Deborah’s background has been in the arts. As a child she studied ballet, tap, jazz, and piano. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Fine Arts from York University in Toronto, Canada and then travelled to England to complete her study of Benesh notation. After receiving her A.I. Chor., she worked with the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet for 10 years as the company choreologist. Since moving to Santa Barbara in 1989, Deborah became very interested in Pilates when she saw the benefits to injured dancers. In 1997 she started working with Astrid de Wild and enrolled in the certification program with Rael Isacowitz through Body Arts and Science International (BASI). She got her certification at the end of that year and has been teaching Pilates ever since. Deborah taught Pilates mat classes to ballet students, chair Pilates classes to residents of Covenant Living at the Samarkand, and now teaches a Pilates Mat class at the Women’s Athletic Club. While teaching, she focuses on proper alignment as it is fundamental to working safely without injury. Pilates can be a calm and meditative workout, and also a challenging one; she likes to combine both in her classes. She is happy working with all ages, and all levels of fitness. She finds it a pleasure working with enthusiastic, hardworking and fun-loving clients and enjoys the rapport which develops between student and teacher.