Vivian’s Journey to Wellness.
A dancer’s dream.
Vivian Stooke lived her dream of becoming a professional dancer, performing principle roles in major classical works and working with modern dance choreographers, including Tim Wengerd. A promising career came to an abrupt end, however, when she suffered a severe ankle injury, requiring extensive surgery and leaving her unable to dance en pointe.
A time of insight.
A period of rehabilitation with physiotherapy and Pilates helped the ankle to heal and improve post-surgery but it would no longer withstand the physical demands of dancing en pointe. During this period, Vivian came under the watchful eye of Joan Lawson, renowned for her ability to identify faults and the root of the problem.
Through her rehabilitation work with Lawson, Vivian learned that even the smallest of imbalances could lead to severe disfunction and stress to the body. This left her with a deeper insight into how fine-tuning and detailed mechanical adjustments in technique could vastly improve recovery, mobility, strength, and movement.
A new direction.
Vivian moved back to New York, where she attended Bard College studying anthropology and literature. Bard’s Dance department also offered Vivian a chance to continue her education and enjoyment in movement modalities. She studied and performed with master modern dance teachers in Cunningham, Limón, Graham, and Nikolais techniques, as well as Flamenco dance with Aileen Passloff and Mariquita Flores.
Vivian’s knowledgeable background in ballet allowed her to gain college credit teaching ballet to Bard students. After graduating from Bard with a BA in British Literature, Vivian moved back to London where she worked in public relations for architect Donald Insall before returning to her dance roots, but this time as a teacher.
Dual modalities.
Vivian was now teaching movement and ballet full-time and continuing with her Pilates lessons. She found herself applying the insight gained through her own experience of healing to helping dancers overcome complications from injuries caused by overtraining or poor technique.
Vivian was inspired to pursue this idea further and to share her knowledge with a wider audience, outside the dance realm. She trained for a year in London with internationally renowned Pilates instructor and lecturer Alan Herdman, where she graduated with a Pilates Teacher Certification. She then completed a three-year Clinical Somatic Practitioner Certification with Martha Peterson.
Vivian has built a successful practice applying her knowledge of Pilates and Clinical Somatics, alongside an intrinsic awareness of body movement with extensive experience of dance beyond healing.