Jennifer Bishop-Orsulak first studied Pilates, Kinesiology, and Anatomy at the University of Utah, where she earned her BFA in Dance. While furthering her dance career in NYC, she continued to use Pilates as a form of treating injuries. Jennifer moved to SF in 2000 and was certified by Carol Appel at Body Kinetics where she taught until she co-founded POP! in 2002. She has studied with Jean Claude West, who is her Applied Kinesiology guru & David Weinstock, founder of Neuro-Kinetic Therapy. Jennifer has completed a second Rehabilitative Certification with Polestar Pilates Educators, Brent Anderson, PT and Sherri Betz, PT. Her goal for each of her clients at POP! is to have a positive movement experience. Jennifer is a Pilates Method Alliance Certified Teacher. Jennifer danced professionally with H.T. Chen & Dancers in NYC and Janice Garrett & Dancers in SF. She spends her spare time with her curious toddler and loving husband.
Joseph Levinson
Joey has been a Pilates instructor since 1998 and was the Dancemedicine supervisor at the Center for Sports Medicine in San Francisco. He received his Dancemedicine training at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital’s Center for Sports Medicine with Mercy Sidbury, Julie Lushington, and Elizabeth Larkham. He received his Pilates instructor certification at Turning Point Studios with Nora St. John and Naomi Leierson.
Joseph was a professional ballet dancer for more than 20 years, dancing in England, Japan and the United States. He also gives Pilates workshops for dancers.
I bring extensive experience in performance, knowledge of anatomy and biomechanics, and a complex understanding of somatics (mind-body connection) to her teaching. As a professional dancer, I instantly connected with the Pilates method and have been an Instructor since 1998.
I was trained in New York City by Fran Lehen, a protégé of Carola Trier, and taught at her studio, Groundfloor NYC, for 12 years. I am a PMA® Certified Pilates Teacher and earned a mat certification from the Kane School of Core Integration. I have also taught dance and Pilates in universities including Hofstra, where I developed a Pilates curriculum that supported both the kinesiology and technique classes for dance majors.
At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, I created and taught Pilates Technique and Applications to MFA graduate students. Currently, I am a Pilates Instructor and Contemporary Dance Teacher for groups and individuals in San Francisco, where I use my knowledge and experience to facilitate empowerment and growth in my students.
My intro to Pilates was early in life, with a Reformer in the family room and a Physical Therapist-Pilates Teacher-Yoga Teacher for a mom. I really fell in love with Pilates, though, through an low back injury in my early 20s. It made the fitness my peers were into – high impact HIIT and spin classes – no longer a safe option for me. Through rediscovering Pilates, I found that despite dancing my whole life, I’d never built the strong and stable core I needed to enable a life without pain in my back or hips. That despite flexibility, I hadn’t learned to how to functionally support powerful movement. That my career in brand strategy, with its 10-hour days at a desk, was creating posture patterns that were literally pulling me down. Through Pilates, I’ve become the strongest I’ve ever felt, and have recently completed the Polestar Pilates Comprehensive Teacher Training (certification expected September 2022) to help others find the mind-body awareness, strength, and enjoyment of movement that’s so empowering. In my class, you’ll be challenged to build functional strength and muscle tone, find length, and will walk out energized for your day.
