Fly Fitness NYC

Bios

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  Jillian Urrutia

  Co-Owner

  Jillian graduated from SUNY Cortland in 2003 with her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish education and in 2005 with her Master’s degree in Literacy. During her college career, she attended ULA University in Venezuela for two semesters. While there she learned how to Salsa dance. In, 2003, she began her career teaching Spanish to Middle School children and did so for 5 years in Upstate NY. During that time, she gave Salsa, Merengue, and Bachata lessons to students in Upstate NY and Philadelphia, PA. Teaching also gave her many opportunities to travel and live abroad during the summer to do volunteer work. In, 2008, Jillian moved to NYC. While browsing the internet in search of a new form of exercise, she stumbled onto a pole dance video and was mesmerized! After taking a class, she was hooked! In 2011, she had to take time off from her training as she and her husband were blessed with daughter Elena. Jillian couldn’t wait to get back to dance, and as soon as she had doctor’s approval, she began training again! Six months later, she became a certified pole instructor. Jillian has performed at benefits raising money for charities such as NY Cares and The Worldwide Orphans Foundation. She has also performed several times at the monthly Pole Comedy Show, Schtick a Pole in it, in Manhattan. When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being a dancer. I loved all kinds of dance. Unfortunately, I was never able to receive dance training and therefore my dream was never achievable. I thought it was too late to do anything with dance since most dancers have trained since childhood. When I began taking pole dance classes, I was able to learn basic to more complex choreography in a professional setting without needing years of prior training. I never felt out of place or like I didn't belong. Centered around different apparatuses, chair and pole, my dance vocabulary increased and I began to live out part of my childhood dream...and get that awesome dancer's body on the side :) Since then, I continue to increase my knowledge of dance. I want to continue to learn to connect my movement to the music from how it makes me feel naturally without choreography. I want to do this with and without using poles, chairs, etc. I am not and never will be a real professional dancer. But I love to live through the moments when I get to pretend I am. I want to continue to challenge myself and my body. I want to do amazing tricks on the pole. Then, I want to home to my regular mommy life and show my husband and family what I did that made me happy. With that being said: I want to create an environment where those dreamers, whether they never got the chance to achieve it or are working on their dream currently, can come and live their dream. I want to take people that have never danced before and provide them with fun and challenging choreography in a non-intimidating and sexy environment. I want those people that are trying to find their inner sexy or trying to get it back, to dance their way to a fitter, tighter, more flexible, and better body. I believe in progression but not limitation. I feel that classes with a strong structure that focuses on technique are what beginners need to build confidence, strength, and stamina. When that is achieved, I want to challenge people to do things they never thought possible. YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/user/jrotach

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  Gabrielle Valliere

  Co-Owner

  Gabrielle Valliere is a competitive pole performer who has been dancing since the age of three and spent 5 years dancing professionally as an NFL Cheerleader. She started her pole dance career studying and teaching pole dancing in Massachusetts in 2005. After moving to New York, she continued pole dancing and taught at New York Pole Dancing for several years. She was thrilled to eventually open her own studio in 2013 and currently co-owns and teaches at Fly Fitness NYC. She has accomplished many things in the pole dancing world including being chosen to participate in several competitions with the US Pole Dance Federation. She was awarded her Pro card at the USPDF regional competition in 2009, validating her as one of the top professional pole dancers in the country. She then went on to win 2nd place in the 2011 US Pole Dance National Pro Championship. Gabrielle has also pole danced for: New York Fashion Week for Yummie Tummie Shapewear, Mary J. Blige’s music video – “Mr. Wrong”, Duane Howard’s hip hop music video - “She’s on Fire”, a movie trailer for “Skinja”, Showstoppers Productions, Secret Burlesque, Pole Control, a charity benefit for the World Wide Orphans foundation, Art Station’s launch party, Harlem NYC’s Redd Velvett party, the NYC pride parade 2012, Rockstar Games, and has done additional performances throughout New York City at venues such as Club Marquee, Blvd, and R Bar. Gabrielle had an opportunity to travel to Bogota, Colombia to host workshops, as well as perform for and judge Miss Pole Dance Colombia in July 2011. Her additional ventures include performing and teaching at Caribbean Ritual Dancers in St. Thomas Virgin Islands and judging at the 2013 Pole Sport Atlantic Pole Championships. You can catch her performing often at the monthly pole and comedy show, “Schtick a Pole In It”. Gabrielle holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Brown University, a M.S. in Child Life and Family Studies from Wheelock College, and an A.S. in Nursing from CUNY. She currently works in Aesthetic Medicine as a Registered Nurse. Gabrielle is available as a performer, judge, instructor, and motivational speaker and travels both nationally and internationally to share her passion for pole fitness. When my parents recount the beginnings of my dance "career" they have different stories to share. My mother says that she put me in dance because I was so awkward and uncoordinated that I "couldn't even walk right". My dad says that when I first started taking dance classes that he and my mother chose that particular school because he knew it would be fun for me there. He said that he didn't care how great of a dancer I became, as long as I was having fun. Ironically, despite how awkward and uncoordinated I might have been, I ended up not only having fun, but actually transforming into a great dancer....eventually making a career out of my love for dance. That path lead me to dancing professionally for the nfl, which was an amazing accomplishment, but stifling none the less. Everything had to be exactly like the girl next to me. Everything, from our lipstick down to our weight, had to be approved by our coach. There was little room for self expression, fun was an afterthought. The nfl was an amazing platform to perform, but part of my organic love for dance was lost amidst the weigh ins, hair fluffing, and phony smiles. When I stumbled upon the art of pole dancing 8 years ago I was thrilled that individual self expression was encouraged in this genre of dance. In pole dancing, women of all shapes and sizes, ages, abilities, and backgrounds are celebrated for being strong and sexy. It thrills me to see my students become stronger, more confident, empowered, and more comfortable moving in their own bodies. One thing that also thrills me is to see my students make "mistakes". As long as they are being safe, no one has to be exactly like me or exactly like the student next to them. I have come up with some of my most unique choreography by trying to replicate my students' "mistakes". If someone's arms aren't perfectly straight or toes perfectly pointed, they should still be applauded for doing their best and making strides meaningful to their own abilities. That is why I want to open my own studio. To provide an environment where people can feel empowered and to provide a supportive space for people to make "mistakes". I want my studio to be a place where a range of people can come for fun, fitness, and creative movement. From people who feel like they "can't even walk right" to people who strive to become pros... And for people like myself who might have started off in the world awkward and uncoordinated...but then had so much fun and felt so amazing about what they could accomplish that they became pros.

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  Jennifer Kovacs

  Jennifer Kovacs is a contemporary dancer, aerialist, and circus performer. She has performed both nationally and internationally and has worked with a variety of talented choreographers and producers, including Jordann Baker, Lynn Barr, Jac Bowie, Scott Combs, Jana Hicks, Shien Lee, Sean Roschman, Anya Sapozhnikova, Maia Ramnath, Michael Sabb, and Nejla Yatkin. Currently, Jennifer is a resident artist at Galapagos Art Space, performs regularly at the Box NYC, and frequently at The Slipper Room. She also runs her own aerial company, Vertical Aerial Arts, which was founded in early 2012, alongside partner Megan Hornaday. In addition to being a performer and aerial instructor, Jen is an ACE certified personal trainer, and specializes in Active Isolated Stretch.

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  Irmingard Mayer

  Irmingard has over 20 years of dance training and has been pole dancing since 2009. She placed 1st at the 2013 Atlantic Pole Championship in Dramatic Level 3 Category. She also placed 2nd at 2013 National Aerial Pole Art Competition in the Neo division. In addition to teaching and competing, Irmingard has many film and television credits where her pole skills have been utilized. She has appeared in: Law & Order: SVU, I Don't Know How She Does It, Towheads, The Last Five Years and Lucky N#mbr to name a few. She has also performed at live venues in NYC such as The Box. She believes pole dancing is an athletic art form and wishes to share its benefits with a diverse range of women and men. Irmingard is certified in Xpert Pole Fitness, AFAA Group Fitness, TRX, and CPR/first aid. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/IrmingardMayer

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  JoAnna Ross

  JoAnna is a regular teacher at the most reputable fitness centers in Manhattan (Reebok Sports Club, Sports Club LA Rockefeller Center and the Upper East Side, Clay and at the Gershwin Theatre for the cast and crew of WICKED) A native New Yorker with over 16 years of experience in Yoga and Dance, JoAnna Ross, the founder of “Yoga by the Dozen” is a renowned instructor who understands the mechanics of the human body and their movements. After her Broadway career, she completed her intensive training in LA’s City Yoga Anusara Teacher Program created by John Friend, under the direction of Sue Elkind, Naime Jezzeny, and Noah Mazé, she continued her education with Desiree Rumgaugh, Douglas Brooks, and Sally Kempton. JoAnna’s strict alignment-based approach is underlined with celebratory elements. She believes repetition is the key to learning, but laughter is the basis of true growth. With her personalized approach to yoga, she has an all-star client list, which ranges from Hollywood celebrities and Broadway casts to children of all ages. Anusara Yoga Class After years of being a professional dancer, and struggling with injuries, JoAnna focuses on teaching proper alignment and breath so people can be pain free. She teaches all levels of yoga, and specializes in those who are restricted in their movements through age or illness. After completing her Anusara Teacher Training program in California JoAnna's has spent her career creating fun and challenging classes for the typical yoga student and for people who never thought they’d end up in a yoga class. Rock N Roll' Yoga This class takes your yoga practice and throws in something new! JoAnna is an Anusara teacher that wanted to do something different in the yoga room. This class uses the Universal Principles of Alignment and teaches them to a playlist of a Who's Who of Rocking Roll. Whether you are a beginner or advanced student Rock N Roll yoga is for everyone. WARNING: You will not hear any yoga music in this class.

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  Jonathan Nosan

  Originally from Mt. Pleasant Michigan, Jonathan’s flexibility is not natural. He was simply well trained. After graduating U.C. Berkeley in Asian Studies and Geography he was awarded a Fulbright to Japan to conduct research toward his PhD in Design of Sacred Space of New Religious Movements. His second research year was spent in a wood cabin with an outhouse in the Northwest Mountains of Kyoto. It was during that year he changed course from academics to acrobatics after seeing a Chinese Contortionist in Nagasaki and a Canadian Clown in Tokyo. Unable to touch his toes at 22, Nosan moved to London for a year of physical theater and circus training, then three years as a contortion student of Mr. Lu Yi at the San Francisco Circus Centre. Jonathan moved to Manhattan in 1998 and has since developed a unique performance and teaching style. His work has been featured in film, fashion, television/commercials and on stage. 2010 brought the premier of his performemoirt piece BAGABONES and is currently touring the world with the spiegeltent spectacular LIMBO. He is president of Acroback Productions, a performance design firm catering to international galas and events. He is an avid potter at Mud, Sweat and Tears studio in Manhattan. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jnosan

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  Viveca Williams

  Viveca has always gravitated towards any thing athletic, provided it came with a huge challenge. In high school it was track, in college it was rowing. Her career path was forged through her love of weight training because of the strength and confidence it fostered. After earning a Master’s Degree in Exercise Science, she moved to NYC in 2006 for a job opportunity in the fitness industry. Discovering pole dancing that same year, she was instantly drawn to it not only because of the challenges in flexibility and fluidity of movement, but also because similar to weight training, it required an incredible amount of strength and confidence. Pole dancing is an art that is constantly evolving. You can study it for years, and there will always be something new to learn. It has taught her persistence, patience, endurance, humility and so many other important life lessons. Viveca believes working at Fly Fitness NYC will be an amazing opportunity for growth as an instructor, pole athlete, and dancer. She excited to be a part of the team.

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  Lara Michaels

  Lara comes from a background in dance and music. Growing up in Boise, Idaho, she performed frequently with Ballet Idaho, and was a member of the Capital City Youth Ballet, a pre-professional training company. After high school, she moved back to her hometown of San Francisco to pursue her bachelor's degree in violin performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. While in SF, she continued to hone her dancing skills, studying at Alonzo King's Lines Ballet/San Francisco Dance Center, and performing with Santa Clara Ballet. Lara traded coasts in 2009 to pursue her master's of music at Mannes College, and took her first pole class in 2011, on a Groupon whim. She instantly fell in love with spinning around the pole, even though she could barely lift her arms the next day! Pole dancing continues to transform her body in ways she never imagined possible, and she embraces the thrill and challenge of mixing tricks, timing, musicality, and expression. In her spare time, Lara also trains on aerial apparatuses at various facilities around the city, and makes a mean batch of chocolate chip cookies YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/misslaramichaels

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  Amy Kim

  Amy’s goal as an instructor is to build a healthy self confidence from within. By helping students gain strength, sass, and skills on the pole safely, with respect for limitations, you end up pushing boundaries you never knew you could! She truly believes that all women are beautiful, that all hips are inherently sexy no matter what size, shape, or color– and that anyone can pole dance (including men!). Despite having no background in dance, or any kind of fitness until her mid-twenties, Amy can do multiple pull ups in a row, a pretty awesome body wave in 7" heels, and has toured throughout the US and Canada teaching pole dance workshops, performing, and judging competitions. Amy is excited to find a new NYC pole home at the beautiful FLY FITNESS studio!! Currently she lives and works in Manhattan. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/amyxshi

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  Fran Sperling

  Fran’s circus career took flight when she became the topmounter of a two-¬‐woman acrobatic duo. Acrobrats traveled worldwide and performed for Donald Trump, Patricia Birch, Lincoln Center’s Little Orchestra Society and Out of Doors Festival, Big Apple Circus, MTV, new world circuses and festivals. As an aerialist, Fran loves performing on a multitude of apparatus from silks, trap, lyra, rope, Spanish web-- but an even more immense passion for performing duos.Her credits include Late Night with David Letterman, Lululemon, Cirque-tacular Entertainment, Bindlestiff Circus, Big Apple Circus, the Zipper Theatre’s Above the Belt, Streb, Zamperla Circus, Alessandra Belloni’s various adaptations of Tarantella; Spiderdance, and in harness at a Phish Concert in Madison Square garden, above 20,000 fans. The stage show was conceived by David Gallo, with choreography by Lisa Shriver (of Jesus Christ Superstar fame). Her aerial classes have been seen on Live with Kelly and Regis, TV Guide Network, Good Morning America, Pix 11 Morning News, and have been hailed by NY Magazine, Time Out, German Glamour Business and Vogue, Self, the NY Post and Vital Juice online. Her Float® Aerial Yoga classes were just recently aired on CBS’s Toni On New York. Check out Fran on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/aerialista1

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  Susie Williams

  Susie Williams is an aerial performer, choreographer and instructor. She specializes in rope, silks and flying trapeze and has a duo trapeze act with Eric Gorsuch. After graduating with a BA in Theater from Northwestern University, Susie began training rope with Kevin O’Connor of Ecole National de Cirque and at the San Francisco Circus Center. In the next few years, she continued her education around the country, adding silks and flying trapeze to her repertoire. Since then, Susie has performed all over New York in theater, cabaret and corporate shows. When she is not in NYC, you can find her touring the country with such renowned artists as the High Flying Pages, The Flying Poemas and Gino Farfan. She most recently performed flying trapeze, spanish web and silks at Circus Circus and is proud to have performed in Kristin Geneve Young’s migrations.You can watch some of Susie's previous performances here: www.circussusie.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/susiewill/videos

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  Doug Reisinger

  Doug Reisinger always has had a passion for fitness and healthy living. He moved from Indianapolis, IN to New York in 2007 to pursue his love of musical theater. As a long-time distance runner, Doug wanted to incorporate stretching into his routine and found the gift of yoga. Doug began practicing Hatha yoga at Bikram NYC and wanted to expand his practice. He eventually moved into Vinyasa yoga and trained and received his 200 hour certification at Sonic Yoga in Hell’s Kitchen. Allowing individuals to become more open to self-awareness and their full potential is central to Doug’s belief in the transformative power of yoga. He also focuses on proper alignment as a path to the meditational benefits of yoga.

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  Brook Notary

  From silks to bungees, from masks to stilts, Brook Notary's choreography is charged, visceral, and visually arresting. Her unique vision in both aerial and dance has been regaled by audiences nationwide and sought after by other industry innovators, from celebrities and recording artists to dance companies and educational institutions. The New York Times has raved of her "choreographic magic" and proclaimed Brook "adept at theatrical conjuration. "Brook's piece "Plucked" has received stunning reviews. Backstage called it "fabulous ... aesthetically striking ... The mysterious beings acquire an unusual grace, evoking an alien quality as they cavort and sculpt themselves into engrossing choreographic designs ... Ravishing, high-speed excitement." The Village Voicedescribed it as "picturesquely eerie... dizzying. "Included in her diverse stage work is the critically acclaimed New York-based modern dance company, Notario, for which she is the founder, artistic director and choreographer. She has seen her work come alive in venues across New York City and the east coast, including Jacob's Pillow, the Duke on 42nd, The Kitchen, Joyce SoHo, and Symphony Space; they have hit the west coast at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco. On television, Notario Dance Company was featured in "Up and Coming Choreographers" on PBS. Her work has also been in demand by celebrities: pop artist Usher hired Brook to choreograph a live aerial show for his fragrance launch event; most recently, curators Harrison Ford and President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana had Brook create an outdoor piece on rainforest conservation for an International Press event in New York City. As a performer, Brook toured the US as a rhythmic gymnast and served as dance captain with Cirque Ingenieux. She danced in and choreographed industrial pieces for Emittime Productions, and performed in the acclaimed off-Broadway show De La Guarda in New York. Ms. Notary earned her BFA in Dance at the University Of California-Irvine and received her MFA from the Tisch School of the Arts, where she was honored with the Dean's Scholarship.