island pilates
& wellness studio
Rachael Leonard
has taught wellness, dance, and mind/body disciplines for over thirty years. She has trained and holds certifications in Pilates, Yoga, Group Exercise, Senior Fitness, Water Fitness, Aerial Arts, Vertical Pole, Personal Training, and Sports/Functional Nutrition from Balanced Body, Stott, YogaFit, Dynamic Yoga Barre, NASM, ASFA, AFAA, IFTA, YMCA, EAC, Healthways/ SilverSneakers, Reebok University, Les Mills, and Zumba. She holds a BFA in Modern Dance (University of Utah) and an MFA in Dance Choreography (Jacksonville University) as a Howard Gilman Fellow. She also has studied Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, Bartinieff Fundamentals, Gyrokenesis, MELT Method, Gaga Movement Language, Laban Movement Theory, NonVerbal Communication, and Holistic Health. In addition to teaching fitness and dance, Rachael has instructed many courses in nutrition, weight management, stress reduction, blood pressure and cholesterol health, fall prevention, brain fitness, and models for positive personal change.
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Rachael had any early introduction to Pilates while training as a young dancer in Massachusetts at what is now Studio Helix, and she continued her classical Pilates training under the tutelage of Sally Sevey Fitt during her undergraduate years in Utah. Her subsequent training has continued with countless classical and contemporary Pilates masters, practitioners, and organizations; this has led her to treat Pilates as a key foundation to all of her teaching. For the past ten years, she has been the co-owner and lead trainer of CORE Pilates Studio (previously Zen Body Works at the Pilates Spot) in Port Orange, Florida.
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Concurrently, for over a decade, she served as Professor of Movement, Exercise, & Dance at Stetson University. She also has taught and guest resided at Seminole State College, Temple University, Alma College, Belhaven University, Bethune-Cookman University, Jacksonville University, Cal State - Chico, FloArts, College of Southern Idaho, University of Utah, the Atlantic Center for the Arts as wells as at various studios, workshops and conservatories. Her course teachings include Body Conditioning, Somatic Practices, Kinesiology, Pilates, Yoga, Dance Technique (Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Jazz), Improvisation, Contact/Counter-Balance, Choreography, and Non-Profit Administration.
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​​For over fifteen years, Rachael was co-founding Artistic Director of Surfscape Contemporary Dance Theatre/RAKR Dance, and for the past eleven consecutive years, Rachael has created dances on Columbia City Ballet in South Carolina. Rachael's choreographic repertoire includes over one hundred and twenty original works that have been presented extensively throughout the United States, as well as internationally at Sadler's Wells in London (England), TeaterØen in Copenhagen (Denmark), Teatro Lethes in Faro (Portugal), Flamenqueria in Seville (Spain), Maison pour la Danse in Quebec City (Canada), Studio Hydro Quebec at Monument National in Montreal (Canada) and in various venues on the island of Guadeloupe (French Caribbean).
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​​Rachael is a recommended Adjudicator and Master Instructor for the American College Dance Association (ACDA) and has served on faculty for the United States International Ballet Competition. She is a published presenter of dance-related articles, papers and lectures and has been an Artist in Residence with Very Special Arts, the Marble House Project, the Great Friends Dance Festival, and the US National Park Service.​
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​Rachael's past fitness experience also includes serving as aerobics coordinator, wellness director, program director, and associate executive director at three YMCA facilities in Florida and Washington state, during which time she was an active group exercise instructor, personal trainer, and instructor trainer, certifying YMCA staff in Healthy Lifestyle Principles, Foundations of Group Fitness, Foundations of Strength and Conditioning, and specialized group exercise certifications in Pilates, Indoor Cycling, Step Aerobics, and Cardio through the YMCA of the USA, AFAA, & ACE. Simultaneously, she served as Instructor Coordinator/Evaluator/Trainer for Healthways/Silver Sneakers and as a touring Instructor/Presenter for the Humana Active Outlook Program. She more recently linked with Dynamic Yoga Barre to become certifying trainer of various barre-based formats that merge barre with yoga, Pilates, dance/movement, and small apparatus; she continues to offer Dynamic Barre certifications at Island Pilates and throughout the southeast.
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R​achael is an avid walker, runner, and hiker. She infuses a lot of humor and energy into every aspect of her life, and uses her diverse wellness background, extensive dance training, and her ongoing somatic investigation to inform her teaching practice. She specializes in instructing group classes and in working one-on-one with clients that have specific sport-related goals (golf, tennis, soccer, dance, etc.) or who have replaced joints/bones, partial paralysis, MS, Parkinson’s, Cerebral Palsy, and various other injuries/limitations. She truly enjoys her work and the opportunity to help others achieve their personal wellness goals. After many years of living on St. Simons Island and commuting elsewhere to work, she is thrilled to make SSI her full-time home and to share her passion with her community.
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