In the heart of the heart of the Florida Keys is a community for movement, a studio where the art of dance and motion is practiced daily.
Whatever your flavor, the options to move and shake here are endless.
Five different businesses operate under one roof in the Gulfside Village Plaza, MM 50 bayside at Theo & Ganine’s Dance Center. There are classes for yoga, pilates, kickboxing, salsa dancing and natural pain relief.
The newest business to join the studio is Pilates by Norma jean. Classes started Monday, April 30 and the room was packed, said owner Norma-jean Kelly.
The best part about teaching pilates, she said, is watching students attain better posture and the best physique they’ve ever had, regardless of their age.
In the past year, trapeze yoga has been a major fitness trend. Soon, classes will be available under the direction of Debra Leeann Wilson. Her company is Art Body Soul Inc. and she’s a veteran in yoga instruction.
She also guides meditation and healing arts using essential oils, crystals and singing bowls.
American Sports Training Association-certified youth instructor specialist Nayda R. Buttner is going to open Spirit Play Gymnasium in the coming weeks.
“I’m going to tie in your mind, body and spirit for the better of your health and soul,” she said, adding she’ll be teaching a “fusion of tai chi and gymnastics — an expressionist form of art that is somewhat self-defensive.”
Keys Martial Arts offers classes for all ages.
“We teach the martial arts of taekwondo and muay thai kickboxing,” said Gina Martin.
She and Gary Burden are instructors and took over the business after former owners Chris and Kim Burt had to relocate post-Hurricane Irma.
Judy Greenman operates Body Brain Freedom in workshops and retreats which are “all about remarkable improvements in how you move, think and feel, using your brain’s ability to re-learn new connections and ease.”
Theo and Ganine Derleth have leased the dance studio since 2005 and welcome all ages to their ballroom and Latin dancing classes.
“This is a center for movement in the Middle Keys because everyone associated with us is associated with the human body,” Ganine said.
UNDER ONE ROOF
- Theo & Ganine’s Dance Center
305.766.3428
- Pilates by Norma jean
Pilatesbynormajean.com
818.274.2430
- Art Body Soul
yogatrapezefloridakeys.com
- Spirit Play Gymnasium
305.942.4123
- Body Brain Freedom
bodybrainfreedom.com
305.393.1315
- Keys Martial Arts
305.709.8572
