Pilates Place

Carolyn Ratliff has been teaching Pilates for almost ten years. She was certified in 1999 by The Pilates Center in Boulder, Colorado, one of the premier teaching programs in the country. She first taught Pilates at the Children's Dance Foundation and Steel City Fitness before opening Pilates Place in 2003 with her partner, Lelie Hughes. As an undergraduate at the University of Colorado, Carolyn studied ballet, modern, and jazz dance. She later enrolled in the ballet program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and subsequently at the Alabama Ballet School. She was a dancer and performer with Southern Danceworks from 19xx-19xx. Her desire to be around dance in a creative setting led her to the Children's Dance Foundation, where she had the pleasure of working with a wide range of special needs and at risk children in a variety of settings for 15 years. Carolyn’s love of movement, fitness and a healthy lifestyle have been constant themes in her life and teaching.

Lelie Shaw Hughes brings exuberance and a joy for life to all her endeavors, with Pilates philosophy at the heart of it all. She received a BA in dance from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, then performed professionally. She continued teaching ballet at UAB and the Conservatory at Birmingham-Southern College. An interest in children's dance education followed, and she joined the staff of the Children's Dance Foundation (Birmingham) as they formalized their curriculum with the goal of promoting the benefits of dance and creativity.

During a late pregnancy, Lelie began to see the difficulties of maintaining the postural alignment and energy levels demanded of a dancer, and these questions led her to try a system of exercise developed by Joseph Pilates. The results were so compelling that she began to study the complex connections between the human mind and body at the Physical Mind Institute in Santa Fe, N.M. With a growing understanding of the immeasurable value of Pilates for people of all abilities, she began the 18-month process of certification in Pilates education from the country's leading experts at the Pilates Center in Boulder, Colorado. Now, Lelie brings her training, leadership skills and enthusiasm to Pilates Place, the studio opened in 2003 with her partner Carolyn Ratliff.

Ellen Schmelzle graduated from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada with a double Honors degree in Psychology and Sociology of Law. After working as a Juvenile Probation Officer for several years, Ellen decided to put her career on hold to raise her four children. As a stay-at-home mom, she maintained her interest in physical activities, which included aerobics, running, tennis, golf and martial arts. In 2003, she earned her Second Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. Upon moving to Birmingham in 2004, she was sidelined by a low back injury. Many unsuccessful attempts to find relief for her pain prompted a friend to recommended pilates. Ellen was very impressed with how quickly and effectively pilates restored her health, and was so inspired by the mind-body-spirit philosophy of pilates as a path to life-long wellness, that she decided to become a pilates instructor. She has completed the instructor training program based out of Boulder, Colorado and is a certified Pilates instructor.

Mary Margaret Scalici graduated from the University of Alabama in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in dance, and has been dancing professionally ever since. She now performs with Southern Danceworks, Sans Pointe Dance Company, and Children’s Dance Foundation. Mary Margaret has been an AFAA certified fitness instructor since 1998, teaching a wide variety of fitness classes at many gyms. She has taught ballet and modern dance at The Alabama Ballet School since 2000. Mary Margaret is now transitioning from teaching all types of fitness to primarily teaching Pilates. In 2009 she completed the Body Arts and Science International Comprehensive Teacher Training. She looks forward to sharing with others how Pilates can lead them to insightful discoveries about their own bodies.