Debra Rose is a founding member and Executive Director of San FranciscoGYROTONIC® 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®s 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 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 inGYROKINESIS®. In 2004 she was kindly invited to be an instructor at San FranciscoGYROTONIC®. She is certified in GYROTONIC®, all the Specialized Equipment, GYROKINESIS® and is aGYROTONIC® 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 FranciscoGYROTONIC® but she would be visiting periodically to continue her work and study with her beloved teachers.

Keira is please to be the newest member of the SAN FRANCISCO GYROTONIC® family. With a background in dance and non-profit arts management, she is looking forward to expanding her knowledge of GYROTONICs® and helping others to do the same! Please let Keira know what your course objectives are along with your preferred schedule so that she may assist us in scheduling courses that will satisfy all of your GYROTONIC® needs.

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.

Sarah EJ Cohen has come to SF GYROTONIC® to create a sense of ease: ease in scheduling appointments, ease in finding the right trainers for your goals, ease in understanding the many options available to you at SF GYROTONIC®, as well as helping create a sense of ease in all the bodies that come here to be transformed.

Being somewhat new to GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® exercise methods, I am so impressed at the depth of change I've noticed in my body; I've made fundamental changes in my body by spiraling into them, that I wasn't able to do no matter how much I tried to push myself into them. The trainers here really are extraordinary! I'm constantly impressed by their ability to ease me into things that I thought were impossible.

Sarah brings a world of experience from her background in dance, activism, counseling and business management. After graduating top of her class in Marketing Management and Dance from Drexel University, she went on to manage several Performing Arts Organizations, Restaurants, and Retail stores including owning her own Bookstore and Community Center. She's very excited to be part a place that focuses on 3 of her favorite things: Change, Movement and the Present Moment!

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 takingGYROTONIC® 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®.

Janine Kovac was raised in El Paso, Texas, where she started ballet training at the age of seven. She studied on scholarship at San Francisco Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle and later through the Dance Development Fund, in Ghent, Belgium. She has danced professionally with Ballet El Paso, the National Ballet of Iceland, Italian companies Aterballetto and Fabula Saltica, Graz Opernhaus Ballett in Graz, Austria, and Smuin Ballet in San Francisco. Janine was introduced to Juliu Horvath's Yoga for Dancers in 1993, and incorporated these principles into her dancing. Since that time she has made the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® a staple in her life. In 2004 she became certified to teach both GYROKINESIS® and GYROTONIC® methodologies. She works closely with Master Trainers Debra Rose and Nora Heiber, and is currently on the staff at San Francisco GYROTONIC®. Janine has also been a computer programmer since 2000 and is a Cognitive Science Major at UC Berkeley. She is currently on extended maternity leave from San Francisco GYROTONIC®.

One of Domini's first childhood memories is of trying to ride her tricycle down the stairs in to her mother's sewing room. Her passion for movement and clothes has continued unchecked since then, although through time she has learned to avoid most cataclysmic endings. She studied ballet for 14 years before leaving it to pursue yoga, was certified to teach Pilates at 19 and discovered GYROTONIC® methodology one week later. Soon after turning 20 she moved to San Francisco to apprentice at San Francisco GYROTONIC® and became a trainer the following year. She has been teaching GYROTONIC® for ten years, training primarily under Debra Rose and Nora Heiber, and studying with Juliu when possible. Her other career is as a clothing designer.

Juliann is on a one year meditation retreat. We will put up her Bio and Photo when she returns.

Jocelynn Rudig was first introduced toGYROTONIC® training as a Biology major at Colorado College where she was fortunate enough to takeGYROKINESIS® 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.

Leslie Schickel is a certified trainer on all of the specialized equipment, inGYROKINESIS® and has recently become a Master Trainer of theGYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®. She began herGYROTONIC® 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 FranciscoGYROTONIC®. 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 theirGYROTONIC® 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."