About Us

Sarah Deming is a writer and fitness professional with over 25 years of teaching experience. After receiving her B.A. in Comparative Literature from Brown University, she was certified in Kripalu Yoga and Anusara-style Hatha Yoga. She spent a decade teaching all levels of yoga from vigorous vinyasa to chair yoga for seniors.

One day she took a boxing class and fell in love. Soon she was fighting in Madison Square Garden, winning the NYC Golden Gloves and Empire State Games. She worked as a ringside journalist for HBO and CNBC and coached young boxers at NYC Cops and Kids, a free community gym in Flatbush. For her, boxing was a mind-body practice that helped her transcend fear and connect with all kinds of people.

Sarah took up Pilates with her teacher Clarice Marshall to recover from overuse injuries exacerbated by scoliosis. She fell in love with the precision of the practice and the way it made her feel great without feeling “beat up." She was certified in machine and mat Pilates through the Kane School of Core Integration and teaches Strength in the Pre-Professional Division of American Ballet Theatre’s JKO School. She loves turning students on to the sweet science of therapeutic movement.

Lesley Garrison is a professional dancer and teacher who toured the world as a member of The Mark Morris Dance Group for 15 years. She studied at Interlochen Arts Academy, Rotterdamse Dansacademie, and SUNY Purchase, where she received her B.F.A. She discovered Pilates as a means to strengthen her dancing, rehabilitate injuries, and feel more confident and embodied. She studies with Clarice Marshall.

Lesley has taught dance for 15 years to all kinds of movers: kids, seniors, beginners, professionals, and as part of the Dance for Parkinson’s program at Mark Morris Dance Center. She also teaches Pilates in the Pre-Professional Division of American Ballet Theatre’s JKO School. She received her Pilates mat and equipment certifications through the Kane School of Core Integration, and completed a 200-hour teacher training and Restorative/Prenatal certification with Yoga Vida. 

As a new mother, Lesley has a deepened appreciation for the power of movement. Throughout pregnancy, Pilates and yoga kept her feeling strong and ready for childbirth and were a huge factor in her quick postpartum recovery and return to dance. She is passionate about sharing these healing practices with her students.