Lisa Orig, CPT
Creative Director, Upside-Down Dance, Dance Educator, Certified Pilates Teacher through the Pilates Method Alliance. Full Certified STOTT PILATES™ Instructor, Certified STOTT PILATES Instructor Trainer, Master Teacher Trainer Upside-Down Pilates

BA Dance with an emphasis in Performance/Choreography from The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago. MFA Dance Candidate at the University of Hawaii Manoa. 

Dynamic Dancer: Kinesthetic Anatomy and Biomechanics of the Spine and Trunk, Dynamic Dancer: Kinesthetic Anatomy and Biomechanics of the Limbs with Irene Dowd of NY.

Master Teacher Trainer Upside-Down Pilates, LLC

Lisa began dancing at the age of three. In the local YWCA of Lincoln, NE she did her first Plié’s and Tendu’s. At the age of nine she began working with The Lincoln Midwest Ballet Company under the direction of Shari Shell-True. There she performed ten seasons.

After moving to Chicago Mrs. Orig performed for Shirley Mordine, Rennie Harris, Kathy Young, Jan Erkert, Steve Paxton, Molly Shanahan, David Gordon, David Dorfman, Cindy Unger, The Anatomical Theater, Brian Jeffery, Juan Estrada, Sasha Tretter, Adriana Durant, The Chicago Moving Company, and Simone Forti. In November 2000 she had the honor of performing as a Community Cast Member with Mikhail Baryshnikov and The White Oak Dance Project in their performance of Past/Forward.

Mrs. Orig is the Creative Director of Upside-Down Dance. This professional modern dance company is proud partners at The ARTS at Marks Garage. You can see the company performing on Oahu at The ARTS at Marks Garage three times per year.
Mrs. Orig completed her Comprehensive Pilates Certification in the heart of Chicago’s Gold Coast. Her continuing education in the body arts took her to New York to study with Irene Dowd. Ideas descending from Mabel E. Todd and Lulu E. Sweigard have been passed along through Irene Dowd creating a revolutionary perspective of the human body, how it works, and how to train it. In 2003 Lisa received her full certification in the STOTT PILATES method of body conditioning, and in 2005 became a certified STOTT PILATES Instructor Trainer. In 2007 Lisa began the Upside-Down Pilates Teacher Training Program with goal of creating creative and problem solving teachers who have a strong base in Functional Anatomy and Basic Biomechanics.
In support of the Pilates Method Alliance Lisa Orig is also a Certified Pilates Teacher.

Mrs. Orig is currently in pursuit of an MFA in Dance from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. There she will explore the work of Laban and Bartenieff. She plans to being incorporating these ideas into her work as a movement teacher.  Her Masters Thesis "Posture Lab" was presented in October of 2009.

Audrey Hayashi

Audrey is an artist who received her BA in Painting and a BA in Cognitive  Lingusitics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  Pilates has helped Audrey get rid of her carpel tunnel, lower back pain, and given her a heightened sense of mental clarity. If Audrey is not doing Pilates or painting, she loves to hike, freedive, surf, and be outdoors! She is fascinated with the human body and is excited to help students release tension and realize their physical strength!

Malia Yamamoto

Malia received her BFA in Dance from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She has since been fortunate to work with several local dance companies, including Tau Dance Theater, Iona Dance Theater, Honolulu Dance Theater, Convergence Dance, Onium, Monkey Waterfall, as well as Upside Down Dance. She hopes to use her background to help dancers and non-dancers alike to reconnect with their bodies and find freedom in pain-free movement.

Nicole Young

Nicole Young got her first taste of pilates when she started performing with Lisa in Upside-Down Dance and has finally been able to make the time to become an instructor.  Through the University of Hawai'i, she earned a BFA in Dance and a BA in Psychology, had a scholarship to attend the London Contemporary Dance School for a semester, attended the American College Dance Festival with her Senior Project, and was awarded the Yasuki Sasa Award for Excellence in Dance.  She is also an aerial dancer and instructor with Samadhi Hawai'i, performs with Iona Contemporary Dance Theater, and dances hula on the Navatek.  Nicole has formerly worked with Tau Dance Theater, Hawai'i Opera Theater, and Derek Daniels Productions.  She has taught at Mid-Pacific Institute, Allegra Performing Arts Center, The Pacific School of the Performing Arts, Tri-School at Mililani, The Honolulu Boys Choir, Dance Central, and The Movement Center.  Aside from the performing arts, she has a passion for painting watercolors, dabbles in designing logos and fliers, and creates fashionably cut t-shirts.  Nicole is excited to share her newfound knowledge with students at the Upside-Down Pilates studio.

Our Philosophy
Your brain is the most powerful “muscle” in your body! By retraining your thoughts about how your body functions you can retrain your muscles to fire in a more safe, efficient, and effective manner. This can lead you out of pain if you are in it or bring your body into peak physical and mental condition. Please remember, we are only teachers. Every good teacher is obsolete in the end. You will only get out of Pilates what you are willing to put into it.

Our Mission
The mission of Upside-Down Pilates is to provide individuals with the knowledge, encouragement, and drive to transform and maintain a strong and supple body. In turn, leading them to a long, productive, and healthy life. Through the use of Upside-Down Pilates, anatomical knowledge, and years of research in training the body, Upside-Down Pilates strives to free people held captive in their own bodies, as well as, challenge athletes to go further than ever thought possible.