learning and participation and the young dancers programs as well as on the CAT program, specialising in training adolescents and preparing them for vocational dance training. In 2013 she trained as a studio and reformer teacher with Balance Body and since then she has been working as a Mat-work and Equipment instructor in several studios in London. Luisa has a strong interest in anatomy and physiology and she uses a range of somatic approaches in order to address clients individual needs and promote kinaesthetic awareness, mobility and strength.
She works as a movement teacher in drama and dance colleges in London teaching movement fundamentals and body conditioning as well as working as a movement director and choreographer.
Nuno Pinheiro
Nuno is a fully qualified and experienced Pilates instructor, trained in the BASI method on both mat and machines at the highly regarded Pilates House in Munich, Germany. Nuno has been a freelance Pilates Instructor for over 10 years, working in some of London’s leading Pilates studios, always with excellent client feedback.
Nuno has a friendly, warm and calm style, with a focus on making classes fun and enjoyable for clients. He has a strong focus on client satisfaction and safety along with supporting client motivation and progress. Nuno is experienced working with all client age groups, including in Pilates for rehabilitation. Nuno is a former professional dancer, with a natural understanding of anatomy. Nuno is also a Master practitioner in Reiki and has trained in quantum healing techniques.