Hana Jones

Professional Standards Advisor

Pilates has been at the centre of my physical self-practice for over 45 years and it continues to challenge me as I gain ever more understanding of how my body moves and changes with the passing years.  

As I continue to search for new and different approaches to my work, regularly returning to the anatomy of the body in movement and the fundamental principles of the Pilates Method has helped me to keep evolving as a teacher, even after 40 years of teaching clients and training others.

I love working with teachers who want to continue learning and growing and who seek to keep their teaching interesting and lively.

Nita Amin

Finance & Strategy Advisor

Pilates has been a central part of Nita’s life since 2001 which began with a journey of rehabilitation after a car accident and then undertaking the Matwork training course at The Place in 2005. She went on to do Bridging Course training with Anne Marie Zulkahari and Hana Jones over a period of 4 years which she was unable to complete when she gave birth to her son in 2009. Pilates continues to be a core practice for Nita’s physical, mental and spiritual path in life.

Nita is a Chartered Accountant with years of experience supporting businesses to identify and achieve their goals for growth and development. She has been an advisor to the Pilates Foundation Board on financial and strategic matters since 2014 and is passionate about the role of the organisation as a community of teachers and as a professional body.

Natasha Alpe

Board Member

Natasha Alpe is a comprehensive trained Pilates Foundation Pilates teacher. She graduated in December 2011 from Trinity School of Music and Dance LABAN under the tutelage of Jessica Moolenaar.  Natasha’s background in contemporary dance combined with her love of the moving body drives her passion to help people move more efficiently. “I am always inspired by the precision and power of Pilates and how it makes your body feel”.

After graduating, Natasha taught in many apparatus Pilates studios in London as well teaching 1:1’s in client’s homes.  She now lives in Stroud, Gloucestershire and enjoys the challenges of being mum to two young boys and teaching at Pilates Works in South Woodchester.

Natasha loves being on the PF Board, her current focus is workshop coordinator and scheduling Sunday Online Mat Sessions for PF members.

Angela Gasparetto

Diversity & Inclusion Advocate

Angela qualified as a Pilates Matwork teacher in 2013 and is currently undertaking Bridging training with Anne-Marie Zulkahari. Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, Angela has made London her home since 2005. She holds an MA in Movement Studies from the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama and also teaches Expressive Movement and Physical Performance at various drama schools in London, and works as a Theatre Movement Director. Angela has a special interest in inclusive and integrated practice, working with physically disabled actors and actors with learning-disabilities. She spent four years as Inclusion Advocate & Specialist Movement Tutor at a drama school, working with a student who is a wheelchair user. Angela sat on the PF Board for three years and then shifted her focus to working with Ethelinda to focus on PF Diversity & Inclusion work.

Ethelinda Lashley-Scott

Diversity & Inclusion Champion

Ethelinda was a former Curriculum Manager at Edinburgh College and worked there for over 21 years with Performing Arts Studio Scotland. Her background is in dance, and she studied at London Contemporary Dance School. Her work bought her to Scotland in 1989, where she joined Dundee Rep Dance Company (Scottish Dance Theatre). She moved on to start her own company, Helter Skelter Dance Co. She has worked as a freelance dance artist and choreographer with many theatre directors throughout Scotland. Her last project saw her with Cutting Edge Theatre. This creative organisation focuses on working with and for those with one or more protected characteristics defined by the Equality Act 2010.

2011 Ethelinda gained her MA in Dance Theatre Practice at Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, accredited by John Moors University and is interested in using this information to develop more research. Ethelinda currently sits on the Board of Dance Base, the National Centre for Dance in Scotland; she works closely with Advanced HE on the Anti-Racism Project to further capitalise on the current sector-wide commitment to tackle racism in the Scottish HE and FE sector.In January 2023, she took up the role of CEO for the Multi-Cultural Family Base. The Mult-Cultural Family Base is a social work organisation that believes in early intervention. This means working with children and families before problems/issues develop.

The work focuses on supporting children and parents dealing with essential transition points, including the birth of a child, the move into primary school or a move to Edinburgh for families who are new migrants. We help children and families deal with identity, loss, displacement and trauma. We know it is essential that all children develop a sense of belonging and purpose in their lives. We work in partnership with families and other agencies listening to their views and adapting our practice to support and assist them.

We believe passionately in issues around equity, diversity and inclusion. We work with families from various communities, many deemed ‘hard to reach’ due to language or cultural barriers. We want to break down stereotypes and challenge prejudices. We want a society that welcomes differences and will advocate for families when they experience unfair discrimination.

Ethelinda is a long-standing member of the Pilates Foundation and is confident that this new position at MCFB will help inform a greater understanding of critical issues around EDI in supporting her role as a Pilates Foundation Diversity Champion.

Rosie Minogue

Board Member

I have always been interested in physicality and how the body works but at school I could never see the point of competitive sport and as drama was my main thing I found myself working in Theatre in Education for some years. That morphed into comedy writing with a sideline in comedy promotion along with a music degree. So I came to Pilates quite late (in 1998) after the birth of my first child had left my body in a mess. It was chance that I began with a foundation teacher. It made a massive difference and made so much sense. After a few years and another child, and a differently trained teacher who I found very frustrating I wanted to learn more and so started to look for training. | was really disappointed with what I found. I only came across courses that seemed very limited in their ambition and curriculum so I didn’t go for it until 2004 when I found the Pilates Foundation Matwork training at The Place and that set me off on my journey as a teacher. My training continued with Hana Jones and Anne-Marie Zulkahari and I qualified as a studio teacher in 2011. I now have a small studio in North London.

Cat Proudfoot

Board Member

Cat started practising Pilates at the age of 18, from that moment she knew that she wanted others to know how beneficial Pilates could be, not only as a means of rehabilitation, but also for everyday life. She believes strongly that the development of deeper body awareness using the Pilates method can lead to better overall health and wellbeing.

Cat trained with Sasha McLennan & Winona Holl through the Pilates Foundation in London in 2014 and later bridged with Sasha in 2017.

Cat prides herself on providing a supportive and empowering environment for anybody, working on functional movement to not only assist you in class, but in everyday life also.

Ruth Walker

Board Member

Ruth came to Pilates as an exhausted mother of three under-fives, having been a sporty child and a gym-bunny young adult. At first, she couldn’t believe that an hour and a half of rather small, breath-led movements could both sustain her interest and make her body feel so very much better. She became hooked on the combination of mindful movement, framed and informed by Pilates apparatus. Before too long she decided she wanted to learn how to share that joy with others. Her favourite teachers were drawn from the Pilates Foundation so she sought out a Pilates Foundation teacher training, first of all in Matwork at The Place, under Hana Jones, Susanne Lahusen and Sonia Noonan. 

She then did a bridging course with Anne-Marie Zulkahari, keen to work in a studio environment and on the large equipment. Since qualifying in 2006 she has taught in various studios in North London, alongside teaching private clients who have been incredibly loyal, eventually making up the backbone of her own studio. Tufnell Park Pilates was established in 2018. Its clients range from eighteen to ninety-three years old, with widely differing physical and emotional issues which they bring with them to class. Pilates practice remains central to her own well-being and is an ongoing source of inspiration to her teaching. Her style is light and supportive, creating a haven where clients learn to take ownership of their bodies.  

To Ruth, the beauty of teaching Pilates is in being able to help people feel embodied, helping them over time create their own physical user manual. Modern life is so disconnecting. Pilates helps reconnect. Bodies are endlessly fascinating and revealing. The transformative effect of moving the body using the appropriate muscles for the task at hand is both beautifully simple and incredibly tricky. 

She joined the Pilates Foundation Board to help polish up some of the written word content of things like this newsletter and to be part of a wider community of Pilates Teachers.