Meet Sharon Porter
The founder and Director of Body Revolution and Groovolution
Finding Pilates
Sharon first discovered Pilates more than 20 years ago and was immediately hooked on this intelligent system of movement. Not only did it improve her own flexibility, mobility, strength and control, it enhanced & complimented her dance teaching practice. Pilates gave Sharon a deeper body awareness and understanding of optimal movement through mind-body connection.
Sharon’s passion for Pilates is obvious and infectious. She continually discovers and learns more of the health and wellness benefits this amazing method can bring to herself and others.
Before Pilates
Sharon’s professional background is in education. She was a high school Performing Arts teacher for 26 years. During that whole period she held the position of Head of Department – Performing Arts. She taught Music and Drama but Dance was Sharon’s main subject area for the majority of her teaching career. She is a true triple threat! Hence her love of musical theatre.
In 2012 Sharon opened her Pilates studio Body Revolution in Newmarket. At the end of that year she made the brave leap to leave high school education and become a full time Pilates practitioner.
Sharon and Pilates
Sharon has completed comprehensive study and training through Polestar Pilates and gained a Diploma Of Professional Pilates in 2012. She is a member of AUSactive and Pilates Association of Australia. She is also a member of Ausdance Qld and a certified Xtend Barre instructor.
Sharon will forever be a teacher and educator and loves to nurture and mentor students of all ages. One of her most rewarding things is to share her knowledge, experience and joy of movement science with aspiring Pilates practitioners.
Sharon is excited to become, in 2023, the Brisbane Course Provider & Educator for Tensegrity Training (RTO60182) – Pilates, Somatics and Movement Therapy Specialists. Body Revolution is the Brisbane host studio for Tensegrity Training, delivering fully accredited and government-approved Pilates instructor training courses. Sharon has previously been a mentor for Polestar Pilates Australia. Body Revolution is also a Work Placement Studio for Pilates ITC for their instructor training.
Sharon has an intellectual curiosity and continues to broaden her knowledge to support her Pilates practice. She has undertaken continuing education courses and workshops in a range of topics including pre and post-natal Pilates, chronic lower back pain, Pilates for scoliosis, hypermobility, elite athletes, children and adolescents, osteoporosis, neurological conditions, dancers and the shoulder complex. She has attended Pilates conferences here in Australia and the U.S.
Sport and Pilates
Sharon has a keen interest in assisting athletes and sports participants with improving their performance and also with injury prevention. She is a sports fanatic and particularly, an avid fan of tennis, AFL, netball, rugby, cricket and golf. She works with many young elite soccer players including one in the UK via zoom who moved to London to pursue a professional football career.
Sharon was the Pilates instructor for the elite swim squad of Nudgee College Swim Club from 2017-2019. She has a passion for working with young people and introducing them to the benefits of Pilates for growing bodies.
Pilates and Beyond
Her love of music and dance means that they will always play a major part in Sharon’s life. This is evident through the formation of Fandango, a community choir she formed in 2018 in collaboration with Ruani Dias-Jayasinha.
In 2019 Sharon began training and work with Gold Moves Australia in the area of dance for older generations for health and wellness. She has developed this into a new area of business called Groovolution – dance for every body. She teaches dance classes for adults including older generations and people with mobility restrictions. Groovolution combines all her true passions of dance, music, Pilates and health science. And it is pure fun and joy!
In all of her professional endeavours, Sharon’s motivation is in building community and connections. Her mantra is Whole Body Health – healthy mind, healthy body, healthy spirit. She sees her purpose is in helping others with their whole body health and getting everyone to MOVE, DANCE and SING!
Our Instructors
Anouk Condie
Pilates Instructor
Anouk started teaching with Body Revolution in 2016 after completing her Polestar certificate 4 in Mat Instrution. In 2018 she gained a diploma in Professional Pilates Instruction with PITC.
Anouk was drawn to Pilates in an effort to strengthen her back and to learn more about anatomy. As an instructor she enjoys Pilates as a method for keeping strong and helping others realise the joy of intelligent movement. She loves the energised and happy feeling that she gets after an hour of Pilates.
Anouk loves bush walking and spending time with her family which includes Muffin her adored puppy.
Michelle Del Beato
Pilates Instructor
Michelle worked in banking and then government for many years. She had practiced Pilates in a gym but her main form of exercise was boot camp, body pump or cycling. She moved to Queensland from Victoria in 2018 and severely injured her back with a herniated disc. There was a Pilates studio about 100 metres from home, so she started going to classes there and fell in love with it. Michelle learnt so much about her own body and all the benefits you can gain from Pilates, including recovery from injury.
This led Michelle to enrol in Anatomy and Mat Pilates courses at the same studio. Following this, she gained certificates in Barre and Reformer Pilates. She started teaching while still working in a government role. Michelle then realized that she didn’t know as much as she needed to keep her clients safe while getting the most out of their classes. After some research she enrolled in an Integrated Diploma of Contemporary Pilates and Teaching Methodology with Tensegrity Training.
Michelle loves Pilates as it strengthens and lengthens, mobilises and teaches control. She loves the mindfulness of Pilates and giving yourself the time to focus on you.
“This is what I want for everybody and this is why I teach. Becoming an instructor, though, doesn’t mean you stop learning. There is so much knowledge to take in but it’s a fabulous journey.”
When she’s not teaching or practicing Pilates, a lot of Michelle’s time is spent cycling, drinking gin and tonics, travelling, painting furniture, growing vegetables and spending time with her two beautiful greyhounds, Tilda and Archie. She also doesn’t mind her two grown children and adores her five grandchildren. And also likes her husband Julian some days.
Dorian Traill
Pilates Instructor
As a former ballet dancer, Dorian found Pilates in his late teens as a training and rehabilitation method in the Australian Ballet school and later as a professional dancer in the Queensland Ballet Company, which is where he completed his ballet career.
After losing touch of the method following his retirement from dance and pursuing other careers in finance and property, he reengaged with Pilates after a back injury.
The management of the injury was so effective through Pilates, that he decided to take his knowledge further and enrolled in a Cert 4 and Diploma course to become a Pilates instructor.
With an excellent knowledge of how the body works through both Pilates and ballet, his mat classes and studio equipment sessions are challenging and interesting for their unique variations and choreography.
Despite his advancing (almost) middle aged years, when most sane people would have given up sport years ago, he still plays and coaches cricket, has an interest in fly fishing, bush walking, kayaking, AFL, chilling with his 3 kids and pretty much anything else that is “fun”.
In the event of his untimely demise, he will be survived by his 3 children and 2 dogs.
Louise Spencely
Pilates instructor
Like most of us Louise spent much of her professional life sitting behind a desk, then trying to counteract all that sitting by being as active as possible outside of work. Several years ago, however, Lou developed an injury and ended up in chronic pain. It caused her to start researching the human body and how she could help herself recover - a journey which led to Pilates.
Louise started taking private Pilates lessons once a week and was immediately hooked. She learned so much about the mind-body connection and how to move more efficiently; she felt stronger and stronger everyday. Lou realised she wanted to share this knowledge with others and decided then and there to become a Pilates instructor herself.
Lou completed her Diploma of Professional Pilates Instruction with Pilates ITC. She now spends a lot less time sitting behind a desk and a lot more time sharing her love of Pilates with her clients. “It’s truly an honour to be able to help them gain confidence and strength in their minds and bodies so they can move through life with more ease. Becoming an instructor has definitely been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made”.
In Lou’s spare time she enjoys travelling, spending time with family and friends, going to the movies and chilling out at home.
Belinda Foote
Pilates instructor
Belinda’s passion for Pilates began 8 years ago whilst competing in Triathlons and long-distance running. A swim coach and remedial massage therapist at the time recommended she try Pilates to help improve her core, glute activation and leg alignment.
She discovered that after a few sessions of Pilates a week, her swimming technique and knee pain greatly improved, together with her overall strength and flexibility. She has now never looked back!
Belinda began her Pilates teacher training in 2021 through Polestar Pilates. She is completing a Diploma Of Professional Pilates.
Belinda completed a Bachelor of Applied Science in Human Movements in 2005 with QUT. Following this, she worked as a Personal Trainer and Exercise Physiologist for a few years where she loved helping and seeing clients achieve their goals.
For the last 12 years Belinda has worked more in the hospital and medical industry in both private and public hospitals, firstly as a Cardiac Scientist before moving into the sleep & respiratory industry. She has held various positions from clinical, education, marketing, research, management and quality control in both the adult and paediatric populations of the industry.
She is also currently completing a Master of Business Administration part-time through the University of Queensland.
Belinda has always loved keeping fit and very active and thought Pilates would be great to complement her current career as a Paediatric Sleep Scientist.
In her spare time, she loves spending time with her a long hair dachshund Franklin, hiking, playing tennis, running and yoga and of course Pilates. Her favourite Pilates exercises are inversions / rollovers!
Petrea
Pilates instructor
Website/media Fandango
Donna Guscott
Donna has been a client at Body Revolution since the very beginning and is now part of the “behind-the-scenes” team, working on the newsletters and helping with the website and social media posts. She has been doing her regular mat class since starting and has sung the praises of Pilates for helping her to be pain free with her lower back problems.
Donna’s worked in administration and office management for longer than she can believe and enjoys spending time with family and friends, sharing good food (prepared by someone else!) and a glass of wine.
Ruani Dias-Jayasinha
Fandango Singing Instructor (BMusBA :Education)
Ruani has been a professional actor, singer and teacher for more than 20 years. Since graduating from UQ in 1993, she has continued to extend her range of styles to include classical, musical theatre and contemporary singing. While studying at the Actor’s Centre Australia, she was introduced to the Linklater Voice Method (Freeing the Natural Voice), and in 2003 she was granted a travelling scholarship to continue her Linklater studies with Shakespeare and Company in USA. Her Linklater studies not only profoundly influenced the way she performed, but also influenced her approach to teaching both the speaking and singing voice. Since her return to Australia, she has performed in numerous theatre productions in Sydney, and has continued to develop her own unique approach to voice teaching in Sydney and Brisbane. She is currently the Choir Director and Voice Teacher at Brisbane Girl’s Grammar. Her interest in psychosomatic therapy has supported her passion in finding holistic ways to connect the body/mind to support her students to grow personally through singing freely.