Instructors

Stephanie Crank – Owner

Certified STOTT PILATES® Lead Instructor-Trainer

A professional ballet dancer for more than 12 years with several companies including Oregon Ballet Theatre, Cincinnati Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Stephanie was introduced to STOTT PILATES® during her rehabilitation from a difficult back injury. Pilates not only helped her to strengthen and restructure the faulty muscular patterns that led to her injury, but also increased her strength and confidence as a performer.

After retiring from dance, teaching pilates seemed the perfect career transition. Impressed with the level of research and thought behind the STOTT PILATES® method, Stephanie sought instructor training and very quickly developed an even deeper respect for the method and the organization behind it. She has been teaching STOTT PILATES® since 2004 and became a STOTT PILATES® Instructor Trainer in September of 2008.

Stephanie believes that the greatest gift of a regular pilates practice is improved posture, function and comfort in one’s own body. Her focus is helping people to feel healthy and energetic and assisting them in achieving their goals, whether athletic in nature or simple daily tasks made easier and more joyful.

Contact Stephanie Here

Alyson DiRoma

Certifited STOTT PILATES® Instructor-Trainer

Even as a child, Aly’s enthusiasm for movement was unmistakeable. Growing up, she found herself passionate about a variety of artistic and athletic endeavors including dance, gymnastics and swimming. Along the way Aly was exposed to Pilates as a way of enhancing her performance and taking care of her body.

While attending college at Florida State University, where she earned a BFA in Dance, she was introduced to the STOTT PILATES® method. Upon graduating, Aly moved back to the Tampa Bay area where she began teaching, choreographing and performing in the local dance community. During this time she became interested in deepening her knowledge of body mechanics and conditioning to further assist her students and to enhance her own dancing. This led her to enroll in her first STOTT PILATES® certification course. Her appreciation and enthusiasm for the training soon developed into an interest in becoming a full-time STOTT PILATES® instructor.

Aly enjoys the way Pilates makes her body feel and loves sharing that feeling with her clients as well!

Christine Borchers

Certified STOTT PILATES® Instructor

From an early age Christine was attracted to movement, in particular, through dance and traditional exercise modalities.  Unfortunately, her introduction to pain and injury came early as well.  At the age of 13, she sustained a broken hip, and while healing she began to experience compensatory pain on the opposite hip as well.  

Despite these early injuries, she remained active through college where she performed as a dancer with George Washington University and Long Island University Dance Companies.  After working and dancing in NYC through continued hip discomfort, she started taking pilates when she moved to Florida in 2000.  In pilates, she had finally found a form of exercise that simultaneously helped to relieve her pain and to return balance to her body.

In 2001, Christine became a Physical Mind certified pilates instructor.  After some years of teaching, she took time off to start a family.  Two beautiful boys and 10 years later, after finally receiving corrective surgery for her long-time hip pain, Christine returned to exercise at Pilates Movement Studio.  Her workouts helped her to fine-tune her hip strength and mobility post-rehab, and sculpted her body again in the way she remembered that pilates could!  She was so enthusiastic about the STOTT PILATES® method that she decided to pursue a second pilates certification in order to deepen her understanding of the STOTT PILATES® repertoire and biomechanically-based approach.  Christine hopes to offer others the rehabilitative experience that she enjoyed.  She loves helping clients achieve balance, strength, and the many other wonderful benefits of pilates!

Xiaoyi (Porsha) Wang

Certified STOTT PILATES® Instructor

Xiaoyi comes from a background in education. She graduated from the University of Florida in 2019 with a master’s degree in bilingual education before moving to Tampa, where she pursued and completed her STOTT PILATES® instructor training.

Xiaoyi was always very active and interested in athletics as a child, but became much more sedentary in high school due to the academic rigor of the program she attended. Ultimately, it was pilates that helped her to restore a sense of physical vitality after completing her coursework and graduating from Beijing International Studies University in 2016. She became very passionate about the benefits of pilates when shortly after beginning she noticed a marked improvement in her strength, stability, and overall energy. Specifically, she found that her lower back pain, neck tension, and poor circulation resulting from years of intense study and physical inactivity gave way to a steady increase in body awareness, more efficient movement patterns, and core strength. These changes led to noticeably better posture and agility during everyday activities, benefits which she is excited to share with others as an instructor!

Veronica Leonard

Certified STOTT PILATES® Instructor

Veronica’s interest in mindful movement was sparked at a time in her life when it became obvious to her that true well-being was about more than restrictive diets and aggressive exercise programs. Though a good variety of workouts offer many helpful benefits, Veronica found herself gravitating away from rigorous weight training protocols and cardio sequences, and toward nurturing her body with better sleep, sound nutrition, and restorative movement. Her search for a gentler approach to wellness was at first necessitated by an injury that generated excessive neck and shoulder pain, and was affecting her daily life. When she was first introduced to STOTT PILATES® she knew that she was experiencing something transformative.

In 2020 Veronica earned her Doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine from the National University of Health Sciences and began practicing in a private clinic. Over time, she noticed that the exercises she was prescribing to her patients closely aligned with the movements she was learning in pilates classes. Intrigued by the benefits of pilates, both personally and with her chiropractic patients, Veronica pursued and completed her STOTT PILATES® instructor certification at Pilates Movement Studio in early 2024.

Veronica has been able to sharply decrease her own painful neck flare-ups and is managing her symptoms much more effectively with a consistent pilates routine aimed at improving neck and shoulder stability. In this way, she is a walking testimony for her clients and patients who want to take an active role in injury recovery and pain management. In fact, her husband. who has been pleased and impressed by her progress, has taken up pilates as well!

Veronica is passionate about helping others discover the power of movement to support their health. She believes that everyone deserves the tools to help them feel their best, and that pilates is a transformative practice that empowers people to take control of their physical health and improve their quality of life.

Deborah Rodriguez

Certified STOTT PILATES® Instructor

Originally from New York City, Deborah’s movement background stems from her training in ballet and Graham based modern dance. In 2010 while seeking a low-impact, conditioning exercise routine Deborah began sessions with a certified STOTT PILATES® instructor. She discovered Pilates was both gentle and effective, which facilitated her postpartum recovery from a cesarean birth.

Six months after starting Pilates she returned to the dance studio, at which time a passion for mentoring athletes was ignited. With a desire to offer a multifaceted approach to athletic training she completed her yoga instructor certification. She has held her Yoga Alliance RYT200 designation since 2012. Followed by her STOTT PILATES® Level 1 Certification in 2014. To deepen her knowledge in athletic programming, Deborah will obtain her National Academy of Sports Medicine Certification in Personal Training with a specialty in Corrective Exercise in 2025.

When not in the studio Deborah enjoys exploring the natural riches of the Tampa Bay Area with her family of five. Deborah expresses herself artistically through her part-time pursuit of her Masters in Entertainment Design. A resolute athlete, Deborah cross trains in running and cycling. Her wellness practice is rooted in core values of Mahayana Zen Buddhism: Awakening, Community, Inclusiveness, Mindful Living and Service.

Deborah is committed to offering invigorating and restorative sessions. Her background in dance, yoga and Pilates provides an authentic experience which focuses on therapeutic wellness, mobility, strength, and athletic endurance. Her empowering coaching style aims to provide you with the tools to engage in a healthy and active lifestyle.

Sea Lee

STOTT PILATES® Trained Instructor

Sea (pronounced “Say”) Lee, originally from South Korea, brings a deep and diverse background in movement shaped by years of professional dance training and performance. She holds a BFA from the University of Florida and an MFA from Hollins University/American Dance Festival. Her career includes performing with Moving Current Dance Collective and Sarasota Contemporary Dance, along with collaborative work across regional, national, and international stages.

Committed to holistic wellness as part of sustainable artistry, Sea became a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 200) through Yoga Alliance in 2014. Her teaching is rooted in mindfulness, functional strength, and breathwork—principles that inform her work as both performer and educator.

Pilates entered her practice as a cross-training tool during her performing years, helping her maintain the strength and alignment needed for stage work. As she transitioned from full-time performance, Pilates became a way to understand and support the changing body. She values its emphasis on adaptability, awareness, and curiosity—and shares that approach with movers of all backgrounds.

Currently on dance faculty at the University of Tampa, Hillsborough Community College, and Sarasota Ballet, Sea works with professional dancers, seniors, and individuals with limited mobility. With extensive experience in adaptive movement, she has taught classes for people with disabilities and Parkinson’s disease. As a touring teaching artist with REVolutions Dance—a physically integrated dance company—she promotes accessibility, inclusion, and the power of movement for every body.

Sea’s classes are intelligent, healing, and empowering. Whether in Pilates, yoga, or dance, her sessions foster strength, resilience, and connection—always guided by the belief that every body can move with confidence, care, and intention.