Team

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Caryn Cooper is a health, wellness and fitness practitioner from the Greater New York City area. She began her journey as a dancer where she trained in ballet in the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) for ten years along with other dance styles such as tap, jazz, modern and hip hop. Caryn transitioned into the fitness industry teaching dance exercise classes in community spaces such as public libraries, hospitals, parks, apartment complexes and community centers with the goal of helping others towards a healthy and active lifestyle. She is currently certified to teach various dance-based fitness formats including Moving for Life, POP Pilates, Zumba Fitness and Zumba Toning. Caryn holds her Master’s degree from New York University and her Bachelor’s degree from LI.

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Elena Lopez Sans (bilingual Spanish and english)is a dancer, choreographer and a long time teacher of yoga, dance and Alexander Technique. She has a BA in contemporary dance,is a certified teacher member of Alexander Technique international, and a certified teacher of yoga on the line of Krishnamacharya, she also accomplished the four year yoga therapy training in India on the same yoga lineage. Elena is a Moving for life dance teacher since the earlier years and has been teaching it throughout the city, she really loves to dance with different communities and ethnicities .in addition she enjoys practicing and offering Vedic chanting and jin shin Jyutsu form of healing as well as reiki. Elena is also dancing sacred dance.

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Evelyn Nunlee, CMA, MFLCI is a University of Michigan graduate, Certified Laban Movement Analyst, dance educator trained at the 92Y's Dance Education Laboratory, and Moving For Life Certified Instructor. She has 30 years of experience as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor. Her work sites span diverse health clubs, corporate wellness and fitness venues as well as union and senior fitness classes. She is honored to teach the Community class for the Harkness Dance Center that is generously underwritten by Jody and John Arnhold. She also teaches several other of Moving For Life's upper Manhattan agencies. She works sensitively with cancer survivors, senior citizens, and anyone who wants to get moving safely.

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Gail is thrilled to be part of the Moving For Life Team! A lifelong dancer and fitness enthusiast, Gail received her first certification as a Group Fitness Instructor from AFAA, the Athletics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA), in 1992. She went on to become a Licensed Instructor in Zumba and Zumba Gold for Seniors, and she completed graduate level coursework in Dance Therapy at the Harkness Dance Center in NYC. Gail also teaches her own Move & Make Merry dance-fitness classes for adults age 50+ and she is passionate about helping others experience joy through movement. Gail has taught Moving For Life classes for cancer thrivers and older adults in a wide range of venues, including park and recreation centers, medical clinics, cancer support centers, hospitals and community centers. Gail holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Wesleyan University and a Master’s Degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

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Kate Blair enjoys work with Kindergarten public school schools as a support professional and teacher in Illinois. She is certified in Movement Fundamentals®, a holistic approach to movement study she studied over several years in Decorah, Iowa from Jane Hawley. Kate has studied Qi Gong, Iyengar Yoga, & many movement artforms. She recently began a Vinyasa Yoga teacher training program through Blue Soul Yoga.

Kate is excited to be officially Moving for Life Instructor Certified. She is a musician who loves to sing, play flute, & is often working on piano or guitar. She currently teaches a weekly fitness class for ages 55 and older at Peak Fitness and a weekly ballet/jazz class for children ages 6-8. She is grateful for the gifts from many life experiences and teachers.

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Louisa Armstrong-Harrison earned a BFA in Dance from Adelphi University, then completed the Limón Professional Studies Program, performing works by José Limón, Doris Humphrey, and others. She has performed with Dance Visions NY since joining the company in 2014, appearing in works by Isadora Duncan, as well as contemporary choreography by Beth Jucovy. She has also performed with UrbanHumans and as a guest dancer with the Limón Dance Company in the José Limón International Dance Festival at the Joyce Theater.

She enjoys sharing her passion by teaching dance and working with children. Her past teaching credits include the 92nd Street Y, Limón4Kids, JumpStart Creative Movement, and Pono: an Outdoor Democratic School. Currently she teaches dance at Next Step Broadway, and she is also an instructor with Moving For Life.

Louisa also started a program called Cancer to Dancer in 2021 as another way to share her love of dance with the cancer community.

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Sherry Greenspan is a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist and Educator, Pilates Practitioner, Yoga, and dance instructor as well as a dancer/choreographer/vocalist. She has studied extensively and worked with many well-known Pilates practitioners and has been studying, performing and teaching in NYC and Philadelphia for 25 years. "Sharing a movement experience with inspiring folks who show up in the spirit of community and individual health and wellness is deeply satisfying." Sherry is the founder of Eureka Movement Wellness Center in Colts Neck, NJ, where she teaches Moving For Life and many other classes.

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Tatiana Valencia is from Queens, New York and graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in 2018 with a Bachelors in Dance and Psychology. She began her MFL journey as an intern with Dr. Martha Eddy who soon after encouraged her to pursue a Moving For Life Instructor certification! She thanks the MFL community for helping her grow confidence and develop a voice in the health and wellness space throughout the years. After college Tatiana worked in a Counseling & Wellness Center as a Health Promotion coordinator where she advocated for mental health.

Aside from teaching her regular MFL Monday 12pm EST classes, you can find Tati leading latin dance classes in Washington Heights, immersing herself in yoga, and professionally dancing with the Rumbamena dance company every weekend!

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Tom Sullivan is a native New Yorker. He earned a BA in Special Education from Arizona State University, MS in Special Education from Hunter College/CUNY, and MA in Dance Education from New York University/Steinhardt. Tom studied at the Laban Institute of Movement Studies and is a Certified Movement Analyst. He also is a Certified Pilates Beginner Mat 1 Instructor. Tom is an instructor in both Moving for Life and Body Mind Dancing. He has performed as a dancer with HARRY, dance and other works by Senta Driver, the Martha Graham Ensemble, and The Washington Square Repertory Company of NYU/Steinhardt, as well as several independent choreographers. He currently performs with the Phyllis Rose Dance Company, which brings multicultural dances to schools throughout the tri-state area. Upon retiring from teaching Special Education classes for the NYC Department of Education, he has worked as a teaching artist in dance for Go Project, Arts Connection, 92nd Street Y, and Education in Dance and the Related Arts. Tom enjoys choreographing, painting, and volunteering as a teaching assistant with Dance for PD (Parkinson’s Disease).

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Raised in Baltimore, MD, Anna Cuffari graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a Bachelor's Degree in Dance and Kinesiology at Marymount Manhattan College. Since she has moved to New York, Anna has had the opportunity to train in various dance techniques, perform professionally throughout New York City, and intern and work for Moving for Life. Anna believes that the mind-body connection is the most powerful tool we can use to achieve our goals.

"As an artist, creativity has exposed me to the notion of living without limitations. As a dancer, movement has enabled me to channel the discipline, strength, and drive needed to achieve."

Anna's passion for movement and exercise has taken her on a path of pursuing fitness to inspire others to find this connection and to foster creativity and movement within their own lives.

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Dafna Soltes Stein has been diving in and out of the depths of Somatic education since 1980. She studied at NYC’s Laban Institute for Movement Studies with Irmgard Bartenieff. Dafna has embraced the brilliant Moving for Life work of Dr. Martha Eddy, and teaches classes on Long Island at the Northport Veterans Administration among other locations. She believes deeply in the power of movement to transform how we feel, heal and communicate. As a Performance and Teaching Artist in Dance, Drama, Storytelling since 1971, Dafna has travelled throughout the USA, Canada, Israel and Mexico. As a Teaching Artist, Dafna designs and implements arts in education curricula that integrate with core curriculum needs for Long Island school districts. Dafna has received generous funding for her projects from JPMorganChase Bank, New York State Council on the Arts, Target Foundation among others. Dafna holds a BA degree in Dance and Drama from Bard College 1974, is a Certified Laban Movement Analyst 1981, a Registered Dance Educator 1990, Certified Aesthetic Educator from the Lincoln Center Institute,NYC 2005 and a MFLCI 2021.

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Xi Udani was born in Mainland China and has been a New Yorker for over a decade. 

Since she was little, Xi has been passionate about dance. She learnt ballroom dancing from China Ballroom Dance Federation and competed citywide in Chongqing, China. She later studied full-time at Ballet Arts in New York. 

In 2017 and 2018, Xi convoyed many Chinese dance groups in NYC in her role as Chair of the China Committee for Dance Parade. Xi has a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from the University of Florida and also a Certificate in Fundamentals of Manufacturing Processes from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a result of her interest in human-centered design. 

Her previous work experience includes project management of the B2B Operations Team with Alibaba North America and an IT company featuring adaptive learning technology. She pivoted her focus after she learnt about somatics work from Dr. Martha Eddy’s workshops and her book, Mindful Movement: The Evolution of the Somatic Arts and Conscious Action a few years ago. Since then Xi is devoted to helping people attain the joy of movement and build a body-mind-spirit connection through somatic approaches. 

Xi is excited and proud to become a certified Moving For Life instructor in 2024 and looks forward to bringing somatics work to communities across New York.

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Dana Davison is a registered somatic movement therapist and educator (RSMT/RSME), certified Dynamic Embodiment® practitioner and teacher of Moving for Life® and BodyMind Dancing®. She studied classical ballet with Sher Marie Farrell (Farrell Ballet Theatre) and Sir William Martin-Viscount (Fort Worth City Ballet) before graduating from University of Texas in Russian Studies and Journalism. In 2010, serendipity led her to an intensive three-year training with Dr. Martha Eddy. She teaches somatic movement classes at BAX-Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Slope Wellness and Gilda's Club, as well as offering private sessions.

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Sara K. Vogeler graduated from NYU in 1974 in Dance Therapy after beginning a life-long study in Body-Mind Centering® which integrates the body and mind using anatomy, physiology, developmental patterns and movement exploration. She danced professionally in the U.S. and abroad before founding The NeuroMuscular Center, Inc. in NYC in 1990 for natural pain relief using hands-on techniques, nutrition, and somatic movement therapy.

Certified as a Teacher of Body-Mind Centering®, a Registered Movement Therapist, an ACE-certified Personal Trainer, an Orthopedic Exercise Specialist, a TMJ Myofunctional Therapist, a NYS-licensed Massage Therapist, and a Moving for Life—Dance Exercise for Health® Certified Instructor, she teaches anatomy, exercise, and movement therapy from a somatic perspective based on Body-Mind Centering® and her extensive education. She has taught at the Opleiding Modern Dans in Amsterdam, Marymount Manhattan College, and the Pacific College of Health and Science in their first year of offering massage, and lectured at various educational centers and symposiums in the US and abroad.

She served as president of the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association (ISMETA) and the Body-Mind Centering® Association which she cofounded in 1983. In her private practice of almost 50 years, she helps relieve pain and dysfunction, and currently is training to coach others in balancing blood sugar levels to fight weight gain and inflammation. She has a long list of clients, from newborns to seniors, including celebrities like Mary Tyler Moore, Bette Midler, Lou Reed, Tony Robbins, Donna Karan, Lou Gossett, Jr., Dudjom Rinpoche, Sara Hughes, Penny Marshall, Albert Brooks, and Daymond John of Shark Tank fame.

She helps people in pain due to sports injuries, TBI, movement disabilities, physical and emotional challenges, nutritional and hormonal deficiencies, and weight gain and lack of exercise.

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Caroline Zayas King loves to dance and cannot wait to have you join her for a class! Caroline is a Certified Moving For Life Cancer Exercise Specialist and a RYT® 200 Hatha Yoga Instructor. She leads classes and workshops on mindful movement, yoga and Moving For Life Dance Exercise for Health and Cancer Recovery throughout New York in both English and Spanish. She teaches regularly at Gilda’s Club, Studio 55C, Lincoln Hospital, and Jacobi Hospital and guest teaches at Marlene Meyersen JCC Manhattan, public libraries and parks and the 92nd Street Y. As a wellness educator, cancer exercise specialist and mindfulness practitioner her approach is to help students tune into their inner wisdom, connecting breath to movement, working gently and joyfully towards fitness or spiritual goals through movement. She encourages her students to leave the mundane and heavy stuff at the door and have fun moving for a bit. Come as you are, let go, breathe and move in whatever way feels easy and free.

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Kristin teaches dance movement, Yoga and Pilates to children, adults and seniors in the Greater New York area. She began her teaching journey in 2005 after dancing the Nia Technique to heal and condition her body, and discovered a deeper connection between body and mind. As Kristin continued teaching, she expanded her education into Pilates, Vinyasa Yoga (with advanced studies in anatomy and yoga for arthritis) and Reiki, and developed a new class called Relaxation+Meditation, while continuing to teaching movement full time throughout New York City. Kristin earned her Moving for Life certification in March, 2021 after many years of study with Martha Eddy.

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Ana Leon Bella has worked in movement for over 20 years as a dancer, fitness expert, and dance educator. She is a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist/Educator (RSMT/E) with ISMETA, a Laban Certified Movement Analyst (CMA), and a Dance Educator. Ana teaches Dance History and Dance Criticism at Wagner College, and Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Ana holds a Master's degree in Dance Education from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University. She is also a Dance Artist for the Phyllis Rose Dance Company. She became a Certified MFL Instructor in July 2015, and currently teaches all over the city and in the MFL Teacher Training Program. Ana speaks Spanish, Italian, and is knowledgeable in Mandarin Chinese.

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Beverley has been dancing, moving and studying various dance styles and BodyMind modalities since her first ballet lesson at the age of 6. She was drawn to Moving For Life for its scientific basis, rigorous training process and accessibility to all regardless of fitness level or previous experience. One of her greatest pleasures is to help others find joy and health through the transformative and inherent healing power of dance and movement, whether leading Moving For Life classes or in her work as a Registered Dance/Movement Therapist and Certified Movement Analyst. As a Registered Movement Pattern Analyst, Beverley helps individuals and businesses improve decision-making and team effectiveness. How you move reflects how you think and how you feel - Bev looks forward to moving with you!

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Candice is a dance artist, educator, and administrator based in Corner Brook, NL. She uses a gentle approach to create, interpret, and share dance through both a somatic and intellectual lens. Candice also practices 'community networking choreography' by designing and facilitating a number of arts engagement and mentorship programs. She has been teaching dance and fitness classes for over 15 years and is passionate about helping other find their own confidence and creativity through movement.

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Catherine Gross, a life-long student of yoga, t’ai chi and dance, has always valued movement as an antidote to office life during her career as a fundraiser and archival consultant. She has taught NIA (dance-based exercise) at health clubs in Queens and upstate New York. She is currently teaching Moving For Life studying somatic movement therapy, and working as a consultant for the Queens Library.

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Chaya Sarah Stark is a Moving For Life Instructor as well as a music and movement therapist who works with both children and adults. The medium of dance is her passion and she uses it to bring joy, integration, and overall body alignment to people of all ages.

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Claire Sersun is an American artist, dancer, choreographer, movement instructor, web designer, and photographer. She started her career at 15 dancing in music videos in Los Angeles. She then moved to NYC and received her BA in dance from Marymount Manhattan College. While there she was also able to explore her interests in photography and kinesiology. While in NYC, Claire has had the pleasure of performing and sharing her choreography and photography across the city. She has performed works by Valeria Gonzalez, Mackenzie Martin, Cornelius Carter, Deborah Damast, Karen Gayle, Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish, Troy Ogilvie, Camille Loftin, Anthony Ferro, Christy Curtis Buss, Charm La'Donna, and more. She was apart of VALLETO Dance's Fall 2020 virtual season. She is currently apart of Geometry Dance Company as a G2 artist.

Claire holds a 200 hour yoga certification and a Personal Training Certification from the American Council on Exercise (ACE). She is trained in the Bridging The Gap Movement Method™ which is a neurophysiological conditioning program. She is trained in somatic based fitness and dance programs as well as pedagogy for those dealing with the effects of cancer and aging. Claire is a Moving For Life Certified Instructor and a BodyMind Dancing Associate. Her passion is in getting people moving so that they can love their bodies and live their lives to the fullest of their abilities.

Claire is a Graduate Student in the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. She is working towards a Master of Arts in Mass Communication with a concentration in Web Design. Claire loves helping to build out the voice of the individual, company, or organization through their website's presence.

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Denise Olivera Schira is a transformational educational leader and former New York City Department of Education master trainer that served thousands of students, staff, and families in over 1,000 schools and 30 districts for over three decades as teacher, coach, school administrator, central director, and assistant superintendent. She continues to support and impact, promoting mental and physical wellbeing and positive culture and climate as a certified mindfulness, yoga, somatic movement, social emotional learning, restorative practices, and crisis de-escalation specialist, practitioner, master trainer, and public speaker offering culturally responsive trauma informed learning opportunities and wellness sessions to schools, institutions, teams, and communities to help bring them from chaos to calm.

Ms. Schira has served as Board Director on multiple renowned city, state, and national Executive Boards, including the national Coalition of Schools Educating Mindfully, New York Academy of Public Education, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators; Latino Caucus; Education Administrators Association; Association of Dominican American Supervisors and Administrators as Professional Development Chair; and New York State Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents which she co-founded along with NYC Linking Latina Leaders and served as Vice President, Education Summit Chair, and NYC Regional Director.  In addition to currently serving as mentor and trainer for the Executive Leadership Institute, Denise serves on the national Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents Professional Growth and Learning Committee. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University as a Cornell Tradition Four-Year Scholarship Fellow and obtained a Master of Science in Educational Leadership at Bank Street College of Education.

Denise has been recognized and honored for her excellence in educational leadership and outstanding service by various organizations including the New York League of Puerto Rican Women. Her life experiences include being a published author (Latina Radiance: Love Letters to the Soul, Latinx Radiance: Leadership Recipes for Success, Empire of Radiance: Unity and Triumph), curriculum contributor (Life Space Crisis Intervention, Wildlife Conservation Society Science Activities for Children), actor (Yo Soy Latina), flamenco dancer, and grateful breast cancer survivor and provider with this impactful MFL program to which she credits her mental and physical recovery. Denise is a proud, resilient Bronx Puerto Rican whose life epitomizes "education saves lives" and “you got this!”.

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Ellen Bartel MFA, CMA, RSME, Moving For Life™ cancer exercise specialist, and is an award winning independent choreographer and an established dancer and teacher in Austin TX. She recently served as the Interim Education Coordinator and Assistant Instructor at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in NYC, as a facilitator of creative and somatic approaches to grief in NYC and Austin and, previously been a peer review dance panelist and Creative Ambassador for the City of Austin. She has been a dance educator for over three decades teaching in Central Texas and New York. She is an adjunct professor at Austin Community College and continues to choreograph original work and teach independently in Austin.

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I am excited to be part of the MFL Family, I have been volunteering for many years and will soon become a certified instructor. I have known Dr. Martha Eddy since 2001; our children started kindergarten together. Martha & I are family!! I look forward to many more years with MFL. God Bless MFL!!! Love Erdene

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Florence migrated from France to New York City to Kingston,NY at the door of the Catskills mountains by the Hudson River. Florence is a Butoh dancer, a Moving for Life Certified instructor, a BodyMind Dancing Certified Teacher and she is a student of Body Mind Centering. Florence has worked as a Creative Arts, activitiesTherapist with In-patients in Acute and Progressive units and Substance Abuse Unit. She has a background in Music and Film production. She currently teaches a “Movement Lab” at the Kingston Public Library, NY and a Moving For Life class in collaboration with the Oncology Support House of the Health Alliance Hospital in Kingston, Ny.

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Hitomi Hayashi is a Japanese oncology certified nursing specialist. She had been worried about how best to care for the body and mind of cancer patients, and met our founder Dr Martha Eddy at the Cancer Institute Ariake Hospital in Tokyo. She was very impressed. participated in Dr. Yuko Hashimoto's LMA / BF seminars to prepare to study Moving For Life. She also met Dr Naoko. Murakoshi there - both students of Martha Eddy. They became important friends who understood her desire to go to NYC to become a Certified MFL Instructor (MFLCI). She received her MFLCI certification in July 2018. After NY, she started going to Cancer Fitness - the Japanese Program of cancer survivor and MFLCI Manami Hitomi, every month. To help her patients more, she studied and received the Lymphedema Care Therapist qualification, and the Cancer Fitness instructor certification. She has held the MFL classes at her local hospital, and established a private business "Milestone" in May 2020, which helps individuals and groups to move through challenges. "Milestone" an important symbol as a sign and a guide in the life of cancer patients and their families.

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Ivis is a native New Yorker and breast cancer survivor who is the Director of Programming for SHARE, an organization that provides self-help to breast and ovarian cancer survivors and their families.

She was featured in the Lifetime documentary "Say it, Fight it, Cure it" directed by Lee Grant. In June of 1997 Ms. Febus-Sampayo participated in the first Breast Cancer Survivor Forum held in the White House with Vice President Al Gore and Mrs. Tipper Gore to help end the stigma of cancer in Hispanic communities.

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Joseph Mills holds an Ed.D in dance education from Temple Univerisity. He is a CMA and conducts classes and private movement sessions designed to help nurture mindful movement practices. Joseph has been a faculty member at Temple University, an assistant professor at The George Washington University, a tenured Associate Professor and director of the dance program at Northwestern University, an Assistant Professor of Dance at Queens College-CUNY in New York, and an an Adjunct Professor of Dance/Movement Therapy at Sarah Lawrence College. Joseph was a principle dancer with MADCO (Modern American Dance Company) and MOMIX, and was a principal dancer and rehearsal assistant with the Erick Hawkins Dance Company. He has been a guest artist and choreographer with numerous companies, and over the span of his work with professional companies, Joseph performed and choreographed his own work nationally and internationally. Recent work in New York includes an evening of his dances at New York Live Arts. Joseph is currently teaching mindful movement classes at the Northern Dutchess Hospital’s Wellness Center, in Rhinebeck, NY, where he works as a fitness educator for older adults. He is a MFLCI and cancer exercise specialist, and personal trainer and fitness instructor at IXL Fitness in Rhinebeck, NY.

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I recently became a Moving For Life Certified Instructor (MFLCI) after studying with Dr. Martha Eddy for many years. I am excited to be teaching MFL classes at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and NYU Medical Centers. Seeing the enthusiasm and comraderie of the participants is inspiring. Seeing the benefits achieved is wonderful. -Jyothi Larson

Jyothi Larson has been practicing yoga for over 40 years, and has been teaching yoga since 1992. She is a certified Integral Yoga teacher, specializing in pre-natal and postpartum, restorative and therapeutic yoga. Jyothi teaches at Integral Yoga Institute, Prenatal Yoga Center and Karma Kids Yoga. She lectures and facilitates classes at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center for cardiac and pulmonary patients. Jyothi is an Urban Zen Integrative Therapist, Certified Personal Trainer, Tai Chi Easy Practice Leader, Interfaith Minister, and now a Moving For Life Certified Instructor. Author of “Yoga Mom Buddha Baby” (Bantam 2002), Jyothi teaches her postpartum yoga training nationally and internationally. Jyothi loves that her students range in age from in-utero to over 90 years, and believes movement benefits everyone.

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Kate Digby is a choreographer, performer and Assistant Professor of Dance at Kansas State University whose teaching and research converge on embodiment. She has created over 30 original works and has performed with David Parker & The Bang Group, Erika Batdorf/Moleman Productions, and as an apprentice with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Digby holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a BFA from the Boston Conservatory and is a certified teacher of Yoga, the Batdorf Technique, and BodyMind Dancing™ in addition to Moving for Life®. Her current creative project Search for Simurgh www.simurghproject.org is in development with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Karen Eubanks (AEA, AGMA) is a consultant, cooperative teacher, certified dance teacher, and professional performance artist with an MA in Dance and Dance Education from Teachers College Columbia University, a BA in Dance from Sarah Lawrence College, and a plethora of academic accomplishments. In 2000, she combined her artistic experience and choreographic skills with movement retaining concepts and Bartenieff Fundamentals, and assisted the group fitness design and music selection for Moving on Aerobics, known as Moving for Life. As a senior Associate, she has taught the therapeutic movement regime in private and group fitness at Gilda's Club, Spa Day at the Jewish Community Center, and Emblem Health. Ms. Eubanks believes that structured movement patterning with aerobic dance enlightens, restores, and empowers as she continues her personal exploration in life through assessment projects, artistic performance, production mounting, and travel.

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Lani Weissbach has worked as a teacher, performer and artist in the field of dance and movement for over 30 years. Lani has served on the faculties of numerous colleges and universities, arts organizations and other institutions where she has enjoyed working with people from many walks of life. From 1999-2016, Lani founded and served as artistic director of Shen & Bones Performance Group based in Erie, Pennsylvania, presenting dozens of performances and workshops throughout the region and receiving regular local and state grant support. From 2014-16, Lani founded and served as co-director of Soma Movement Arts, Erie’s only movement studio devoted to somatic movement education. Lani's deepest joy is working collaboratively with her students and clients, and she continues to enjoy developing courses, workshops, classes, and guest artist residencies in and around her current home of Indianapolis, Indiana. As the Director of Embodied Learning for the Indianapolis Movement Arts Collective, Lani teaches regular classes and organizes workshops and guest artist residencies. Lani holds an M.F.A. in dance from Arizona State University, yoga teacher certification through the Integral Yoga® Institute and somatic movement education certification from the Eastwest Somatics Institute where she also serves as associate faculty. As a Master Somatic Movement Educator/Therapist (MSME/T) with the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association (ISMETA), Lani has offered workshops with a butoh focus since 2014. Lani is honored to be a featured artist in Butoh: Metamorphic Dance and Global Alchemy by Sondra Fraleigh and is the author of a chapter titled Decentering the Human through Butoh in the forthcoming publication Geographies of Us: An Ecosomatic Reader & Performance Handbook.

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Manami Hirose is the founder and council of the Cancerfitness in Tokyo. The facial expression researcher and a fitness expert.

She is a Breast cancer survivor.

Lymphedema.She became a a Certified MFL Instructor in 2013. She founded Cancerfitness in 2014. Believe in exercise is to restore your body and mind.

Hosting cancer patients and survivors through excercise classes and Seminar to learn about cancer. In December 2020, she opened Cancerfitness, Online Salon Hello! Even in Covid-19 , she provides activities everyday through the Internet to maintain members health and mind.

http://cancerfitness.jp/

https://cancerfitness.kokode-digital.jp/

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May Britt Froysa is a nurse with a master's degree in Health Promotion. She is now working as an assistant professor at VID Specialized University in Oslo, specifically in the bachelor's program for nurses.

May Britt has always loved to move. She studied dance full-time at Oslo Dance Center during 1990 and at Laban Centre of Movement and Dance- London during 1992. Her recent stay in New York gave her an opportunity to refresh her passion for dance, attend Moving for Life classes, and eventually become an MFLCI.

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Melinda is a Certified Personal Trainer (NASM), Certified Pilates Instructor (Turning Point Studios), and now a Somatic Movement Therapist/Educator. She specializes in working educationally and therapeutically with a wide range of people recovering from illness, injury, childbirth, and surgery. She is also a dancer, musician, choreographer and new mother!

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Michele is an oncology nurse and social dancer who likes to blend other dance styles with the Moving For Life exercise program. She believes dance is about moving, feeling good, and being mindful and can be used to reset ourselves every now and then with something positive and fun!

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Miriam Bird, proud Dubliner, born in Ireland. Dancer, teaching artist, and choreographer. Trained at Laban Center for Movement and Dance, London UK.

Studied Hawkins Technique- Graham, Cunningham, Ballet, Luigi Jazz and many more.

Directed Artlink Dance London, an community based dance company, based in Woolwich Dockyard London, which included Dance Company, Youth Company, Community classes, in Woolwich London.

Dance artist, teaching artist, choreographer and rehearsal director with The Phyllis Rose Dance company. Taught throughout NYC as part of Project Arts and Project Read.

Guest teacher at DeMontford University ,Leicester UK, T Junction Margit Mandardt Studio Vienna , Austria, Jubilee Hall , Covent Garden London UK, Pineapple Dance Center, Dublin Ireland. Certified Moving for Life 2024.

Looking forward to serving students and seniors in the NY area.

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"MFL is the program I wish I had when I was diagnosed with breast cancer."

Nancy is a certified personal trainer, group exercise instructor, and Public Health Physical Activity Specialist, with a master's degree in public health with a specialty in community health education. She has taught her Nancercize Outdoor Fitness Classes since 2004. She is the prolific author of 25 books including, "Coping with Chemotherapy" and, most recently, "101 Things to Do on a Park Bench," a collection of exercises designed to safely and effectively improve strength, flexibility, balance, and endurance.

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Ryoko Sugimoto is CMA, and M.A, was born in Tokyo, Japan. She got the scholarship from the Japanese Government Overseas Study Program for Artist for two years and studied LMA/BF at LIMS (NY) and got CMA, and also got the certification for Pilates Matworks at the Physicalmind Institute in NY. 2012, at Moving for Life, she was certified as the instructor of doing exercises with/for cancer survivors.

Currently she has been working for the Cancer Fitness founded by Manami Hirose in Tokyo.

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Shane is a Somatic Movement Therapist / Educator, Pilates Instructor, CranioSacral Therapist and dancer. Her education also includes Body-Mind Centering(TM), Laban/Bartenieff, Authentic Movement, Yoga, Hakomi, and dance improvisation. She is interested in introducing movement as a means for self-empowerment. She believes that peace begins within us and that somatic work helps people make optimal choices on a personal, community, and global level.

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Vincent Yong is the first male Moving For Life graduate (MFLCI). A Certified Movement Analyst, Vincent is also South East Asia's first Registered Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist. Privileged to bring Dr Martha Eddy's work back to Singapore, Vincent now brings cancer and preventative health care to people from various background in a program called Re-Moving™ Cancer at Mahota Commune. Vincent is the author of Flow-The Art of Creating AbunDance and a Master Neuro-linguistic Programming Coach. He is profoundly elated to contribute to Dr Martha Eddy's book: Mindful Movement-The Evolution of the Somatic Arts and Conscious Action.

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Yoo Mi Kim was born in South Korea, and received her Ph.D. in Dance from the renowned Sungkyunkwan University. She is a Registered Somatic Educator and therapist who specializes in Pilates and Barre. She also is a Certified Movement Analyst (CMA), and has worked with Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (LIMS) as part of its teaching assistant faculty. Yoo Mi also serves as a Cancer Exercise Specialist at Moving For Life. Throughout her career, which involved both performing and teaching, she was most passionate about assessing physical movements and finding the solutions to dancer injuries. She used various tools and methods in achieving such goals, and Pilates is one of her best and most efficient aids. She pays attention to every detail in one's bodily movement and helps each and every student learn more about their own body and mind.

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Jan is an award-winning writer, television producer, and community activist who has reported on a number of women’s health issues over the years. She was spurred into action after watching two of her closest friends grapple with the diagnosis of breast cancer within one year and learning about the lack of specialized aftercare programs available for this population.

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Dr. Eddy is an exercise physiologist and Registered Somatic Movement Therapist (RSMT) with a doctorate from Columbia University in Movement Science and Education. She works in private practice in New York City. Martha has served on the certification program faculty for both the School for Body-Mind Centering® and the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies from 1984 to 1994. She founded the Somatic Movement Therapy Program (SMTT) in 1992 and renamed it Dynamic Embodiment-SMTT in 2008. Martha Eddy is also the founder and director of the Center for Kinesthetic Education (CKE) in New York, and a co-founder of and the director of Somatic Studies at Moving On Center in Oakland.

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Dr Allison Stern Rosen's own experience recovering from breast cancer provided the original inspiration for the Moving for Life Dance/exercise program. A psychologist/psychoanalyst deeply committed to the needs of cancer patients, she cofounded the Fertility Preservation Special Interest Group of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. This group establishes policy, and provides education and research for preserving fertility in cancer patients. She serves on the medical advisory board of Fertile Hope and Sharsheret to help cancer survivors become parents. She has written extensively about the psychological impact of medical conditions, most recently: Frozen Dreams: Psychodynamic Dimensions of Infertility Treatment and Assisted Reproduction.

Interim Executive Director

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For 15 years, my attention has been on business and nonprofit development with a specific focus on organizations and communities with missions that contribute to Health & Wellness, DEIB and building a better future for all stakeholders including our precious planet. While learning and growing with these communities, I became aware of the need for measurable strategic goals to be partnered with embodied understanding and commitment to achieve lasting results. By studying with some of the best movement researchers and somatic practitioners in the field, I learned simple practices and tools to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous, inviting a safe, creative environment that allows the embodied person to engage in change and group decision-making processes.

Programming Administrator

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Caryn Cooper is a health, wellness and fitness practitioner from the Greater New York City area. She began her journey as a dancer where she trained in ballet in the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) for ten years along with other dance styles such as tap, jazz, modern and hip hop. Caryn transitioned into the fitness industry teaching dance exercise classes in community spaces such as public libraries, hospitals, parks, apartment complexes and community centers with the goal of helping others towards a healthy and active lifestyle. She is currently certified to teach various dance-based fitness formats including Moving for Life, POP Pilates, Zumba Fitness and Zumba Toning. Caryn holds her Master’s degree from New York University and her Bachelor’s degree from LI.

Development & Outreach Coordinator

President

Co-VP

Co-VP

Secretary

Chief, Comprehensive Breast Center, Mt. Sinai West: Professor of Clinical Surgery at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center

Assistant Professor of Dance, Kent State University

Retired Oncologist, Weil Cornell.

Professor, Director of Breast Surgery, NYU Langone Medical Center

CEO of Frederique’s Choice

Co-Founder

Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, NYU School of Medicine

Composer, 4 time Grammy Winner, ArtShare

Author, Food Critic, Breast Cancer Survivor

Montefiore Hospital Head of Breast Surgery

Gaynor Integrative Oncology, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College