our Instructors
Carolyn Spadaccini, Studio Director and Instructor, first discovered Pilates while studying dance at a performing arts high school. She became a life-long devotee of the method after it helped her overcome debilitating hip pain resulting from an ankle injury. In 2001, she began her journey into personal training and Pilates instruction to help others reap the benefits of Pilates through goal-oriented instruction. She has since achieved full certification through STOTT Pilates as well as being certified as a personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), and the American Council on Exercise (ACE). She is also an ACE certified Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant.
Carolyn has advanced certification in injuries and special populations and pre-and post natal Pilates and has had the opportunity to study with some of the greatest names in both classical and contemporary Pilates. She recently became certified as a Corrective Exercise Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), a certification held by many of the top athletic trainers in professional sports. As a former competitive figure skater, recreational cross country and downhill skier, and lifelong resident of Minnesota, she particularly enjoys helping clients get ready for the winter sports season. Carolyn is a leader in the Twin Cities Pilates community, having served as manager for the Pilates departments of two large health clubs, created programs for Minneapolis Community Education, and mentored new instructors in the field.
Jenna Freeman was a competitive ski racer for 10 years, training and competing around the world. Pilates became a newfound love while training with U.S. Ski Team conditioning experts at the Olympic training center. Pilates challenged her body in a way that lifting weights could never do and Jenna began to see incredible results. Practicing Pilates two to three times a week in the studio and at home gave her the strength and flexibility to finish her ski racing career with her best year yet.
Jenna has been practicing Pilates for the past 5 years and became fully certified through the Physical Mind Institute. She has been teaching since 2005 and plans on furthering her education into other holistic methods. Having such a strong belief that Pilates can improve a person's health, posture, and quality of life, Jenna is excited to have an opportunity to help others achieve their goals through this wonderful method.
Bryn-Erinn Gourley holds her advanced certification in STOTT Pilates for Mat, Reformer, Cadillac, Chair, Barrels, and Injuries and Special Populations. She began her lifetime study of Pilates in 1990 as a young dancer, and it has played pivotal role in her own injury rehabilitation. She has been a devoted teacher since 2004, and has extensive experience with students who have a variety of needs and fitness levels, including those with disabilities, chronic conditions, the recreational athlete, and professional athletes. In addition to her formal training, Bryn-Erinn acquired a more extensive knowledge of anatomy and biomechanics under the mentorship of STOTT Pilates Master Trainer Melanie Byford-Young, BHSc. She excels in working with those who have functional disabilities caused by poor alignment and muscle imbalance.
Bryn-Erinn uses her extensive experience and knowledge of the Pilates repertoire, her own innovations, and principles of correct movement to provide each client with a personalized fitness plan tailored to their specific needs, goals, and abilities. Because of her unique approach, she is able to serve clients at all fitness levels, no matter how beginning or advanced they may be.
Bryn-Erinn is an outdoor enthusiast, has her B.A. in English Literature, is an avid salsa dancer, and she loves to play the piano. Her love of life translates into her teaching as she strives to enable each of her students to reach their personal fitness goals and to enjoy a more pain-free and active life.
Wendy Thomas began teaching Pilates for New Jersey/New York dancers in 2003. She is originally from Minnesota where she graduated from Perpich Center for Arts Education high school for Dance and Choreography. She continued her Dance and Movement Studies at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts and winning honors and prizes for both performance and choreography. Through dance, she found the magic and rewards of Pilates and began to pursue certification after her first session on a Reformer.
Wendy is STOTT trained and NASM and PHI certified in Mat, Reformer, Cadillac/Tower, Chair, Prop Integration, Jump boards, Pre-Natal, Injury Prevention, Neuromuscular Stretch and Special Populations. With a kind and light-hearted manner, her goals are to assist those she works with to access their deepest stabilizing muscles for breath and movement with optimal alignment so they can leave each session feeling longer, stronger and freer to do what they do best. To Wendy, no matter what you are moving, it is HOW you move that results in feeling at the top of your game.
Angela Herlofsky danced the first half of her life, so teaching Pilates was a natural progression. She was trained in classical Pilates at The Performing Arts Physical Therapy and Pilates Studio of West Hollywood, CA in 1998 and completed her Pilates certification at The PhysicalMind Institute in 1999. She has taught private sessions, group classes and workshops to clients of all walks of life in the Twin Cities for over 10 years, including everyone from athletes and dancers, those with injuries post-rehab and pre and post-natal women. In addition to Pilates, she has been certified in Yogilates by Jonathan Urla (a blend of yoga and Pilates), and completed a 200-hour teacher training in Ashtanga Yoga at the Yoga Center of Minneapolis. In 2009 she embarked on a Seva Challenge with Seane Corn and her organization Off The Mat into the World, on life-altering humanitarian and sacred activism journey to Cambodia. She is also completing her training in Thai Yoga Bodywork. Angela blends her experience and training in these various disciplines to customize sessions for her clients to meet their unique needs and goals.
In addition to her Pilates teaching, Angela is a certified Birth Doula and has been on staff at HCMC since 2005, attending nearly 300 births, which has given her a unique perspective on the pre and postnatal client. When not teaching, Angela loves traveling and being in nature. Her aspiration is to retire as the old, wise midwife in a surfing village in Costa Rica (after saving the world's children, of course).