Joke Martin Duchêne
Joke was born in Belgium and studied ballet at the Stedelijk Instituut voor Ballet in Antwerp. She began her professional dancing career in the Netherlands Dance Theatre (NDT), directed by Jiri Kylian and then danced in companies such as the Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm, directed by Mats Ek, and the Ballet du Grand Théâtre in Genève.
She then became freelance and toured as a soloist with the Ballet de L’Opéra de Lyon. Joke has worked as a rehearsal assistant at the Grand Théâtre de Genève and has also taught repertory classes in various ballet schools.
Her career path changed when she became a Body Control Pilates instructor and began teaching Pilates at her own studio The Thinking Body in Geneva. She has been teaching Pilates at The Thinking Body Studio since 2002.
Who We Are
Hélène Bourbeillon
When she was 13, Hélène knew what she wanted out of life : she wanted to become a dancer! So she left her family to follow a dance and academic training in Paris. After being granted several awards and prizes, including the First Prize at the Conservatoire de Paris, Hélène joined the Youth Ballet of France and then carried on her career within the Ballet of the Grand Théâtre de Genève, with whom she has danced on the most famous stages worldwide.
Throughout her career, Hélène has always been interested in the human body, movement, well-being, preventative care and rehabilitation therapy. So she naturally turned to the Pilates method, whose efficiency and numerous benefits became immediately apparent to her. She trained and became a qualified teacher at Swissbody's. She is also currently starting a Pilates and fascias Masters degree at CPM (Contrology Pilates Method).
In parallel to her job as a dancer, she took part in several workshops (swissball / foamroller / anatomy trains) and began to teach. She is a people's person and enjoys working with her patients to help them become aware of their body and increase their positive perception.
Fanny Léchot
After her studies in psychology at FPSE in Geneva, Fanny worked with therapeutic massage. She realized the beauty of combining the two : thinking patterns and postures linked to one another. She brought the spirit of Pilates with body work for all.
She got trained at the Pilates Institute of London and then at Swissbody Pilates Academy in Geneva. Fanny ran her studio for 6 years and taught her students to free up their movements, develop a deeper strength and to walk through life with more ease and lightness.
She explores movements with the Feldenkrais Method and is now training at the Controloy Pilates Method in Zürich. That school integrates the recent discoveries of the neuro myofascial system by Thomas Myers into Pilates training, which bring a new dimension in the work. Fanny gives as well reflexology sessions and teaches in French, English and Spanish,
