Debra Rose is a founding member and Executive Director of San Francisco GYROTONIC® primarily created to serve the San Francisco Bay Area's dance community in 1988. Since that time, San Francisco GYROTONIC® has grown to become one of the world's foremost GYROTONIC® training facilities serving a variety of individuals and needs. Debra is not only a certified Master Trainer in all aspects of the system and equipment, but she is one of the few Master Trainers authorized by GYROTONIC® creator, Juliu Horvath to teach the Level I Final Certification Exams in Miami and Asia, previously taught only by him. As one of the first GYROTONIC® Master Trainers, Debra has worked closely with Mr. Horvath in developing and implementing a syllabus that has been used throughout the world and is responsible for training hundreds of GYROTONIC® trainers currently working everywhere.

As a dancer, Debra completed her training at New York City's School of American Ballet, after which she danced with the Oakland and San Francisco Ballets before becoming a founding member of Alonzo King's LINES Ballet where she danced for 20 years. In addition to being a principal dancer, Debra served as a Ballet Mistress for LINES and assisted Mr. King in setting choreography on various companies that include Alvin Ailey, Dance Theater of Harlem and the Joffrey Ballet. Most recently, Debra has created the first syllabus and GYROTONIC® manual associated with a dance program for the LINES/Dominican University Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance. In addition, Debra continues to dance as a tenured member of the San Francisco Opera Ballet where she has been dancing since 1985.

One of the founding members of San Francisco GYROTONIC®, Master Trainer, Nora Heiber has been teaching GYROTONIC® methodology since 1988. Nora has her full GYROKINESIS® certification, and as a Master Trainer in all of the equipment, has provided training to many GYROTONIC® trainers currently teaching all over the world. Nora danced with Alonzo King's LINES Ballet for 12 years where she now serves as a Board Trustee. In addition, Nora serves the arts community as the National Dance Executive for the American Guild of Musical Artists where she represents dancers, choristers, solo singers, and production staff of the opera and ballet.

"The GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® has empowered me to conquer what I was told was a career-ending injury in my early 20's. I ended up dancing professionally for another 20 years and often feel as if this system has reversed my aging process. I have had the honor of witnessing and experiencing the evolution of a healing methodology that has the capacity to help so many people in such profound ways. It is impossible to express how very fulfilling it is to be able to share the seemingly magical qualities of the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® with each individual with whom I am honored enough to work."

Nicole Bonadonna discovered the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® 14 years ago in N.Y. as a compliment to her training as a professional dancer. She currently lives in S.F. and dances for the contemporary company Kunst-Stoff that she is a founding member of. Nicole received her certification in the GYROTONIC® system under Debra Rose at S.F. GYROTONIC®. In addition, she is certified in The Method Pilates with the Physical Mind Institute under Jean Sullivan at A Body of Work in San Francisco. She is very excited to be a trainer at S.F. GYROTONIC®.

Ten years of ball-chasing sports teams, two years of sitting behind a desk and the random run, six years of flamenco dance and hoisting a boom in the air for hours on end as a sound recordist for television and video all proved to be a bit too much for Gwen's lumbar spine, and in 2004 she started to experience a nasty series of recurring back spasms. Determined to figure a way out of that mess, she went from modality to modality, eventually arriving at SF GYROTONIC®'s door. She was so impressed with her body's response to the GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® systems that she decided to become a trainer, in hopes that she might help others access that same source of spinal strength and agility. She began her teacher training with Vincent Macagnone, Keli Fine and Debra Rose, and has been certified under Magali Massac, Debra Rose and Nora Heiber, to whom she is extremely grateful for having imparted above and beyond technical knowledge. Gwen continues to dance flamenco, and in the past few years has taken up contemporary dance and ballet (hooray for adult beginners!), and, staying true to her New York roots, walks just about everywhere. Gwen is ecstatic to be working at SF GYROTONIC®, her training grounds, her source of inspiration and a fantastic place to be..

Jovita was introduced to the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® in 1997 at White Cloud West and practiced the method under the instruction of Nora Heiber, Debra Rose, Tamara Yoneda and Kelly Fine. She met Juliu Horvath, the creator of the method, in 2000, and became certified in GYROKINESIS®. In 2004 she was kindly invited to be an instructor at San Francisco GYROTONIC®. She is certified in GYROTONIC®, all the Specialized Equipment, GYROKINESIS® and is a GYROTONIC® Pre-Trainer. Jovita holds a Biology degree from the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil, is a CMT specializing on the Hendrickson Method, Cranio Sacral therapy from the Upledger Institute, Breema bodywork and has study extensively with Jean-Claude West. She is a student of Shadow yoga, under the guidance of Zhander Natanaga Remete. Jovita is moving to Brazil to open a Sister Studio of San Francisco GYROTONIC® but she would be visiting periodically to continue her work and study with her beloved teachers.

Bobby Bernstein is delighted to be teaching at San Francisco GYROTONIC® and to be working with the LINES ballet students. She moved to San Francisco from New York City where she taught for GYROTONIC® New York and for Steps on Broadway.
She is certified in GYROTONIC® Level 1 and is an authorized GYROTONIC®pre-trainer. Her other certifications are: GYROTONER®,  Jumping-Stretching Board, Archway and Pre-Post Natal. She was certified in GYROKINESIS® Level 1 by Juliu Horvath. She has also completed Paul Horvath's Shoulder Girdle, Pelvic Girdle and Scoliosis therapeutic courses. She was trained in all her other courses by Leda Franklin or Debra Rose.

Bobby came to discover the GYROTONIC® methodology through a search of her own, after an accident during a performance, for healing. GYROTONIC®training is the only modality she found that has the ability to recover one's full range of motion, post injury, as well as to rehabilitate the whole system. This experience is what made her choose to become a certified instructor so that she could help others. This being said, she enjoys teaching all ages and abilities, dancers and non-dancers alike. She has a special fondness for helping woman through pregnancy. She believes GYROTONIC®training gives overall improvement in self awareness, three dimensional proprioception, strength and flexibility. This leads to better function, no matter one's lifestyle, as well as to pain free living.
Bobby also brings her background as a professional ballet dancer to her teaching. She has danced with such companies as: The Metropolitan Opera Ballet, The Washington Ballet, Orlando Ballet, under the direction of Fernando Bujones, Nashville Ballet and Dallas Forth Worth Ballet. She currently dances for Peninsula Ballet Theatre and teaches GYROKINESIS® classes and dance at their conservatory in San Mateo.

Andi Clegg, a Chicago native, recently moved to San Francisco via New York City. She comes from a strong dance background, which led her to teaching GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS®. At 5'3" on a good day, Andi loved how GYROTONIC® made her muscles feel less compact and her body longer. She began training in New York after graduating from the University of Illinois with a B.F.A. in Dance, working with master trainers such as Mariarossa Guglielmi, Erika Hassan, Sebastian Plettenberg, and Tim McMinn. Andi has experience teaching people with serious injuries, especially shoulder and sacrum issues and scoliosis. She has worked with a stroke victim, a woman with Parkinson's disease, autistic children and professional dancers. She is excited to bring her past experiences to San Francisco GYROTONIC® and continue learning from the community here!

 

Clare Cleveland is a certified GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® Instructor and completed her first levels of training with Master Trainer Debra Rose in 1999, and with Juliu Horvath, GYROTONIC® founder, in 2000. She has completed advanced levels of GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® training and continues to study with Debra Rose, Juliu Horvath and other Master Trainers. She is also a Registered Yoga Teacher and has worked in the Bay Area as a GYROTONIC® instructor and a Yoga teacher since 1998. Her work is enhanced and informed by her background in classical and modern dance, massage therapy, and medical research. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in biology and psychology from the University of San Diego and has worked in the field of autoimmune disease research for the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center since 1997. For Clare, GYROTONIC® training is the ultimate method for integrating body, mind, breath, and movement in a way that stimulates the body's natural healing capacity. As a dancer, she has always known the joys and benefits of moving her body in a fluid, dynamic, and playful way. As a GYROTONIC® instructor, she enjoys having the opportunity to help clients rediscover their own connection to this source of healing, energy, and joy in their bodies.

Muffie Connelly came to San Francisco for the specific reason of studying at San Francisco GYROTONIC®. What began as a three-week training program quickly turned into a continual therapeutic investigation and lifestyle. A twenty year history of Ballet and Modern dance coupled with the fact that she was not born with a classic dancers body, Muffie has almost “seen it all” when it comes to physical challenges and ailments. These challenges summoned the need for a movement system with tolerance for all body types. Exhausted with trying to fit a circle peg body into a square system style of therapy, Muffie is elated to have found the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®, which works for all body types. The GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® has given her the ability to work out years of built up muscle habits and also works as a successful movement system to keep her dancing day in and out. As a Certified GYROTONIC® Trainer, her current area of interest are of the systems applications in rehabilitation. Muffie is thrilled to be teaching at SFG along side many of the trainers whom are of utmost inspiration to her.

Elizabeth Dawson comes to the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® from a foundation in classical and contemporary dance having begun her GYROTONIC® study at White Cloud in New York City in 1997. She completed her initial training to become a GYROTONIC® instructor with Juliu Horvath in 1998, with whom she continues to study. Much of her subsequent and advanced GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® training has been with master trainers Debra Rose and Nora Heiber of San Francisco GYROTONIC®. Elizabeth has been teaching since 2000 and is both an instructor of GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS®, a Pre-trainer of the former, and she is certified to teach on all five pieces of GYROTONIC® equipment. While Elizabeth enjoys teaching all facets of this extraordinary system, she is particularly interested in its therapeutic application.

Maurya Kerr recently began teaching at San Francisco GYROTONIC® after dancing with Alonzo King's LINES Ballet from 1994-2006. Maurya started taking GYROTONIC® lessons for her own body almost twenty years ago with Master Trainer Magali Messac, and was certified under Master Trainers Debra Rose and Nora Heiber. She received her dance training at Pacific Northwest Ballet and danced professionally with PNB and Fort Worth Ballet before joining LINES. She has been a principal guest artist with Joanna Haigood's Zaccho Dance Theatre, The Crucible's Romeo and Juliet, Alex Ketley and Christian Burns' The Foundry, Robert Moses' 'Draft' project, Robert Henry Johnson Dance Company, and Ballet Zinoun in Morocco. She is a senior faculty member for the Lines Pre-Professional Program, was a principal dancer in "The Matrix II: Reloaded", and the 2004/2005 model for Mirella Dancewear.

Lauren Kohne has been practicing on GYROTONIC® equipment since 2000. She discovered the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® while researching proactive ways to heal the chronic effects of her scoliosis. In one session she was convinced that this movement therapy was what her body was asking for. Through the aid of the machines her body began to unwind itself, like tight rope knots loosening after years of continuous compression. The existing patterns in her body indeed shifted. Continuously she felt more symmetrical and physically and mentally balanced. Curiosity from the effects of her experience sparked an interest in delving further into the study of the system and its principles. She is now a certified GYROTONIC® instructor and has extended her studies into the specialized equipment and GYROKINESIS®.

Juliann returns to San Francisco GYROTONIC® after spending a year and a half practising meditation and yoga in Thailand, Burma, and India. Juliann began studying GYROTONIC® in 1996 at White Cloud West in order help heal an injury and to support her dance career.  In 2001 she was certified in both GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® methodologies and later obtained certification in all of the specialized equipment. She has worked extensively with master trainers Debra Rose, Nora Heiber, and Tamara Yoneda.   Juliann's teaching is informed by fifteen years as a professional classical and modern dancer. She has danced with Lines Ballet, the San Francisco Opera, Kunst-Stoff and Stephen Pelton Dance Theater to name a few. She has taught GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® in the Lines Ballet Pre-Professional Program, and the Dominican College BFA Dance Program.  Additionally she has experience pre-training aspiring teachers. Juliann focuses both on connecting the breath to movement as well as finding joy in exercise. 

Leslie Schickel is a certified trainer on all of the specialized equipment, in GYROKINESIS® and has recently become a Master Trainer of the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®. She began her GYROTONIC® study in 1993. In 1997 she was certified and began teaching at the former White Cloud West. 2007 marks ten uninterrupted years of her training individuals, at what is now San Francisco GYROTONIC®. She would like to give a special thanks to Tamara Yoneda, Nora Heiber, Debra Rose and Juliu Horvath for passing on the wonderful gift of their GYROTONIC® knowledge. Leslie was classically trained at the Boston Ballet School and became one of the founding members of the San Francisco based dance company, Kunst-stoff, with whom she still dances. Along with her dance training she brings experiential knowledge of Feldenkrais, meditation, Butoh dance, Iyengar and has recently completed the foundations course in Svaroopa Yoga.

We are so happy that Donna quit a retail day job in order to pursue her true métier as a movement trainer. Her dance background included everything from modern to contact improv, Afro-Haitian to jazz, ballet to ballroom, and a BA in dance from Mills College. Her fitness path (running, aerobics, weight-training, Jane Fonda's Workout and Pilates) led her to our studio doors in 1999. Within one year, Donna became GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® certified and has been teaching for San Francisco GYROTONIC® ever since.

"My stepmother, Jovita Bonsiepe, inspired me to begin my journey as a GYROTONIC® trainer. As I experienced the GYROTONIC® methodology, I began to embrace and appreciate it more and more. Coming from a Capoeira background, I have been able to incorporate GYROTONIC® principles to my Capoeira training which has allowed for substantial improvement. I recently completed the GYROKINESIS® course with Debra Rose and have been able to explore a different dimension of the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®. I am currently in college and recently changed my major from Architecture to Kinesiology. I look forward to the challenges and opportunities that this journey through GYROTONIC®, Capoeira, and Kinesiology will bring me."

Sally Clawson, inspired by this built-from-the-ground-up women owned company, joined the SF GYROTONIC® team in 2007. Sally has over 10 years experience in bookkeeping, tax preparation and financial management. Also a former professional dancer, Sally toured internationally with the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company. She is a recipient of the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation Performing Arts Fellowship; and was nominated for an Isadora Duncan award for outstanding performance. Currently, Sally is enjoying a career as a professional actor performing in voice over, stage, film, and television.

Joanna is a New York native who first began working in San Francisco as a manager and dance teacher at Metronome Dance Center. When she first came to San Francisco GYROTONIC®, Joanna was new to GYROTONIC® but she knew immediately that this was where she wanted to be.

Now working at San Francisco GYROTONIC® Joanna's goal is to spread her love of GYROTONIC® and her belief that it can change a person's body, mind and soul. If you'd like to get started in GYROTONIC® or GYROkinesis®, please contact Joanna by phone or email at office@sfgyrotonic.com.

If there are any courses you are interested in, please feel free to contact Kat at course@sfgyrotonic.com.

Jocelynn Rudig was first introduced to GYROTONIC® training as a Biology major at Colorado College where she was fortunate enough to take GYROKINESIS® classes as part of the modern dance program. When she relocated to San Francisco in 2001 to work with Capacitor and Liss Fain Dance, she began working as the Course Coordinator at San FranciscoGYROTONIC®. Jocelynn then became the Ladder Sales Representative as well as Debra Rose's personal assistant after stepping away from the office to live a dualistic lifestyle between the city lights of San Francisco and the wilderness of the Klamath River. Jocelynn became certified as aGYROKINESIS® instructor in 2006, and is grateful for such an amazing staff to work with and continually learn from.