Elizabeth Burke

Elizabeth Burke left home at the age of eleven to study with the National Ballet School in Toronto. Then on to The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, and San Francisco Ballet School. At the age of fifteen Elizabeth became a student of Dianne Miller who brought Pilates to Canada in 1985. Elizabeth credits those early years with Dianne who inspired her to teach the work after dancing in London, England. In 2000 Elizabeth certified with Dianne Miller after two years of her intensive teacher training course. She continued on teaching with Dianne Miller and has taught Pilates in Hong Kong

Elizabeth has been a member of the Pilates Method Alliance since its inception and certified with the Pilates Method Alliance in the fall of 2006. Elizabeth continues to teach young aspiring dancers, and is a founding member and director of The Pilates Group where she designs individualized programs for her clients. Elizabeth continues to expand her body of knowledge by working with the direct descendants of Joseph Pilates work while bringing her own movement philosophy to her practice.

Donna Leong

It began as a hobby in 1970 that Donna decided to learn figure skating as an adult. Then in 1980 she joined the YWCA as a member, later becoming an aerobics instructor in 1984. In 1993 she became a registered fitness leader with the British Columbia Recreations and Parks Association as a Land Fitness Leader. She volunteered at the YWCA and B.C. Hydro as well as at various community centers in Vancouver.

Donna discovered Pilates at the YWCA in 1998 and decided to gain further knowledge by attending the Dianne Miller Pilates Teacher Training Program completing in 2005. Still interested in fitness, Donna became a certified Urban Poling Nordic Walking Instructor in 2005, giving group and private lessons. In 2008 and 2009 she participated in the 13 weeks of training for the Vancouver Sun Run in the Nordic Walking Category, preparing the participants for the 10k trek around Vancouver. Still with the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association in 2007 she became a supervisor of fitness leaders in Pilates Fitness.

Workshops led by Pilates Elders Mary Bowen, Lolita San Miguel , Michele Larsson, Julian Littleford, Sara Meeks, Irene Dowd, Noam Gagnon and Taylore Carre (Yamuna Body Rolling) has kept her interests growing, and challenging herself while enabling her to give back to her clients.

Donna is excited to be teaching at “The Pilates Group” studio and to offer her skills and knowledge to all of the clients. Donna is passionate about seeing the Pilates work helping each client reach his/her potential.

Elvina Savage

From a young age Elvina has led an active lifestyle, whether it was swimming, ballet, tennis or horse riding that have driven her to achieve new levels of fitness. She started ballet and swimming at the age of 4 years old in Hong Kong, then at 12 years old moved to England to study at boarding school. She was also a competitive swimmer and later on became a life guard and swim coach. After moving to Canada in 1998, she has sought out other activities to challenge herself but struggled to find something she could be passionate about, then she found Pilates.

After starting Pilates with Elizabeth Burke at The Pilates Group, she decided to study under Master teacher, Michele Larsson's Core Dynamics teacher training program in Santa Fe and has found it to be one of the most challenging and rewarding things she has ever done. Elvina strives to assist clients in realizing their full body movement potential through Pilates and to integrate the benefits into their everyday life.

Christine Wakabayashi

Christine was introduced to Pilates in 1999 while attending a Fitness Conference workshop. Immediately intrigued by the Pilates Method she began taking classes. Her belief in the benefits of Pilates led her to become a teacher and in 2004 she completed the Dianne Miller Teacher Training Program. Christine enjoys helping people discover the wonder of Pilates while their bodies get the benefits. By attending workshops with Michelle Larson and Pilates Elders Ron Fletcher and Mary Bowen she continues to delve deeper into the Method and still has not lost her own wonderment towards Pilates.

Rob High and Lora Postma will have bios added soon.