our instructors
Martina Nevermann- owner
Martina has been practicing Pilates for over 25 years and teaching in Ditmas Park the last 18.
Martina’s approach uses Pilates as a workout as much as a tool for analyzing one’s body in its strengths, weaknesses, alignments and new or reoccurring issues. She believes that anybody can practice Pilates and likes to relay to her clients the importance of bringing learned techniques and exercises into their everyday lives to address and break ‘bad habits’, or simply get stronger and more aligned. Her client’s ages range from ‘in utero’ (hallo moms to be!) to 97. Her favorite clients come with aches and pains and discover how to improve with the powerful tools of Pilates. She enjoys when clients have the ‘aha moment’ discovering muscles they have not felt ‘in action’ before, as well as working on little or big misalignments (scoliosis) that Pilates can correct so beautifully.
Martina has been living and working in Ditmas Park for 23 years. She is happy to be a vital part of the community, helping neighbors and friends connect with each other through her studio and achieve healthy lifestyles.
EMILY TARRIER- Senior
Emily was first introduced to pilates while studying at Interlochen Arts Academy. She went on to pursue a degree at SUNY Purchase and received her BFA in Dance in 2015. She has traveled to Turkey and Israel numerous times to study dance techniques and to gain an international perspective on Pilates. Upon coming back to the States, she studied under Ann Toran and earned her Pilates certification through Balanced Body. Emily strives to give detail-oriented classes to challenge both her beginner and advanced clients.
Cameran Abron- senior
True to her native-New Yorker pedigree, Cameran’s teaching style is buoyant [read: cheerful, lively, expansive]. She is skilled at teaching clients with different physical abilities and is quick to discern modifications needed to accommodate each person in her class. She has experience working with clients with disc injuries, bone fractures of the ankle, risk, and hip, and osteoporosis. A cheerleader and gymnast in high school, Cameran developed skills in tumbling, which involves acrobatic movements such as rolls, twists, handsprings, and somersaults. Outside the studio Cameran loves to hike and try out new restaurants all over town.
Michelle quiba-certified
Michelle was introduced to Pilates during rehab for an ACL tear she acquired during a dance competition. After enjoying the practice of Pilates for years she decided to become an instructor herself. Michelle is currently finishing her training with Ellie Herman. Michelle's fitness background spans over a variety of formats that heal, strengthen, and balance the body and mind. She is also trained in Barre, bodyART, Qigong and Zumba and a variety of fitness dance techniques.
Her passion is to help people develop a true understanding of the capabilities of their bodies and experience freedom and confidence in the movement they create.
She currently is the lead instructor at Expressive Arts Dance Program at the ACS Nicholas Scoppetta Children's Center, facilitating trauma-informed performing arts activities for children in New York's Foster Care System. In addition she has taught Chair Yoga to chemotherapy patients at Brookdale Hospital.
Michelle is excited to work at Pilates on Cortelyou to pass her knowledge on to her neighborhood.
Hannah Tran-Senior
Hannah stands out as a distinguished Pilates teacher with a deep-seated passion for transforming both body and mind. Her journey in the world of Pilates, spanning over 10 years of practice and 7 years of teaching, has led to notable achievements including features in Women's Health Magazine, Cosmopolitan, HuffPost, and other global publications. She has made a visual impact with her appearances on billboards in Times Square NYC and LA in 2023.
Hannah completed five different Pilates teacher trainings in NYC, San Francisco, Thailand, and Vietnam, including her latest comprehensive 600-hour Pilates training in NYC.
She believes the Pilates on Cortelyou studio's atmosphere and philosophy align perfectly with her own, offering an ideal environment for her clients to have the best workout experiences. When not teaching, Hannah enjoys exploring the world through travel and hiking, and loves spending time with her poodle. Her sweet personality and commitment to her clients' strength and fitness goals embody her life's philosophy of empowerment through Pilates.
Sofia Thompson-certified
Sofia was born and raised in Brooklyn, where she discovered Pilates and began training with Ellie Herman at a very young age. She carried her passion for teaching to the Hudson Valley, where she attended Bard College and received a degree in Mathematics. She has always believed that a healthy body is critical for maintaining a healthy mind, and for that reason physical fitness is very important to her. While she still loves math, she has found that her analytical mind is challenged and engaged every day that she teaches Pilates, as she attempts to solve the problems of what is causing her clients’ pain and injury. Sofia embarked on this journey originally as a learning experiment, but truly fell in love when she discovered the curative powers of Pilates and the extent to which she could actually use her knowledge to help people.
Samantha meryhew-Senior
Samantha is a STOTT Certified Instructor and has been teaching since 2019. Ever since she was young, Samantha has always been moving and dancing. She first was introduced to Pilates in high school where Mat Pilates was a part of her conditioning classes. She found that Pilates really helped her stay strong and supported her in her dance training. She believes that Pilates is a great way to stay strong and flexible as well as keep in tune with her own body and what it needs to stay healthy.
Today, her knowledge of dance inspires her Pilates work and is a large part of her instruction.
Alexandra haag-certified
Alexandra Haag grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and started dancing very young at the age of 3 with a local competition studio. She recently graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in May of 2024. Through the program, she studied dance, anatomy and learned about the body through a dancer’s lens. While at Purchase, she was given the opportunity to train abroad in Australia at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts for 5 months. She was awarded the 2024 Outstanding Senior, representing the highest level in artistry, academics, and citizenship. In her senior year at the conservatory, she earned her Pilates Mat Certification. After she graduated, she moved to Brooklyn and got her certification for Reformer. She is happy to deepen her Pilates knowledge under Martina Nevermann’s mentorship while pursuing a career in dance.
Lisa Brenner -Senior
Lisa is Polestar Reformer and Balanced Body Comprehensively Certified. Lisa has been teaching pilates reformer group classes and private sessions on all apparatus since 2022. Lisa loves doing and teaching pilates for the ways it can add depth and nuance to our relationship with our bodies through breath, focus, alignment, and slowness.
Caroline Feig- PT
Caroline Feig is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, a Manual Therapist, a Pilates teacher, Tai Chi instructor, and Feldenkrais Practitioner.
Caroline’s treatments emphasize basic properties of movement learned through intensive study of Tai Chi and the Feldenkrais Method, and has a particular interest in the importance of an integrated function after limb loss. She designs her treatments to help patients develop better self-organization, movement, and control
Her manual therapy coursework and specialization include:
Cervical and Lumbar Spine Pathomechanics, Neurodynamics, Biomechanics of the Foot and Ankle, Motor Control Retraining of the Hip, Explain Pain, Vestibular Rehabilitation, Orthotic Design, Lumbar Pelvic Integration, Pathophysiology of the Shoulder, Pregnancy and Postpartum, Cranial Sacral Therapy, Functional Orthopedics, Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation, Women’s Health (Incontinence, Pelvic Pain, Prenatal and Post Partum, Diastasis, and Osteoporosis)
jessue winograd- PT
Jessie Winograd provides therapeutic massage to address a broad range of injuries and health concerns, find ease and space in the joints, relieve areas of chronic tension, and build awareness of postural habits. Sessions are tailored to each client’s needs and combine deep tissue, myofascial, and Swedish massage with techniques from Shiatsu, Tui Na, and Thai massage. Jessie’s work is informed by 20+ years as a somatic movement practitioner and a dance and theater artist. She has been practicing in Union Square and Park Slope since 2012, and is delighted to begin treating her Ditmas Park neighbors at Pilates on Cortelyou!
Rachel casiano
Rachel has worked nearly a decade as an acupuncturist and 7 years as an herbalist across various community acupuncture clinics in Brooklyn including Brooklyn Open Acupuncture, Third Root, and Tigerlily Holistic. Her practice blends Chinese and Japanese acupuncture styles, as well as trigger point release techniques. Rachel also received specific training around hypermobility conditions from Hyp-Access. She earned her Master of Science in Acupuncture and Classical Chinese Herbal Medicine from Tri-State College of Acupuncture.
Before training in acupuncture, she worked as a health educator and patient navigator in HIV services at a community health clinic, where she also conducted outreach on a mobile testing van. In these roles, she primarily served queer and trans sex workers, as well as transient individuals. This experience deepened her belief that centering the health needs of the most marginalized communities leads to better care for everyone.