Blue Sparrow Pilates North Beach | About Blue Sparrow PIlates

Our Flock

Holly Furgason (holly@bluesparrowpilates.com)
Principal
Senior Instructor

BDA in Dance, University of Michigan
MFA in Choreography and Performance, Mills College
STOTT PILATES® Fully Certified on all Equipment Level 1 & Level 2
Certified Breast Cancer Exercise Specialist
Certified Pregnancy Fitness Specialist
Certified Postpartum Rehabilitation Specialist
Certified GYROTONIC® Level 1 and Archway

Holly Furgason is an active performer, choreographer, writer, teacher, and innovator in the art of dance whose interests are wide and varied. Holly completed her Bachelor's of Dance Arts at the University of Michigan, where she explored dance history, theory, and choreography as well as Graham, Cunningham, and Limon techniques.

While pursuing the art of dance, she began to study mind-body fitness as a way to strengthen her dance technique. Holly's desire to gain understanding of movement of the body lead her to begin teacher training in Stott Pilates®. Upon earning certification, she taught at several Pilates studios in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She has since trained with international experts, deepening her understanding in dance/performance conditioning and enhancement, athletic and sports training, injury prevention and rehabilitation, postpartum rehabilitation, pregnancy fitness, post-operative breast cancer rehabilitation, and interpersonal communication aspects of movement-related instruction. Holly discovered GYROTONIC® in 2003 and found it to be the ideal complement to dance and Pilates.

Holly continues her journey towards bodily knowledge by furthering her Pilates education, training in various other somatic modalities, and regularly participating in national somatic and dance medicine conferences. She has taught Pilates in the Mission and Noe Valley districts of San Francisco, and was an adjunct professor of dance at the College of San Mateo. Holly is a long-time collaborator with Logokinesis, a Pilates-based education and publishing company, and has published chapters in two of their recent books, Pilates Space: The Workbook for Inspired Entrepreneurs and Survival Skills for Pilates Teachers: Thriving in the mind-body fitness world. She also has contributed to InDance, a Bay Area Dance Journal.

Alisa Dillion-Ogden (alisa@bluesparrowpilates.com)
Senior Instructor

STOTT PILATES® Fully Certified on all Equipment Level 1 & Level 2
Certified Pregnancy Fitness Specialist
Certified Postpartum Rehabilitation Specialist

Alisa first discovered Pilates while completing a 2-year Certificate in Dance program from the Alvin Ailey School in New York City. She found Pilates to be an invaluable tool for staying strong and injury-free in a career that is hard on the body. Since experiencing the positive affects Pilates has had on her own body, she has committed herself to sharing these benefits with others by completing the full STOTT PILATES™ Certification program. Alisa has also enhanced her training and knowledge through the study of anatomy, Pilates for rehabilitation and special populations, and Prenatal and Postpartum fitness. She feels that the study of the body is an ongoing process and is always looking forward to her next opportunity to learn something new.

As an instructor, Alisa strives to make Pilates accessible to all her clients, whether they want to prepare for a marathon or just have a day without back pain. She enjoys watching her clients discover for themselves how Pilates can enhance their wellbeing and aims to create a welcoming atmosphere and tailor workouts to the specific needs of her clients, whatever their age or fitness level.

Melissa Kennedy
Pilates Instructor

BA in Dance and a BA in Psychology, University of Minnesota
Certified Instructor of STOTT PILATES®

Melissa began studying pilates in 2000 to complement her dance training. In 2005, she completed teacher training in reformer and cadillac with Susan Scalf in Minneapolis and in 2008 became certified through the STOTT PILATES® teacher training program. Melissa holds a BA in Dance and a BA in Psychology from the University of Minnesota. She has danced professionally in Minneapolis with Catalyst, Insitu Dance and Time Track Productions. Melissa found that pilates greatly enhances her quality of life by helping her prevent and recover from injury and making her a stronger, more efficient dancer. She loves the challenging workout for both body and mind that pilates provides and feels it helps to calm the mind, bring greater awareness to breath, and improves alignment and posture. With each workout, Melissa is committed to offering her clients the tools to achieve greater body awareness and more balanced and healthy movement patterns that will carry over to life outside the studio.

Holly Fernandez
Pilates Instructor & GYROKINESIS® Instructor

BA in Dance and BA in Philosophy, University of Washington, Seattle
Certified GYROKINESIS® Level 1
STOTT PILATES® Fully Certified on all Equipment Level 1 & Level 2

Holly is a passionate dancer who has studied Pilates, Gyrotonic®, Gyrokinesis®, and Orthobionomy* as supplements to her dancing.

In 1999, Holly earned a BA in Dance and BA in Philosophy from the University of Washington in Seattle. Then in 2001, her passion for movement evolved into the study of Gyrokinesis®. Studying to become a Gyrokinesis® teacher helped her increase flexibility in the spine and gain a new sense of awareness of motion in the body.

While dancing she suffered a serious injury which led her to Pilates after rehabilitation. Pilates helped her regain strength and stability, improve alignment, establish effective movement patterns, and balance muscle groups to avoid future overuse injures. She has completed her Stott Pilates® Reformer and Matwork training. She plans to continue with her Stott Pilates® training and become fully certified.

Holly continues to dance, thanks to Gyrokinesis® and Pilates, and has recently danced for choreographers Robert Moses, Kat Galasso, and Todd Eckert.

*Orthobionomy is a healing art, like Reiki, founded by British trained osteopath Dr. Arthur Lincoln Pauls in the 1970s. It combined his understanding of energy from an eastern perspective with the fundamental principles of Ostepathy and his intuitive awareness of the self-healing capacity of the body to create this comprehensive system.