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Each instructor brings a wonderful mix of enthusiasm, dedication and
creativity to their teaching. Trained and certified through several
different lineages, we are each well versed in the original teachings
of Joseph Pilates as well as highly knowledgeable in modern exercise
principles. We are dedicated to our clients’ well-being and personal
growth as well as to the ongoing exploration and preservation of the
Pilates Method. To support our own continuing education and inspiration,
the collective sponsors and participates in lectures and workshops
with respected Physical Therapists and colleagues. We enjoy the
process and curiosity that it takes to explore many different bodies
in motion. This spirit manifests as a real capacity to translate this
ingenious work to YOU.
Peggy Wallin-Hart, Director
 Finetune was born 14 years ago in Peggy’s living room studio. Eager, hardworking clients mingled with acrobatic cats in this intimate space; Pilates was introduced to the neighborhood. Wanting to share with and build on the knowledge and experience of other individual instructors, Peggy established the Finetune collective in 2000. This collaborative energy and intimate, individual approach to Pilates benefits all, teachers and students alike.
Sidelined from a dance tour in 1993, Peggy studied Pilates to rehabilitate a repetitive stress hip injury. Pilates got her back on stage dancing stronger than ever before. As performing segued into teaching Pilates in 1996, Peggy was certified by Kelly Kane through The Physical/Mind Institute.
Peggy’s teaching has evolved greatly from her continued work with master teachers Amy Alpers and Rachel Segal of ‘The Pilates Center of Boulder’. In 2008, Peggy completed The Pilates Center of Boulder’s “Masters” program. Peggy’s view of the body in motion has also been significantly influenced by the Myofascial Meridians work of “Anatomy Trains” author, Thomas Myers. In addition, she has had the honor of studying Pilates with Clarice Marshall & Blossom Crawford, Functional Anatomy with Irene Dowd, the Alexander Technique with Joan Arnold and Anusara Yoga with John Friend. Daily she gains insight and inspiration from the wonderful instructors she works alongside at Finetune.
Peggy’s goal is to find common ground between “Classical” and “Evolved” Pilates… to marry the precision and whole body flow of the classical work with the anatomical understanding we’ve gained since Joseph Pilates created this amazing method. Peggy’s teaching is curious, thoughtful, clear and demanding. She gives her clients a dynamic movement experience and helps them create an educated “thinking” body. Alas, Peggy’s ultimate knowledge and understanding of movement comes from her daily work with clients as they finetune their bodies. |
Hilary Clark
 Hilary has been studying Pilates for over 15 years, and has been teaching in New York City since 2000. Hilary is also an accomplished professional dancer, who received a New York Dance and Performance Award, aka a "Bessie", in 2008 for her body of work with Tere O'Connor, luciana achugar, and Fiona Marcotty.
Hilary brings years of training to offer her clients, tailoring each session to meet each clients individual needs. From 2000-2001, Hilary completed the highest level certification in Pilates, with Deborah Lessen, pilates method alliance board president, at Greene Street Studio in New York City. Known for giving a session that is challenging and suited to your needs, she has many successful experiences in increasing ease, balance and strength while decreasing pain for clients living with chronic illness, back and shoulder pain, disc injuries, arthritis, osteoporosis and for anyone just wanting to glow, feel and look strong from the inside out. She continues to invest in her anatomy and nueromuscular studies with her mentor the nueromuscular therapist, Irene Dowd, with whom she has been studying since 2001. Presently, Hilary is continuing her advanced studies with Irene Dowd in Pathways of the Peripheral Nervous System. Hilary has completed a Master's Training through the Wise Earth School of Ayurveda. Her studies and influences also include yoga, ideokinesis, body mind centering and other movement modalities, all while supporting her continued work with Pilates. She continues to study Pilates and Gyrotonics with Clarice Marshall. She brings her knowledge to enhance a new and current Pilates model which emphasize proper breathing, body awareness and deep core support, all leading to a dynamically supported body. |
Heather Olson
 Heather Olson began her study of Pilates in the late '90's as a student at North Carolina School of the Arts. Once in New York, she completed her certification in 2002 through the Kane School of Core Integration under the direction of Kelly Kane. Heather’s career as professional dancer led her to the Kane School; as it’s highly regarded, deep emphasis on proper alignment and biomechanics of the body fits hand in hand with her training as a dancer. Her sessions emphasis breath and imagery to find the "mind/body" connection that we all possess (really, we do!) and are influenced by her ongoing, weekly study with master teacher Clarice Marshall. She enjoys tailoring each session to the individual needs of each client; and one of her favorite things about teaching Pilates is the wide variety of ages she has the opportunity to work with. |
Corrie McCrae
 Corrie began her study of Pilates while attending Northwestern University in Chicago. She completed her comprehensive certification through Body Arts & Science International (BASI). She completed her apprenticeship and began her teaching practice at Flow, Inc. in Chicago with Cynthia Reid. Corrie works with a broad range of clientele including individuals rehabilitating from injuries or surgery, runners, performers, and many pre- and postnatal women. She is proud to have two 2009 marathon runners who completed the race and their knees lived to tell about it. Having scoliosis herself, Corrie has helped many clients relieve pain and work to correct imbalances caused by the disorder. Corrie has created The Bad Girl's Workout, a Pilates-based exercise program designed to get you strong and flexible in all the right ways to make sex even more fun for you and your partner. Check out www.badgirlsworkout.com for more details. |
Maeve Yore
 Maeve began practicing Pilates after developing wrist, elbow, and back pain while working as a massage therapist in a busy chiropractic/rehab center in Los Angeles. Encouraged by the extraordinary changes in her own body, she studied to become an instructor with Maria Leone in Beverly Hills, and is certified through the PhysicalMind Institute. She began training patients at the same rehab facility, helping people recover from injuries, surgeries and taught group reformer classes with an emphasis on physical fitness and weight loss. She also has guided many women through their prenatal Pilates and helped them with their post-delivery recovery as well. Maeve is a self proclaimed workshop junkie and has studied with Kathy Grant, Rael Isacowitz, Jillian Hessel, and Kathy Corey to name a few. |
Ellie Kusner
 Ellie began doing Pilates at the age of 12; it was part of her training as a student of The Boston Ballet School. After having the good fortune of performing with the corps of The Boston Ballet in numerous productions, Ellie decided to retire pointe shoes and attend Barnard College from which she graduated magna cum laude in 2003.
It soon became clear that teaching Pilates would be an ideal complement to her ongoing work as a dancer, and she pursued certification through PhysicalMind. As a pilates teacher drawing on her study of dance, Ellie likes to focus on movement quality and coordination in addition to the necessary attention to alignment and placement that makes pilates such a unique exercise technique. Clients become not only longer and leaner, but also more aware of their body and its structural changes—more open shoulders, freer spine, more efficient and graceful head placement, etc. Ellie believes that a little humor goes well with serious Pilates study! Her teaching is influenced by weekly Pilates and gyrotonic sessions with Master Teacher Clarice Marshall. As a life-long asthmatic, regular study of the Alexander and Stough Breathing Techniques with the esteemed Gwen Ellison have brought great relief and increased comprehension of movement and respiration. Ellie is always learning valuable new things from her fellow teachers. She is currently dancing for Pam Tanowitz in Pam Tanowitz Dance. |
Rosalind Newman
 Rosalind has studied Pilates extensively with such esteemed master teachers as Kathy Grant and Robert Fitzgerald. She received her Pilates Certificate training through the Physical/Mind Institute. Having taught dance as well as bodywork throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, her career as an choreographic artist has informed and enriched her work as a teacher of movement techniques for health as well as fitness. She brings to her teaching her knowledge not only of the fundamental principles of Pilates but of her continued investigation of various somatic studies such as Alexander and Feldenkrais techiques, Skinner Releasing technique, and Laban Movement Analysis. She finds it extremely rewarding to help clients find ways to open up new understandings about their bodies and physical potential. |
Vanessa Rhea Justice
 Vanessa's skillful, enthusiastic, and compassionate teaching is tailored to the individual, and facilitates the discovery of movement potential and connection to "the core." She trained in Pilates at the Kane School (2003-4) and has continued her investigations of Pilates and anatomy with Irene Dowd, The Pilates Center, Clarice Marshall, Liz Koch, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, and Peggy Wallin. Vanessa's teaching has also been influenced by her work as a professional dancer and choreographer plus long-term study of Ideokinesis, Alexander Technique, Skinner Releasing, Yoga, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Klein Technique, and Breathing Coordination. Vanessa used Pilates as a primary source of rehabilitation following a major trauma injury and abdominal surgery. This physical challenge deeply fortified her understanding and appreciation for the balancing, aligning, and strengthening power of Pilates. Vanessa teaches Pilates as Adjunct Professor at Long Island University, Dance Department. A favorite line from one of her clients: "Isn't it amazing? I constantly feel muscles and things I never knew I had!"
Vanessa is listed in Dance Magazine's roster of active female choreographers, and her choreography has been presented locally in NYC, nationally, and abroad. Vanessa earned a BA from Pomona College (Religious Studies/Philosophy) and an MFA from The Ohio State University (Choreography). She loves to travel and has lived for spurts in Nepal, Tapei, Java, India, Austria, Italy, and Honolulu. |
Lucy Simic
 Lucy Simic came to the study and teaching of Pilates through her practice as a dance and theatre artist. Having trained in various methods for accessing the expressive nature of the body both in a dance and theatre context she wanted to further develop and integrate an understanding of anatomy through the study of proper alignment. Specifically as an extension to the movement for actors she had been teaching in Toronto prior to moving to New York, but also as a creator/performer. She trained at the Kane School of Core Integration, graduating in the fall of 2009. The Kane School training is founded on a rigorous anatomical approach to the principles of Pilates, which was highly influential in her current understanding of alignment. The holistic approach she has discovered in the time she has been teaching at Finetune has been instrumental in her pursuit of discovering the value of incorporating imagery and breath into her teaching practice. |
Johanna Meyer
Johanna is a Pilates instructor, choreographer, & performer and a new mom. She has been teaching Pilates in New York City since 1996. Johanna was originally inspired to train in Pilates while studying Dance at New York University. Her instructor there was renowned Pilates teacher, Kathy Grant, a protégé of Joseph Pilates. She has lived virtually pain free since starting Pilates for herself over 16 years ago. Her approach to teaching is much like her own practice, to experience as much pleasure in the body by exploring ways to move pain free. Johanna completed her certification in Pilates with Deborah Lessen of Greene Street Studio in Manhattan. She has a continued interest in body mechanics & has studied anatomy with Irene Dowd and the Alexander Technique with Sigal Bergman. Johanna assisted Rebecca Dietzel’s Anatomy class at The Alvin Ailey School at Fordham University. In Johanna’s sessions she works from the micro to the macro, teaching awareness of holding patterns that create stress in the body. Armed with this awareness she helps clients move through these places building strength and increasing flexibility. Her keen eye for alignment is based on her years of dance training & performing, study of anatomy & the body in motion. |
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