Certifications
Kane School Comprehensively Certified Pilates Teacher – 2010
Centre for Spatial Medicine Pilates Neruofascial Bridge – 2016
Gyrotonic Level 1 Teacher – 2019
Rossiter Level 1-4 Advanced Coach – 2020

Continuing Education
Passing the Torch w/ Wendy Leblanc-Arbuckle, 2023-24
GYROTONIC® Applications for the Fascial Body w/ Irene Rampino, 2023
GYROTONIC® Level 2 Pre-training w/ Rich O’Connor, 2023
Fletcher Pilates Online Intensive, 2020
Basic Psoas Workshop w/Liz Koch, 2020
GYROTONIC® Level 1 Update w Juergen Bamberger, 2019
Yamuna Foot Fitness w/ Dianne Glass, 2017
Anatomy Trains in Structure & Function w/James Earls, 2016
Franklin Method Pelvic Power & Liberate Your Shoulders, 2015
SmartSpine, Marie Jose-Blom, 2013 & 2016
Fascia-Wise – Anatomy Trains in Pilates w/ Karin Locher, 2014
TheraPilates for Osteoporosis w/ Sheri Betz, 2012
Franklin Method and Pilates w/ Tom McCook, 2012
Prenatal & Postpartum Pilates w/ Debra Goodman, 2012
Pilates for Osteoporosis w/ Rebekah Rotstein, 2011

Cris is a certified Pilates Teacher, licensed GYROTONIC® Method Trainer, and an Advanced Rossiter Coach. She has been practicing Pilates since 2001 and teaching it since 2010.  In 2015 she opened her own studio and then co-founded Cornerstone Pilates along with Michelle Sedtal in 2018.  Cris specializes in creating custom sessions for clients who are ready to find deep mind/body connections, confront and unwind long-held patterns, delve into root causes of pain, and go through the process to make lasting changes.  She has personally practiced the Pilates repertoire for over 20 years, and loves to share it with deep respect for its origins and constant study of evolving science.

Cris is the most experienced Pilates instructor here at Cornerstone and serves as a mentor for all of the teachers on our team.  She leads weekly masterclasses and regular workshops for the teachers.  She also heads the Cornerstone Pilates Resident Program – a year-long mentorship for new teachers. Cris is passionate about cultivating high-quality teachers to help spread the amazing benefits that are possible with Pilates.  She is currently working with fellow mentor Kate Griffith to create and provide ongoing continuing education content for Pilates teachers.

Cris pursued a career in theatre in New York City from 2001-2010.  It was there that she found and fell in love with Pilates and the GYROTONIC® method.  She studied with several excellent practitioners in New York City for many years before completing her comprehensive Pilates training with Kelly Kane at the Kane School of Core Integration in 2010.  The Kane School program was known for teaching the Classical repertoire along with a science-based approach to working with clients with injuries and pathologies. She loved learning about the body and quickly added several advanced Pilates courses in Osteoporosis, prenatal and post-partum, spinal pathologies, scoliosis, Franklin Method, Smartspine, and the Anatomy Trains to her training.

After moving home to Dallas and teaching at several studios around the metroplex, her quest for more knowledge led her to spend 2014-2016 taking another intensive comprehensive course with Karin Locher of the Centre for Spatial Medicine.  The focus was on relearning the entire Pilates repertoire through the lens of the Anatomy Trains (fascial meridians in the body).  Cris found this viewpoint to be transformative to her own practice and her understanding of teaching Pilates.   It was in this program that she met Kate Griffiths and began exploring ways to share what they learned with other teachers.

Cris’s continued exploration into the world of fascia and movement led her to the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®. She completed her GYROTONIC® Method Level 1 Final Certification in 2019 and is currently continuing to experience the beauty and depth of the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® and loves to share it with her clients.  She finds that working with the GYROTONIC® method opens up a freedom and ease of movement that many of us are craving in our daily lives.

In 2018 Cris began training in the Rossiter System in order to help her clients release stored pain and trauma in their bodies and by 2020 she was a Level 4 Advanced Rossiter Coach. She incorporates this technique in her sessions with clients whenever there is a need to quickly open up tight areas and/or release pain.  She finds the method so useful that she is encouraging all the teachers at Cornerstone to learn it.

Cris was honored to be chosen to participate in the 2023-24 Passing the Torch mentorship program with Second-Generation Pilates teacher Wendy Leblanc-Arbuckle.  Throughout the year-long exploration, she studied embryology, fascia, breathing, energy medicine, and functional movement with Wendy who also shared her experience from 40 years of teaching Pilates.  The experience was very validating that a deeper, yet gentler approach to Pilates leads to profound results.  Cris was also inspired by Wendy as a teacher and mentor and is working toward expanding her own teacher training and mentorship programs.