:: Meet the GMC Staff

Karen Mullen, GYROTONIC® & GYROKINESIS® Master Trainer, B.F.A. & M.S., is certified as a Master Trainer in the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® by its creator Juliu Horvath. She began working with GYROTONIC® over 15 years ago as a dancer in NYC. From the first class she fell in love with this system and has since shared her enthusiasm and expertise with people of all experience levels.

Karen holds both bachelors and masters degrees in movement related fields and has published and presented work on dance pedagogy with its focus on effective teaching techniques both nationally and internationally. By combining her unique experiences as a former professional dancer, Pilates practitioner, university teacher and movement educator Karen is able to teach the GYROTONIC® methodology to people with diverse movement backgrounds while preparing them to be effective and confident teachers.

With training in both the scientific and the artistic studies of movement, she creates a supportive & fun environment to explore and understand the human body. By incorporating a sound understanding of both the learning and teaching process, Karen provides meaningful feedback to help students and clients understand GYROTONIC® and its methodology and helping them reach their body’s potential with ease and efficiency.

Mark Hagen has a BA in Sociology, minor in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota. After working in banking and real estate, Mark moved out to Seattle to pursue skiing and sailing. After sailing the Canadian, US and Mexican coasts on his own boat “Sparrow”, he decided to take a break from sailing. Somehow he ended up in a ballet class and fell in love with it. Feeling like he needed to get in better shape to dance, he turned to Pilates.

After doing that for years, Mark was turned on to the GYROTONIC® method by a ballet teacher. Within minutes on the tower he knew this was where he wanted to be. Though he came to the GYROTONIC® method through dance, it reminded him of his training in kung-fu and chi-kung in his teens and twenties. Mark realized he enjoyed teaching when he worked as a facilitator at a high ropes/challenge course and later as a canoe and kayak guide. He experienced the excitement in watching people stretch past themselves and reach beyond what they thought was attainable.

Teaching at the Gyrotonic® Movement Center has given him the opportunity to combine his love of movement with the joy of helping people reach their goals. When Mark is not at the studio, he is playing with his two kids and his wife, or rock climbing in the hills.

Lilianna came to Seattle from Santa Fe, New Mexico to attend Cornish College of the Arts from where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance. Since graduating she has been performing with the local dance company Dance Contemporary along with several other local choreographers. She was initially introduced to GYROTONIC® while doing a ballet intensive in San Francisco, but it wasn't until she began at GYROTONIC® Movement Center that she delved deeper into her GYROTONIC® experience and fell in love with how great the system made her feel! Since then, she has not only discovered what a wonderful compliment to her dancing it is, but also the positive effects on her overall well being. Lilianna is excited to share the benefits of GYROTONIC® with others

Sarah Lustbader holds a BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. After graduating, Sarah spent a year in NYC, where she continued her dance career and became a certified GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® instructor. She has had the pleasure of dancing professionally with many renowned artists throughout the U.S. including Corrie Befort, Moving People Dance Theatre, and JD/Dansfolk, and is excited to be back in the Seattle community, where she currently dances with Catherine Cabeen and Company. Sarah is originally from Santa Fe, NM, where she first fell in love with the Gyrotonic Expansion System. Not only did the system change her body and inform her dancing, it also gave her a greater sense of self-awareness and well-being, which she now strives to see her clients experience as well. Sarah is thrilled to be a part of Gyrotonic Movement Center, sharing in the love of movement and its limitless exploration.

Annie Mercer, has a BA in Dance from the University of New Mexico (1986), and is certified in both Pilates (1999) and Gyrotonic (2007). After years of dancing and choreographing she started exploring Pilates to cross train for performing. About 5 years ago she discovered and fell in love with Gyrotonic while studying at the GYROTONIC® Movement Center. The system brought out a joy she had not felt since she stopped dancing, and this created a desire to teach Gyrotonic.

Annie enjoys working with people from all walks of life, to help them find their true potential and joy of movement. “Exercise should feel good!” This is Annie’s primary goal in each session; creating joy and ease in the body, while building strength, flexibility, posture and overall health.

When not working she enjoys long walks with her dog Roxy and working in the garden with her partner Bob – who is a great cook!

Fumi Murakami received a BA in Mathematics and Theater/Dance from Oberlin College. She continued to dance over the years while pursuing a career in Information Technology. She was fortunate to discover Pilates, studying for 15 years with master teacher Cary Regan, which assisted in her ability to continue to perform with many local choreographers including Wade Madsen, Michele, Miller, Pablo Cornejo, Mark Haim, Jason Ohlberg, and Michael Rioux. Fumi co-founded a dance production company, Evoke Productions, four years ago and it was while rehearsing for one of these productions that she tried the GYROTONIC® method to assist with loss of flexibility in the upper spine. Fumi was so happy to have discovered the GYROTONIC® method and the wonderful benefits that she decided to become a trainer. She enjoys the one on one interaction with clients and is thrilled to be helping clients feel better and work to achieve their maximum potential.

For the past three years, Fumi has volunteered as a Board member for Velocity Dance Center, a contemporary dance studio on Capital Hill that just moved into a new facility in March of this year. Fumi also volunteers at her daughter's elementary school. In her free time, Fumi likes to knit, bake and garden.

Natascha Greenwalt Murphy originates from Walla Walla, WA. She moved to Seattle to pursue a degree in dance and in 2005 graduated magna cum laude from Cornish College of the Arts as a Kreielsheimer Scholarship recipient. In her training Natascha spent time with the Joffery Ballet, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, and the American Ballet Theatre in New York, as well as the Northwest Professional Dance Project in Portland, OR. It was while training with the LINES Ballet that Natascha first experienced the GYROTONIC® System and instantly fell in love. Upon returning to Seattle she was awarded a scholarship through Mirella Dancewear to continue her studies at Seattle GYROTONIC®, where she had the honor of working with Magali Messac and Natalie Dahlstrom. In 2008 a back injury brought her to the GYROTONIC ® Movement Center where Karen Mullen and the staff got her back to dancing and reignited her desire to start the teacher training. In January 2010 she was certified as a Level 1 trainer and August 2010 certified on the Jumping Stretching Board®. When not spiraling with clients you can find her dancing with Coriolis Dance Collective, a company she co-found with Christin Call.

In addition to her time at Coriolis, Natascha has danced with local companies such as Ballet Bellevue, DASSdance, and Spectrum Dance Theater. and Michael Rioux’s The Sho. In addition to her performance career, Natascha been commissioned to choreograph for Ballet Bellevue, Whitman College and as a guest for the Cornish College of the Arts BFA performances. Most recently her work Thethered Apparitions was presented in the dance festival Chop SHOP: Bodies of Work at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, WA, and the Spotlight on Seattle.