Studio Team Members
Catriona Skidmore
Formerly a nurse specialising in Intensive Care, Catriona worked in the U.K., Israel and Australia. She trained as a swimming and lifesaving teacher after the birth of her sons. A black belt in Karate, she was struggling with a 'frozen shoulder' when she heard that dancers used the Pilates method of conditioning, to enhance strength and flexibility and in rehabilitation from injury.
She began training with Body Control Pilates® in 1998. After many years of high-impact aerobic exercise, she was amazed that such gentle and sometimes subtle movements were so effective and produced profound results. She went on to train in advanced matwork, reformer work and pilates in rehabilitation.
Catriona opened York Pilates Studio in 2003. She finds her nursing, teaching and martial arts background a great asset. "Each client is unique and selecting or adapting exercises to meet their individual needs is stimulating, challenging and incredibly rewarding."
Catriona became a Supervising Teacher for Body Control Pilates in 2003. Regan, Rosanne and Jo completed a significant part of their teacher training with Catriona.
Regan van der Werff
Regan grew up in the north-east of England and at 20 decided to spend a year in California. Thirteen years later she returned home after a varied career which included being a nanny, managing a cheese shop and working in marketing in the film industry. Regan and her partner bought and successfully ran a sandwich shop and cafe in York for almost ten years.
Regan danced as a youngster and has always been interested in the body and movement. In 1997 she joined one of the first matwork classes in York after reading an article on pilates. She loved it from the first session and knew that eventually she would train to be an instructor herself.
Her chance came in 2005 and she studied matwork with Body Control Pilates®and then with Polestar Pilates on studio equipment. Regan now teaches full-time in and around York and continues to study the Pilates Method.
Regan became a Supervising Teacher for Body Control Pilates in 2008.
Jo Allerton
Jo trained as a physiotherapist at Wakefield hospital and specialisied in orthopaedics with both in-patients and out-patients. She currently works in a hospital outpatient department, treating patients with musculo-skeletal problems.
A colleague recommended that Jo try pilates and she found it so beneficial and enjoyable that she undertook the training in 2005. Jo now teaches part-time for York Pilates Studio and incorporates pilates-based exercise into her physiotherapy work.
Rebecca Lord
BSC (hons) MCOptician
Rebecca is from York. After completing a degree in human biology she travelled and lived in Australia and South East Asia. She worked in the travel industry before going back to university to train as an Optometrist. In 1998she moved to Zimbabwe where she married and started a fanily. She started exploring less high impact forms of exercise, including pilates, gyrokinesis and sivananda yoga.
After the birth of her first child she started doing pilates with Mattie Holmes in 2001.She became hooked, and trained as an instructor in 2005. Rebecca trained with Body Conrol Pilates in 2007 with supervised training mainly in Harare but also with Catriona in York She has also trained with Louise Knoepp one of BCP`s top South African instructors.
Rebecca has recently returned to live in York and works part time at Specsavers opticians. She is planning to expand her pilates work, and began teaching for York Pilates Studio in 2010