Susie Whipp considers the movement profession to have been her lifelong drive.  First a High School PE teacher, then a concert dance performer, and then a Professor of Dance, she has always kept moving.  She earned her MA and MFA degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, performered in modern dance companies in Washington DC, NYC, and San Francisco. In order to understand movement in the creative process, Susan kept studying movement far beyond graduate school.  Her successes helped her become a tenured Professor in Dance at San Francisco State University and earn the respected Educator Award in 2002 from the California Dance Educators Association.

Susan began studying Pilates in 1991 to get back into shape after pregnancy, but it was her difficult  rehabilitations for two hip replacement surgeries plus a hip revision that brought her to understand how to return to life through Pilates.  Beginning in 2000, Susan trained in the comprehensive classic Pilates system with Jennifer Stacey at Peak Performance Pilates in San Francisco, and went on to study with Ron Fletcher, a Pilates master and his master teachers Kyria Sabin and Catherine Anderson.  She became a Qualified Fletcher Pilates teacher and went on to earn her comprehensive Pilates certification through the Pilates Method Alliance (PMA-NCPT).  She furthered her movement education with several course certifications on neurological approaches to athletic training with Z Health Performance Solutions.  Most recently her continuing education centered on Pilates for Post-Rehab Breast Cancer and Abdominal Surgeries, Fascial release with Madeline Black, a Fletcher Conference, Moving and Pain Conference with Balanced Body Pilates, and Immersion Pilates Aquatics, or how to apply comprehensive Pilates exercises to the water such as in hot tubs, on piers, at the poolside, and in the water.  Additionally, she has studied other applications of the Pilates method including Pilates for stronger bones (modifications for those with Osteoporosis and Osteopenia), The Fascial System, Fascial system for head and neck, Pilates for Pregnancy, Adaptations for Scoliosis and uneven bodies, Foot and Knee conditions, Pilates for Dancers, Pilates Barre, and Pilates for Athletes.

Susan has been a seasonal resident at Black Oak Lake for her lifetime.  While a good part of her life has been spent in California, returning to the Land O' Lakes area and building Pilates at Black Oak has been a long time dream.  She is an avid recreational cross country skier, snowshoer, paddler, hiker, and swimmer.  While she loves being out on water, you can ask her to go out dancing with you anytime.