Liz DeVera
(she/her)

RESTORE Instructor

ORTHOPEDIC Massage Practitioner

Liz DeVera is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, has been studying, performing, and working commercially in dance for the past 25 years. At the age of 15 she was awarded a New York Dance Alliance scholarship that brought her to Manhattan to study dance. The following year, she received a scholarship to study at the Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles. There she worked on projects including the Academy Awards, an Andrea Paige Wilson music video, and the movie Beautiful directed by Sally Field. It was then that she injured herself dancing and sought out Pilates for rehabilitation. This is when her passion for Pilates was planted.
 
Elizabeth studied to become a Pilates instructor under the internationally acclaimed master teacher trainer Marie-Jose Blom at Long Beach Dance Conditioning, in 2000. It was then that her passion for learning about the integral connection of the body and mind began to bloom into what would be her life’s work. DeVera moved back to the Bay Area where she studied with Tom Hendrickson D.C.–a visionary in the world of massage and manual therapy. She then continued her studies at San Jose State University where she earned a Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology in 2012. There she was able to deepen her understanding of neuroanatomy, exercise physiology, biomechanics, and athletic injuries and treatments.
 
In 2015, Elizabeth was certified in Dance Medicine Rehabilitation through Westside Dance Physical Therapy (serving New York City Ballet and American School of Ballet). She was honored to provide Orthopedic Massage to the dancers, and to work alongside Marika Molnar when the New York City Ballet toured California in 2016. Most recently Elizabeth studied with Jean-Claude West and was deeply inspired by his work which she incorporates into her practice today.

DeVera has now been a certified Pilates instructor for over 20 years, as well as a certified Hendrickson Method® and GYROTONIC®  practitioner. In 2014, she created the Orthopedic Pilates Teacher Training Program, where she integrated her years of study and practice, to pay homage to her mentors and to inspire future movement educators.