(Her name is pronounced like this: Day-Nay-Uh Mon-Tray)
Certified Instructor Danaë Montreuil brings to Atlas Pilates a unique combination of knowledge and experience. Trained in the Romana Kryzanowska style of Pilates, Romana is the world-renowned protgee of Joseph Pilates and has been teaching the method for nearly six decades. Danaë spent more than 650 hours in apprenticeship at Pilates Seattle International. She also has a background in massage therapy and has studied kinesiology, physiology and anatomy.
This knowledge and experience coalesces in Danaë to provide her with an eye for posture and for how different students compensate for weakness and injury. Moreover, her understanding of muscles and muscle movement makes it easier for her to explain how exercises are executed and accomplished safely.
When shes not busy helping clients grow taller and stronger, Danaë can be found at work in her massage therapy business, practicing pole acrobatics, or tasting wine. A sommelier who left Seattle’s beloved Wild Ginger restaurant to pursue a career in Pilates, Danaë loves to broaden her palate by delving into wines from around the world, country-by-country. What’s on her palate now? The wines of Italy.
Danaë became a Pilates instructor after years of personal practice. Her goals are to maintain movement with flexibility and strength, and she finds Pilates the most effective way to feel centered, stronger and more pulled together. Her objective now is to help her students reach their own goals.
“My philosophy is that Pilates is not about cookie cutter exercise,” says Danaë. “Instruction should be customized for the practitioner’s body type, personality, injury and need.”
As an instructor, Danaë is focused and likes to work deeply with students to discover how to maximize their practice and results.
“I’m constantly amazed by the abilities of the human machine, and thrilled to help people find a connection between their mind and body so they can move freely, effortlessly and without discomfort or strain,” she says.