Meet Our Team
Our Founder
Clarissa Pena
With over 25 years of experience in movement and rehabilitation, Clarissa Pena is a highly skilled Pilates instructor, studio owner, and mentor. As a senior teacher trainer and physiotherapist, she specializes in neurological rehabilitation and biomechanics, with advanced training in movement education and fascia-focused techniques.
Clarissa’s journey with Pilates began after a back surgery in her 20s, where she used it as a vital tool in her recovery. With a background as a dancer, she combines her deep understanding of movement with a passion for helping others improve their strength, mobility, and confidence.
What motivates Clarissa most is empowering people to understand how vital movement is for living a fulfilling life. Her expertise extends to individuals of all ages, working with clients to address movement disorders, postural issues, muscular imbalances, and injuries. Clarissa’s personalized approach ensures each client receives the care and guidance they need to achieve their goals.
"The mind, when housed within a healthful body, possesses a glorious sense of power.”
— Joseph Pilates
Fernanda Oaigen
Fernanda (she/her) is passionate about empowering and inspiring people to self-care through movement. During her 13 years of experience as a physical therapist, she earned her degree in Brazil as well as other complementary courses that contributed to a large knowledge in this environment.
With a strong commitment to ongoing learning, since 2011, the Global Postural Reeducation and Pilates course was the guidance of her capacity to identify unbalance and to improve functionality in different people and situations. Moreover, the certification in Emotional balance and the relation with the human body allowed her to additional look for the deep connection between the body and our feelings.
In her journey, over 10 years, she played a pivotal role in the lives of amateurs athletes inside the running and triathlon field, focus in both rehabilitation and prevention injuries. Beyond her professional expertise, Fernanda has personally walked the path of half-marathon, marathon and triathlon, gaining invaluable insights into the physical and mental demands of these disciplines.
As a talk-active person and extremely friendly, she believes that building good relationships and connections with people are the biggest human values. Making a positive impact in people’s lives and being capable of giving them a quality of life are her main professional goals.
Beth Beauchemin
Beth (she/her) has been involved with physical activities and movement since very young. As a teenager, she loved sports like skiing, swimming and horseback riding.
She was introduced to strength training in high school and that started a lifelong love affair with exercise, fitness, and movement education.
Beth studied Kinesiology at university, and the University of Calgary's definition of kinesiology as "the art of and science movement" has always resonated with her. When she first was introduced to Pilates she found that this definition was perfect to express how Pilates felt for herself.
Beth worked as a personal trainer and group exercise instructor in Montreal. It was in Montreal that she started adding Pilates to her personal strength routine to improve posture. She found that adding some of the pilates principles (especially precision and control) to traditional strength training had wonderful results for herself and her clients.
Later on, Beth moved to Toronto, and Pilates continued as a personal practice and informally sprinkled into client sessions. In 2007 she took her first plunge into pilates training and completed the Mat certification. She also attended many continuing education workshops, always with a focus on using pilates to improve the results of clients in the gym. At one point, she realized that she just wanted to focus on Pilates so embarked on the journey to get fully certified in Pilates. For the past 6 years, Beth has taught exclusively Pilates, finding a great balance in the ability to challenge the body in a way that leaves people feeling more confident and more aware than when they walked in.
Veruska Pimentel
Veruska (she/her), an extroverted, friendly, and highly communicative individual, has been passionate about sports and movement since childhood. She firmly believes that human relationships are the most important and valuable aspects of our existence.
Graduating in Kinesiology in Brazil in 2008, Veruska has specialized in Functional Training and has been dedicated to Pilates since 2010. Her professional journey is marked by a deep commitment to enhancing people's ability to move with quality and efficiency.
With 14 years of experience, Veruska brings her expertise to the Studio Rio family. She remains highly motivated to continue learning and updating her skills to help more people take care of their bodies.
Veruska believes moving with quality, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and fostering positive human relationships with affection and respect are key to making the world a better place.
Lindsay Dixon
Lindsay (she/her) has over 20 years of experience in the health and wellness industry. She is an Osteopathic Manual Practitioner, Certified Athletic Therapist, Registered Kinesiologist and a Comprehensive Pilates Instructor.
She has extensive experience working with recreational and competitive athletes including being part of the medical team for Pan Am Games (gymnastics, trampoline) in 2015, Invictus games (wheelchair basketball) 2017 and Skate Canada championships in 2020. Lindsay has always been drawn to the power of movement having participated in several ½ marathons, marathons and triathlons.
Her training enables her to work with all individuals, ages and abilities.
Lindsay believes in the body’s ability to heal. It’s her passion to assist and facilitate this process of self-healing through osteopathic manual therapy, therapeutic movement & exercise including Pilates, so the balance of health can be restored and maintained for a lifetime.
She has a deep appreciation and understanding of the unity and interconnectivity of the body, with a particular interest in the mind-body connection, and the effects of stress on the body. Her research in Generalized Anxiety disorder was published in the peer reviewed Journal of American Osteopathic Association March 2020 issue.
She believes Pilates holistic approach taps into the mind-body connection and can result in a transformative effect on the person.
Oriana Pagnotta
Oriana (she/her) is a dedicated and empathetic Pilates and movement educator. As a Mat & Reformer Certified Pilates Instructor, she is passionate about supporting each person’s journey and believes in the power of life-long movement to experience our bodies in motion.
Oriana has been practicing Pilates since 2004 and teaching since 2021. Her practice grew from her parallel career as a dance artist, where she has explored the functional and creative possibilities of human expression for over 20 years. Oriana holds a B.A. with Distinction in Dance (University of Calgary, Dance & Kinesiology), and is a DanceAbility®International certified teacher.
She loves sharing the mind-body connection of Pilates for everybody and creates inclusive space with a one-size-fits-one approach. Oriana cares deeply about each person’s experience and emphasizes empowered autonomy to embrace movement choices.
Her multifaceted experience spans across exercise, dance, disability, somatics, rehabilitation, and active aging. As an avid learner, Oriana continuously expands her education to share a mindful, nuanced style to the transformative power of movement.
