Empower Pilates Virginia

Our Teachers - Our Commitment to You

Our principal goal is to empower all participants in the Pilates Method of Body Conditioning to be in control of their own health and well-being, and to provide a supportive atmosphere in which clients may grow, learn, and be guided toward a fitter lifestyle. Our teachers are highly trained, enthusiastic people dedicated to health and wellness. We are strongly committed to the power and depth of the original Pilates Method.

The physical conditioning system developed by Joseph H. Pilates is a highly evolved and in depth program that should be taught by individuals who have studied the system intensely and seriously.

Our fully certified teachers have fulfilled a minimum of 700 hours of active training in all apparatus and mat work, seminars, and apprentice teaching. We strive to share/inform consumers of the power of the original Pilates Method by offering full Pilates sessions, incorporating both apparatus and mat exercises, with experienced professional teachers in a safe environment.

Several Excel Pilates Annapolis, Inc. instructors are certified in The Pink Ribbon Program and are Post Operative Exercise Specialists for breast cancer survivors. We apply the knowledge from the program, regarding the effects of surgery on the survivor, directly to Pilates session design. The goal is to assist cancer survivors in experiencing a classical Pilates session while honoring their physical history.

Kerry De Vivo, owner of Excel Pilates Annapolis, is the only second generation* Pilates teacher in the Annapolis area. She is a certified teacher of The Pilates Method of Body Conditioning by The Pilates Center in Boulder, CO (1995) and by Romana Kryzanowska at The Pilates Studio in New York, NY (1996). She has a MFA degree in Dance and a BS degree in Arts Management and is Pink Ribbon Program certified. Kerry is currently serving as the Treasurer on the Board of Directors for the Authentic Pilates Union. Kerry celebrated her 20th year of teaching Pilates in 2015.

Kerry began studying Pilates in 1986 with Steve Giordano at SUNY Purchase. In 1998, after completing her Pilates certifications, she co-founded Excel Movement Studios, a 5, 000 square foot Pilates studio, with Lesa McLaughlin in Washington, DC. In 2002, she co-founded Excel Pilates Annapolis. The DC and Annapolis, MD studios now operate as affiliate studios along with Excel Pilates Northern Virginia.

Kerry is co-director of Excel's Pilates Teacher Training Program established in 2001. The Pilates Teacher Training Program at Excel is dedicated to providing high quality training in the original work of Joseph H. Pilates. It is a comprehensive and in-depth one year training program requiring a minimum of 700 hours of hands-on training in all levels of the Pilates mat and apparatus work. Kerry works directly with apprentices to help them reach their goals of teaching Pilates. In 2009, Kerry helped develop Excel's Pilates Teacher Mentor Program designed to offer high level continuing education to area Pilates teachers.

Kerry is co-author of the research study, The Benefits of The Pilates Method for Shoulder Stabilization in Dancers, which was presented at the Annual Symposium on Medical Problems of Musicians and Dancers in Aspen, CO. She is co-author of Excel's Pilates Teacher Training Program Manual and Excel's Pilates Mat Guide. Kerry is also a featured contributing writer in Peter Fiasca's book, Voices of Classical Pilates.