About
Etoile Pilates is a classical Pilates studio that is dedicated to teaching the work as Joe and Clara did in New York. Etoile Pilates offers private and small group classes limited to 3 people in person and 3 online, 6 total. The owner, Annie Kerber, has been teaching for 20 years and can speak French at an intermediate level.
Read Annie’s bio and she offers!
Meet Annie Kerber
After remission, Annie returned to California to teach for Equinox, Hummingbird Pilates, Studio Darien, Cotrone Pilates , and group classes and Integro.
In 2018, she was accepted to study under Jay Grimes at The Vintage Pilates Studio for The Work program with other teachers from all around the world. Jay Grimes is a first generation instructor who worked with Joseph Pilates and Clara.
Completing the Vintage Pilates' The Work program in 2018 is one of her proudest accomplishments. Annie has 20 years of experience teaching the Pilates Method and continues her education in the fields of healing modalities, bodywork, kinesiology, and imagery.
She teaches in English and is improving in French. She looks forward to sharing her wisdom and expertise to you.
Annie Kerber discovered Pilates in 2003, while attending California State University, Long Beach, studying Dance.
After a dance injury she was introduced to Pilates. Pilates improved her mechanics and she began studying the method with Karen Clippinger.
She received a scholarship to the BASI Pilates certification program, directed by Rael Isacowitz in 2004.
After graduating from college Annie was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. She moved to Minnesota and began treatment.
The prednisone caused weight gain and the chemotherapy and radiation left her with no energy and muscle atrophy. As soon as she could she found a Pilates studio in Minnesota, Awaken Pilates, she began to practice and teach Pilates. It was then she realized the healing benefits of Contrology (Pilates).
Meet Kelly Zinnoury
Kelly began her Pilates journey in 2001. As a child and teenager she engaged in and enjoyed various types of sports such as dance, field hockey and pole vaulting.
When she was 18 years old lower back pain began to interfere with her physical activities, and it was because of this pain that she discovered Pilates. The Pilates’ method became more than a set of exercises that would enable her to keep moving pain free. The work touched her on a deeper level, and in 2008 she became certified to teach. Since then her Pilates’ journey has taken her both around the globe and exploring within herself.
She has taught in New York City and Dubai and has led workshops in India. She has further continued her own learning experience with teachers in the US, Greece, Italy, Turkey and most recently in France. Kelly holds a BS degree in Exercise Physiology from the University of Southern Maine and a MS degree in Clinical Nutrition & Dietetics from New York University. As a Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist she specializes in women’s health with a focus on fertility and prenatal nutrition and has a special interest in food culture and history, global health and well-being. Kelly has combined her two loves of nutrition and Pilates with a goal to help people feel better, find balance, be confident, and trust in themselves.
She is delighted to start teaching locals, expats and visitors in the beautiful city of love and lights at Etoile Pilates.
Kelly’s outlook on the Pilates Method is the following: I have been practicing Pilates consistently for over 20 years, and each session is its own inward journey. The founder, Joseph Pilates, called his method Contrology. In his book Return to Life he writes that, among developing the body and correcting imbalances, Contrology “restores physical vitality, invigorates the mind, and elevates the spirit.” Pilates’ intentions drive higher than words may be able to reach through explanation, which is why I believe the best way to learn Pilates’ is to do it. Pilates will ignite an energy within that motivates you to learn more about this method because it simply makes you feel good. It has the power to heal from the inside.
When of a certain age everybody is capable of doing Pilates’ work, and just as I tell my nutrition clients that we are not all built in a box and our dietary needs may differ, the same goes for people’s physical fitness needs. Pilates has a home for each of those unique needs.
