Instructors

LISA YAKEL - "I feel that movement is therapy on many levels and Pilates best reflects this."

Lisa M. Yakel (owner) has over twenty years in the dance and fitness industry.  She earned a B.A. in Dance Performance from Russell Sage College, performed with local dance companies, including Maude Baum & Co., taught at local dance studios and Russell Sage College, and choreographed for numerous school productions.  Lisa also founded In Motion School of Dance, as well as taught fitness classes for many years at The Sweat Shop.

Discovering Pilates was an “a-ha” moment for Lisa.  It was what her body wanted – sensible movement.

Becoming a Comprehensive Certified Instructor through Power Pilates of NYC gives Lisa the opportunity to combine the art of dance and the physics of exercise.

Contact Lisa for more information at 518-727-0271
Email: lisa@corepilatesalbany.com

JANET CLINTON

Janet Clinton is a Comprehensivley Certified Instructor and has a MS degree and a professional background in the field of Social Work for over twenty five years. She has been a lifelong health and fitness participant/advocate. She has trained as a dancer, a runner/road-racer, a skier/snowboarder, and more recently she has become an avid cyclist. Janet's transition to Pilates has been a long circuitous journey. After many years of sports injuries compounded by compensatory muscle imbalances, Janet began to take yoga and Pilates classes. Her further interest in Pilates led to enrollment in The Power Pilates Comprehensive Training Program in 2009.
Email: janet@corepilatesalbany.com

JOAN COFFEY

Joan Coffey is a Comprehensively Certified Pilates Instructor having received her certification through Power Pilates in New York City in 2004.  Joan has had teaching experience in the Pilates Method since that time, has taken numerous continuing education classes through Power Pilates, and is continuing her love of teaching Pilates at Core Pilates of Albany.  While Joan's formal college education is not in physical fitness, her lifelong interest and activities have always centered around various forms of physical fitness.  These activities include alpine skiing (including teaching), cross country skiing, sailing, aerobic & weight training exercising, bicycling, hiking, swimming and tennis.  Once Joan discovered the Pilates Method in 1999, it has remained her number one favorite form of physical fitness.  She incorporates this method in every other physical activity, and encourages her students to do the same - the "Pilates Mind" is always present!
Email: joan@corepilatesalbany.com

TRACI PETERS

A Capital District Native, Traci earned a B.A. in dance from The State University of New York at Buffalo.  It is there that she began her Pilates training.  After graduating, she headed to New York City to pursue her dance career.  While in New York, she danced with The Lexington Dance Collective, of which she was a founding member, Vanessa Paige Dance, as well as produced, choreographed and performed her own work.  As a professional dancer, Pilates and Yoga became more and more a part of Traci’s way to stay  injury free, and in 2006 she became a Certified Mat Instructor through Core Pilates NYC.  After seeing the immediate benefits this work brought to her very broad range of clients, she became Comprehensively Certified through Power Pilates in 2008.  In the two years to follow, she was fortunate enough to teach at Body Tonic in Brooklyn, N.Y., owned by Jennifer Deluca, trained by Joseph Pilates protégé, Romana Kryzanowska, and at Equinox Fitness, voted Best Gym in America by Fitness Magazine in 2010.  Traci is delighted to bring her talents back to the Capital District with her husband Nigel and dog Cocoa.   
Email: traci@corepilatesalbany.com

GENII PITTELLI

Genii Pittelli, a classroom teacher and school librarian for more than thirty years has added a Power Pilates Beginner Mat certificate to her teaching repertoire. Genii started studying Pilates seven years ago and fell in love with its simplicity and discipline. A life long student,Genii has added Pilates as her favorite subject. She is looking forward to furthering her Power Pilates training.
Email: genii@corepilatesalbany.com

JENNIFER TARENTINO

Jennifer holds a BFA in jewelry design and metalsmithing from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, as well as a master's degree in industrial design from Pratt Institute in NYC. Jennifer worked as a product designer for Tiffany & Co for over a decade, followed by stints with Ralph Lauren, Juicy Couture, and David Yurman. Following a total hip replacement in 1998, Jen discovered the Pilates method, fell in love with it, and has been an avid practitioner ever since. In 2007 Jen was certified to teach Pilates mat through Power Pilates, and she completed the comphrensive certification in 2009 at Power Pilates in NYC.
Email: jen@corepilatesalbany.com