Bio for Tishia Hicks:

Tishia Hicks began dancing at the age of 5 and has been involved in dance and related movement fields ever since. She danced as a professional ballet dancer throughout the United States and in Europe over a span of twenty years. She began teaching ballet during her performing years and continued teaching for many years after the end of her performing career. She became known to dancers who attended her classes as the ‘dance doctor’ because of her ability to help correct technical problems they were having with their dancing. She paid keen attention to proper placement, technique and quality of movement, all of which, she concluded, could only be attained by knowing ‘how’ the body works. Her goal became to help dancers learn to dance from the inside, out, with natural, authentic movement. “Everything in nature grows from the inside, out. If movement is going to look natural, nature-like, then it must come from the inside and grow out, as all other things in nature do.” This goal, and the search that followed, led her to Pilates. She has been focusing on that study for the last several years, and after receiving training and a certification to teach matwork from the PhysicalMind Institute of New York in 2004, she began teaching mat classes. For the first time in her history as a teacher of movement, she found herself working with non-dancers, something both challenging and rewarding at the same time. “Movement is movement, and all movement originates in the core of the body. Whether it unfolds into a ballet shape or a golf player’s swing or a carpenter’s hit on a nail, it is still movement that originates somewhere in the body. Movement performed correctly not only prevents injury, but makes for the most efficient movement.”

In 2005 Tishia met Roxanna Cohen and began taking classes with her as well as assisting Roxanna in her introductory classes. She then spent a year completing the comprehensive training of Polstar Pilates, which includes a full understanding of the body in relationship to the Pilates equipment (as well as the mat work) from the point of view of a physical therapist. She has also been training to work with clients with osteoporosis, and is looking forward to upcoming trainings dealing with scoliosis and other conditions. Recently she passed the PMA exam, the national Pilates certification examination.

Tishia loves working with the human body and applies her keen eye for correct movement to all of her clients. Her love of ballet continues and is now crossing over into her work in the field of Pilates. She has held several ‘Pilates for Dancers’ workshops at the Pilates Place and continues to work weekly with some of the young, local dancers as well as teaching a weekly ballet class to the Air Aligned dancers and other staff at the studio. “Pilates should be a requirement for any serious dance student because of the core strengthening and the awareness that is achieved by working the body in this way.” And that is her philosophy for everyone, that knowing how to align and use the body correctly is the surest way to prevent injuries and to remain active and healthy throughout one’s life.

Tishia has lived in Nevada County since 2000. She moved to the area with her spiritual teacher of 25 years, who’s school of consciousness relocated to Nevada County at that time.