Classical pilates and classical ballet now under one roof

Pine Island — Full Circle Pilates has opened at Black Dirt Dance Arts Center, in Pine Island. Owned by Elizabeth Geyer Gottlieb, a classically trained and certified pilates instructor and former ballerina, Full Circle Pilates offers reformer, tower and mat classes as well as individual instruction on the full array of apparatus, created by Joseph Pilates. Gottlieb is fully certified by Power Pilates of New York to teach mat and apparatus classes in the classical pilates method. Gottlieb danced with the New York City Ballet Company, prior to working for many years as a freelance dancer and choreographer in New York City. She opened her first studio in Manhattan in 1979, teaching dance there for nine years before moving to Orange County. She initially opened Full Circle Studio in Middletown to teach ballet in 1997, adding pilates classes as demand grew. Full Circle Studio has grown to include a full array of dance classes from ballet, modern, tap, jazz, belly dance, hip-hop and more with five additional teachers. Now in its tenth year, the studio will merge its dance classes with those of Black Dirt Dance and Eve McClanahan, in addition to offering Full Circle Pilates, at the same location. Black Dirt Dance Arts Center houses two large studios, with full facilities for all forms of dance, yoga and pilates. Call Full Circle Studio at 845-258-1500 or Black Dirt Dance at 845-258-1100.