Darci Meyerhofer
Pilates & Ballet Faculty
Darci began dancing at the age of 8 at Morgan Street Dance Company in Lafayette, LA. Her passion and dedication for dance continued throughout high school and then earned her a scholarship to the prestigious dance program at the University of Arizona. After graduating with a BFA in Dance, Darci moved to Las Vegas where she began her professional dance career. After dancing for four years in a number of large production shows, Darci then performed the role of the “Ponytail Girl” and was dance captain in a regional theatre’s production of Sweet Charity. In 2007, Darci moved east and danced her inaugural season as a Radio City Rockette in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Darci continued to dance as a Rockette for the 2008 and 2009 Christmas seasons. Following her years with the Rockettes, Darci became a certified Pilates instructor and worked in several physical therapy clinics as an aide and a Pilates therapy guide. In 2012, Darci moved to San Diego and began teaching at 4S Dance Academy. She looks forward to continuing to teach dance now that she and her family have moved to Los Gatos.
Andy Moody
Pilates & Ballet Faculty
Andrea Moody graduated from San Jose State University with a B.A. in Dance and has trained and danced with many Bay Area companies including: San Francisco Ballet, Ballet San Jose, Los Gatos Ballet, sjDanceco, Margaret Wingrove Dance Company, and the American Musical Theater of San Jose. Andrea is the director of Los Gatos Ballet Open Program and Pilates Program as well as a Youth Ballet Instructor. Her goals for these programs are to create space where dancers and movers of various ages, backgrounds and experience levels can enjoy and study the art of ballet and pilates. Andrea’s focus through class is to provide exercises that rejuvenate the soul and balance and strengthen the body. She has a passion all types of dance and fitness movement and finds no greater joy than to be given the opportunity to share these art forms with those who are eager to learn.
Joanna Ramos
Ballet & Pilates Faculty, Wellness Program Liaison
Joanna is the creator of Pendulum, a 20 year wellness practice that fuses Pilates along with crafting functional movement modalities and stress reduction strategies for its clientele. She works and connects with Bay Area Pilates practices, Physical Therapy clinics, Bay Club’s Luxury Health Club Brand and Corporate wellness. In 1994, Joanna studied massage therapy and opened Main De Soleil, a boutique massage practice. It wasn’t long that her wellness journey would lead her to a new path-Pilates. During her years in the field, she has lead Pilates at Bay Clubs, taught for philanthropy and her most recent endeavor, The DanceLAB was curated when invited to co-create a Dance Wellness initiative, for a long standing Bay Area competitive dance company, Dance Attack! The focus was to lower injury rate, educate and enhance performance. Through the contributions of Mariana Sorbal of Emotion Arts Dance Company and Kevin Vandi DPT and founder of Competitive Edge, a successful program was born coupling PT, Ballet and Pilates known as The DanceLAB. Her love for art with special fondness for dance, allowed to see a dancer in a new light, an Art-Lete with unique needs and abilities.
Yuka Sugiura, CMT
Orthopedic Massage & Pilates Therapist, Wellness Program Liaison
Yuka is an Orthopedic Massage & Pilates Therapist and Neuro-athletic Coach, specializing in working with young athletes and dancers. She grew up in the Chicago suburbs, where she trained and competed in gymnastics at a high level before converting her energy to ballet. She was introduced to orthopedic massage and Pilates while rehabbing a hip injury, and found the combination to be so effective that she was inspired to leave her software career to become a therapist. She then pursued training in dance medicine with the PTs for the New York City Ballet and School of American Ballet. In addition to an orthopedic focus, Yuka uses a neuro-centric approach to movement and injury prevention. She incorporates training in applied pain and performance neurology into treatment for pain relief and to improve dancers’ resilience and resistance to injury. This approach integrates brain function into movement training and therapy, targeting the systems that have a direct impact on how well we balance, stretch and move. For dancers in particular, high-functioning proprioceptive, visual and vestibular skills are critical, and a neuro-athletic coach will assess and train these systems in the context of dance. In addition to working with the dancers at Los Gatos Ballet, Yuka is a flexibility and neuro-athletic coach for the competitive team at West Valley Gymnastics School in Campbell. More about her practice can be found at www.levelupbodywork.com.