Lisa Orig is the owner of Upside-Down Dance, Pilates, and, Nourishment. She has been teaching movement to children through adults for over 30 years.

Lisa began dancing at the age of three. In the local YWCA of Lincoln, NE she did her first Plié’s and Tendus. At the age of nine, she began working with The Lincoln Midwest Ballet Company under the direction of Shari Shell-True. There she performed ten seasons.

Her first teaching experience was as a dance teaching assistant in the 5th grade and continued until her senior year of high school when she started teaching her own dance classes. She has been teaching movement ever since.

After moving to Chicago Mrs. Orig performed as a dancer for Shirley Mordine, Rennie Harris, Kathy Young, Jan Erkert, Steve Paxton, Molly Shanahan, David Gordon, David Dorfman, Cindy Unger, The Anatomical Theater, Brian Jeffery, Juan Estrada, Sasha Tretter, Adriana Durant, The Chicago Moving Company, and Simone Forti. In November 2000 she had the honor of performing as a Community Cast Member with Mikhail Baryshnikov and The White Oak Dance Project in their performance of Past/Forward.

Mrs. Orig completed her Comprehensive Pilates Certification in the heart of Chicago’s Gold Coast right after she finished her undergraduate degree. Her continuing education in the body arts took her to New York to study with Irene Dowd. Ideas descending from Mabel E. Todd and Lulu E. Sweigard have been passed along through Irene Dowd creating a revolutionary perspective of the human body, how it works, and how to train it. Lisa has been traveling annually to New York to study with Irene since 2001. She knows and teaches the majority of Irene’s PNF based sequences such as Horizons, Spirals, and Volutes.

In 2006 Lisa became the co-producer, director, and host of Upside-Down Pilates TV. This healthy television show airs daily on OC 16 and can be viewed on the Upside-Down Pilates YouTube channel.

After becoming a teacher trainer for a large Pilates cooperation she decided to branch off on her own. In 2007 Lisa began the Upside-Down Pilates Teacher Training Program with the goal of creating creative and problem-solving teachers who have a strong base in Functional Anatomy and Biomechanics.

Lisa received an MFA in Dance from the University of Hawaii Manoa in 2010. During her master’s studies, she focused on Biomechanics (the mechanics branch of physics applied to kinesiology) and applying the science to dance and Pilates repertoire.

Upon graduation, Mrs. Orig created the PNF Pilates curriculum as well as the Neuromuscular Re-education teacher training certification.

She is currently on faculty at the University of Hawaii Manoa teaching Pilates, dance conditioning, and movement fundamentals.

In struggling with her own health concerns she came to the conclusion conventional medicine was of no help to her. She had to find the root cause of her health complaints or she was going to close her studio and go on disability. Instead, she became an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, a Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner, and a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner. She is delighted to keep her practice of neuromuscular retraining and Pilates going while adding in the rest of the health story- Diet, Rest Exercise, Stress Reduction (both external and internal hidden stressors), and supplementation.

No matter what your health complaint is or how bad off you feel you are she understands pain, suffering, and loss like no other. She is ready to help you find health through movement and lifestyle changes. If she cannot, she will help you find someone that can! There are answers and there is always hope.

Credentials:

BA Dance with an emphasis in Performance/Choreography from The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago.
MFA Dance at the University of Hawaii Manoa- studied Biomechanics (the mechanics branch of physics applies to kinesiology) applied the science to dance and Pilates repertoire
Pilates Method Alliance Certified Pilates Teacher
Integrative Nutrition Health Coach
Certified Holistic Health Practitioner
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner
Dynamic Dancer: Kinesthetic Anatomy and Biomechanics of the Spine and Trunk with Irene Dowd of NY
Dynamic Dancer: Kinesthetic Anatomy and Biomechanics of the Limbs with Irene Dowd of NY
14+ years of annual visits with Irene Dowd of NY