Alison Williams
“No matter what, nobody can take away the dances you’ve already had.” - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Alison Williams
A movement teacher, wellness coach, and a student of somatics.
She explores the relationships between body, mind, spirit, discipline, practice and art. She is fascinated with questions of embodiment and strives through her work to inspire people to have richer experiences of their own aliveness. Alison Williams began dancing and practicing yoga at the age of three with her mother who taught creative movement and yoga while they were living in Africa. She studied dance throughout her childhood and received her BA in History at Brown University where she was awarded the Weston Fine Arts Award in Dance.
After graduating, she moved to New York City and studied and danced with many masters of the craft at the Limoncellos Studios, Cunningham Studios and Movement Research. Eventually recognizing that performance and mastery was not ultimately what was important to her about her movement studies, she was lucky enough to discover Ana Forrest in Chicago and completed her teacher training in 2001. She went on to complete her Pilates certification at BodyTonic Gymnasium in Brooklyn in 2005 and began teaching Pilates and yoga full time. Eager to deepen her understanding of the relationship between body, mind, spirit, art, discipline and practice, she moved to San Francisco in 2006 and received her Masters Degree in Somatic Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies.
Upon graduating, her faith renewed in the significance of dance as radical art, she began teaching dance to children and making dance herself. Throughout this lifetime of study, she has worked with many different populations, children in creative movement classes, people dealing with serious rehabilitation issues, expectant and new mothers, the elderly and athletes.
Testimonials
“I look forward to our sessions and trust her completely. I think it’s mainly due to her vast knowledge and sensitive, but direct manner both soothing and encouraging. It’s the perfect combination for someone like me to achieve the best results.” - KImba H.
“Alison Williams is a talented Pilates instructor and superhuman being. I fell in love with Pilates after taking a mat class from Alison at a studio in Seattle. Alison's instruction is clear, intelligent, and creative in both group mat classes and one-on-one reformer sessions. She provides excellent feedback and corrections. Alison's intellectual approach to sequencing helped me gain strength, awareness, and ease in my body. “ - Anna D.
“Our sessions are like continuous physical therapy.” - Tom N.