Teachers' Bios

Information about the backgrounds of our talented & accomplished yoga & dance teachers is included here.

Cathy Calderon
Catherine is the director of Shambhala Yoga & Dance Center. A dancer and practitioner of yoga for over 35 years, she opened Shambhala in 2001 with the vision of creating a warm and inviting community center which would bring together people of all backgrounds in this richly diverse neighborhood of Brooklyn. She is a registered yoga teacher who was trained in Anusara-based hatha yoga under Todd Norian. An award-wining filmmaker and theatre director and former college professor, she draws on her passion for dance and theatre to infuse a special vibrancy and spontaneity into her teaching. Cathy has studied extensively in many traditions, including Tantra Yoga, the Chakra system, Taoist Healing practices and Insight Meditation, and she is is an initiate in the Afro-Cuban Orisha tradition, under Yemaya. A great lover of Latin music and dance, as one of the original Eddie Torres dancers, she danced at the Apollo Theatre with Tito Puente and Celia Cruz. She also produced a documentary film about Latin dance called "A Bailar!" which was shown on PBS, and is currently completing a film titled "Dancing with the Spirits" which documents and celebrates her spiritual journey.

Angela Arnold
Angela first received her certification in Vinyasa Flow; she studied with Lisa Richards and David Porter in Denver, Colorado. Longing for precision in her own practice, she then went on to study Anusara Yoga with Zjenya LaRosa, Amy Ippoliti, and John Friend. To keep up her strength she continues to study with Schuyler Grant and David Reglin. And for therapeutics she works with Nevine at Katonah Yoga in upstate New York. When asked what she would describe her class to be, she says, "I'd like to think my Yoga class is a boundless expression of Grace, a holding-in to what matters, a spiraling through the movement, and a settling into your own skin, earth, and life. And plenty of lila--which in Sanskrit means Divine Play. Through the sheer fun of it, we find our true state of being--Joy."

Britt Carlson
Britt Carlson began practicing yoga to increase her flexibility -- and because she was bored at the gym. As she began to wake up as well as open up, her passion for the practice grew, and a trip to Brazil sparked a desire to leave her career in publishing to sign up for yoga camp (aka teacher training) with Tias Little. In her inspiring classes, Britt integrates release and alignment work with flowing movement. She also studies capoeira -- an Afro-Brazilian martial art -- and Brazilian dance when not on the mat.

Christina Pearce
Christina Pearce, a certified Vinyasa Instructor from the White Lotus Foundation, began her journey into Yoga at the age of 15. Her practice became more serious 2 days after Sept 11th, and she was one of the first students to practice at Shambhala at the time they first opened their doors. She soon decided to transform her professional career as a Sales & Marketing Agent in the advertising world, to Yoga and the Healing Arts, continuing her studies at the Chopra Center and with Mark Whitwell. Her classes interweave body awareness and alignment, physical adjustments, exploration of the Chakra energy centers, Pranayamic Breath, and Meditation. A Native of Toronto Canada, Christina has facilitated Art therapy & Yoga workshops for various organizations across the country including The Aveda Institute in Soho and The Esalen Institute in California. She continues to teach at the Pratt Institute and for the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation. Passionate about nurturing creativity, she has been inspired to begin writing her first Yoga & Art therapy book, Mandalife. A book that explores the power of sacred circles for healing and insight. She is looking forward to teaching creative workshops and the gift of Yoga, Globally.

Jyll Salk
Jyll has been practicing yoga for over a decade. Inspired by the empowering and healthful dynamic that yoga offers, Jyll became a certified Yoga Alliance yoga instructor in 2000 after competitive coursework at Manhattan's noted Atmananda Yoga Center. There studied Hatha, with her mentor, renowned yogi, Jhon Tamayo. In line with her dedication to sharing the many benefits of yoga, she has taught students of both public and independent New York city schools. Additionally, Jyll has taught at the YWCA, numerous sports clubs, and select private students. Jyll is also a certified Thai Yoga masseuse and a doula. Currently, she teaches Hatha, Anusura and Iyengar yoga at the Shambhala Yoga Dance Center in beautiful Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. She bows down to her greatest teachers of all, her children Sierra, Cypress, and Indigo for all the inspiration and love. Namaste...

Leticia Taylor
Leticia has been teaching samba in New York City for the last three years. She has lived and studied in the northeast of Brazil, speaks Portuguese fluently, studies and performs Brazilian percussion, andteaches and performs Brazilian dance. She got her introduction to Samba in Brazil and studied Rio style samba no pé with master samba dancer Danielle Lima, and Afro Brazilian percussion with Carlos de Oliveira. Leticia is also a teaching artist for American Ballroom Theatre's Dancing Classrooms program in NYC public schools. Leticia has performed with Silvana Magda's Viva Brazil Dancers, at S.O.B.'s, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Celebrate Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum, and many other venues in NYC and the tri-state area.

Marisa Bonfanti
Marisa has been teaching at Shambhala since 2004. The warmth of Shambhala Yoga and Dance Center and Marisa's supportive, encouraging nature combine to create a relaxing atmosphere where students can begin or deepen their yoga practice. Marisa has had a continuous yoga practice since 2000 when she first studied Kripalu Yoga. In 2003, she earned her 200-hour teaching certification with Dr. Jeff Migdow and Priti Robyn Ross in Prana Yoga. In 2006 she completed The Advanced Studies Program with Leslie Kaminoff and Zack Kurland at The Breathing Project, which included in-depth study of anatomy and the application of Breath-Centered Yoga for group practice and individual Yoga Therapy. Marisa is also certified in Relax and Renew Restorative Yoga through Judith Hanson-Lasater, Pre-Natal and Post-Natal Yoga through Jyothi Larson, and Vinyasa Flow through Shiva Rea. She teaches people of all ages and abilities, and since 2007 has been applying yoga therapeutically to physical therapy and neurology patients. Sharing the healing and rejuvenating power of yoga with anyone ready to participate has become Marisa's passion and career. Her classes and one-on-one sessions combine slow, mindful movement, conscious breathing, and energy awareness to facilitate each student's connection with body, mind and spirit. To complement her teaching practice, Marisa also started practicing Thai Yoga Bodywork after becoming certified through Jonas Westring in 2008. Visit her website to learn more about Bodywork sessions and one-on-one yoga: www.marisabonfanti.com.

Marisa Sako
I relish that moment in a five-breath warrior III when the first bead of sweat drips off the tip of the nose and splashes onto the mat and yet concentration remains unbroken. After completing my 200-hour teacher training at Laughing Lotus a few years back, it was at Kula Yoga Project where I first learned to slow down the vinyasa and take a moment to let myself be in really intense places while finding comfort in the sonorous sound of the collective ujjayi breath in the room. My classes are slow-flowing but intense, creative but safe, challenging but never competitive. I've studied a good deal of anatomy -- first with Susan Hefner, later with Leslie Kaminoff. I completed a 75-hour intensive training with Schuyler Grant in 2009, and I'm currently working toward my 500-hour certification with Alison West at Yoga Union. In my teaching, I manage to geek out on alignment in just the right dose as not to disrupt the flow. I try to pass on to my students what yoga has given me: the use of the breath as a bridge between the body and mind, as well as a way to imbue action with mindfulness and heart through moving meditation. Each day my students amaze, inspire and humble me, and for this, I am grateful. Abundant thanks to Cathy and Paul for creating this amazing community!

Mariyah
Mariyah (Elizabeth Maria Jossick) feels blessed to share her love of dance with her students. She holds a B.A. from NYU where she focused her studies on the integration of creative and spritual work through a major in comparative religions and arts, including African and Modern dance. Her study of Oriental Dance began with Serena Wilson and continued with many other well known teachers. In November of 2002, she was honored to dance in Tranparency with the Dalia Carella Dance Collective, a contemporary ethnic fusion dance company. She has trained as a yoga teacher through the Himalyan Institute of New York and studies Middle Eastern percussion on the dumbek and frame drum with Raquy Danziger. Elizabeth is also a visual artist who creates original mask artwork for performance.

Melvin Fogle

Monique Schubert
Monique Schubert is a Kripalu Certified Yoga Instructor and a registered member of the Yoga Alliance. She has been a student and practitioner of yoga since 1994, and has been teaching yoga since 2001. Monique has a background in the visual arts and has a masters degree in painting. She draws inspiration from continued study and the gift of sharing yoga with others. Monique teaches and has taught in locations such as yoga studios, retreat centers, juvenille detention centers, gyms, and outdoors at the Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, Queens.

Naghmeh Ahi
Naghmeh has been a practitioner of Iyengar yoga under the guidance of senior teachers at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of Greater New York since 1999 where she continues her studies, teacher training and apprenticeship; her teachers are James Murphy, Mary Dunn and Kevin Gardiner. She loves the art and science of yoga in the Iyengar tradition, and this is apparent in the style of her teaching that stays true to the method: precise, joyful and encouraging!

Paul Calderon
Paul Calderon is an Obie Award-winning actor and accomplished writer of plays, screenplays, short stories and novels, as well as a long-time Tai Chi and yoga practitioner. He has starred in numerous productions at the Public Theatre and New York Shakespeare Festival, co-starred with Robert DeNiro on Broadway in "Cuba & His Teddy Bear," and has had leading and co-starring roles in dozens of major films. He has taught acting and writing for ten years, and is on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts. Paul is a certified yoga teacher in the Anusara tradition and is working toward his certification as a Tai Chi and Chi Kung instructor. Paul enjoys exploring ways to bring all of his various talents and experience together in order to help people develop their own unique creativity. He is a great lover of Latin music and dance, and as one of the original Eddie Torres dancers, danced at the Apollo Theatre with Tito Puente and Celia Cruz.

Ronnie Roc
Ronnie Roc is a Multi-Percussionist, Keyboardist and Producer who has played with many talented musicians. Ronnie studied classical piano as a child. He then went on to study African, Brazilian, Haitian, Puerto Rican and Cuban percussion. Ronnie has taught African Djembe drumming at The Drummers Collective in New York City. He has held percussion workshops for children and adults in the school system in NYC and Oakland California. Ronnie has played and recorded with many musicians such as Steve Coleman, Steve Turre, Nego Gato, Xiomara Fortuna, and many other artists. Ronnie is currently playing percussion for Saxophonist Dave Mullin. He is also musical director and keyboardist for currently signed vocalist Karen Gibson Roc. Ronnie leads his own band AFRAZZ a combination of African rhythm with jazz melody. Ronnie continues to teach, perform, create and share his musical knowledge. Ronnie is currently on staff with Alvin Ailey's arts and education program accompanying dance classes and holding percussion workshops.

Ruth Tranter
Ruth's initial curiosity towards yoga began as an exploration to find Something that brought her closer to her true self, and she has found that in yoga. Yoga has shown her how to bring clarity and focus into her life through its magical connection of mind, body and spirit. And Ruth is honored to be able to share that magic with others through teaching. Ruth finds inspiration from the very simple beauties in life, and weaves them into her classes through each breath and each movement. Ruth is thankful to all of her teachers and students who's inspiration and support help her move forward into deeper levels of knowledge and passion. Yoga is contagious inspiration.... A New Yorker at heart, but also a true Texan, Ruth has made her home in Brooklyn and is a successful business owner. Outside of the studio, Ruth has a passionate love for travel and continues to seek out those special places in the world that feed this insatiable hunger.

Sarah Meredith
Sarah found yoga in the neighborhood when Shambhala studio first opened. After 7 years of practice following a variety of threads in the fabric of yoga, she gained her 200-hour certification at Kripalu. Sarah's classes offer the practice of yoga as an accessible and essential inquiry. Her private and group sessions help open energy channels and focus attention inward, bringing a sense of well being and possibility. Website: yogainsideout.org

Sarah Schumann
Long before my toes ever touched my first yoga mat, I enjoyed constant movement -- pirouette-ing, tap dancing and cross-country running my way through my early years. When I finally made my way into my first downward dog, I found a new way to move...and a new way to be still. Each inhale on my mat inspires me to dive deeper, connecting more fully with the truth, light and radiant possibilities that are in and all around us. Wishing to share this same sense of freedom and discovery with others, I completed teacher training with Laughing Lotus in 2007. I teach the kind of class I like to take -- a flowing dance of body and breath, a mix of spicy spirit and soulful stillness, a musical celebration, anchored by yogic philosophy, a sense of playful curiosity, and a healthy dose of humor. Endless thank you's to all my teachers and to my students who enrich my own practice so immensely. Eternal gratitude to Cathy for creating such a wonderful community in which I can move and be so moved.

Shakti Smith
Shakti first practiced yoga with her father, when she was a teen, and has been teaching since the late 90s. Her teachers include Rodney Yee, Jai Uttal, and Eileen Muir--with whom she did her 200 hour Iyengar Teacher Training. Along with an emphasis on alignment, Shakti's classes are imbued with a softness and embodied intelligence that comes from her Bodywork practice and her teaching/research in Somatic Movement Education. Shakti has also taught Yoga at Northampton Hospital, The Muscular Therapy Institute in Cambridge, and at Earthdance Retreat Center. See MassageandMovement.com for more info.

Teresa von Fuchs
Teresa von Fuchs has been practicing Hatha Yoga since 2000. She has had the pleasure of studying with Leslie Kaminoff at The Breathing Project, as well as J. Brown, Donna Farhi, Mark Whitwell and Tom Myers. Her practice is inspired by the teachings of T. Krishnamacharya and T.K.V. Desikachar and grounded in human anatomy. Teresa is happy to be part of a community that respects varied traditions and believes that the best Yoga is one that suits an individual's needs. She also thinks an important part of the practice is learning to laugh when you fall down.