Teresa is uniquely qualified as a Pilates instructor. A combined total of 30 yrs of Dance, Pilates and PT experience informs her integrated approach to the art and science of helping people find joy in movement. A native New Yorker, she toured worldwide for almost a decade as a soloist with the Martha Graham Dance Company of New York City, the oldest and most celebrated contemporary dance company in America. She has been a licensed physical therapist since 1996, earning a Master's Degree from the University of Pittsburgh. She holds triple Pilates certifications with the respected Body Arts and Science International, Pilates Method Alliance and Polestar Pilates Education. In 1999, Teresa founded the now flourishing Pilates program through the School of Medicine at Stanford University. Pilates with Teresa, her private practice created in 1998, continues to be a source of pride and accomplishment though she counts her greatest blessings as her two children Katelyn and Tyler.

Teresa was first introduced to the Pilates method in 1985, when she started studying Pilates to augment her dance training. Teresa explains, “Dance, sports, and life in general is inherently asymmetrical. For instance, a dancer might have to do 8 leaps on the right leg and only 2 on the left. This asymmetrical patterning, done again and again in rehearsals, creates muscle imbalances which need to be addressed.” Teresa credits Pilates with addressing those needs and providing her with a relatively injury free dance career.

In 1994 Teresa retired from professional dance, earned her Master’s Degree in PT and began work as a licensed physical therapist in an outpatient orthopedic clinic. She routinely incorporated Pilates exercises into her patients’ rehab programs. This provided overwhelming insight and solid proof of the significant benefits of combining Pilates with physical therapy. This motivated Teresa to become a certified Pilates practitioner and open her own practice. With Teresa’s unique background, she is able to serve those who desire general conditioning, specific performance enhancement, as well as those with special physical needs.

Teresa’s dance career had many highlights, and featured many accomplishments. During her 9 year career as a soloist with the Martha Graham Dance Company, she participated in numerous international tours, many on the world’s most famous stages, including New York’s Metropolitan Opera House and Carnegie Hall, the Paris Opera House, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Ancient Herod Atticus Theatre on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. In 1986 Teresa performed with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolph Nureyev in Appalachian Spring. She was featured as the “Woman in Yellow” from Diversion of Angels in PBS’s nationwide public television broadcast of "Martha Graham Dance Company at the Paris Opera". In 1993, world renowned choreographer, Twyla Tharp, selected Teresa to perform in her Demeter and Persephone, the first dance to be choreographed on the Martha Graham Dance Company by someone other than Ms. Graham herself.

In addition to performing, Teresa also choreographed and taught dance. She has been a guest faculty member at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, the Martha Graham Dance Center , and most recently a Visiting Artist in the Dance Department at Stanford University. Read Stanford interview Her choreography has been produced in New York City to critical acclaim ("...the revelation of the evening" Anna Kisselgoff - chief dance critic, New York Times 1/93). Teresa graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in dance from the State University of New York, College at Brockport.

"My Philosophy: Accept where you are now, without trying to imitate another, and acknowledge what areas you need to improve. During your sessions you will experience personal victories, which will be a source of great satisfaction and empowerment. Together we can work safely toward achieving your goals and gaining an overall look and feeling of health and well being."
~Teresa Maldonado Marchok