Claire Gilliotte

Claire is a mum of two, a world traveler, and a firm believer that age is no barrier to feeling strong, healthy, and alive. She graduated cum laude in Physical Education in 2008, though her love of movement began long before — from snowboarding and gymnastics to athletics and football. Over the years, she has worked in corporate wellness, led sports divisions in Chile, introduced psychomotricity programs in kindergartens, and taught swimming to at-risk youth, experiences that shaped her belief in movement as a tool for empowerment and connection. She fell in love with Pilates in 2015, earning her Polestar certification, and later trained as an Animal Flow instructor. From London to Barcelona and now Lagos, she teaches with joy and intention — helping people move better and live better, whatever their age or background.

Darya Arefyeva

Darya, Dasha to her friends, is an artist, dancer, photographer, and traveler based in the Algarve. Born and raised in Russia, she later lived in several European countries, gathering a wonderfully varied life along the way, in roles ranging from trader and PR manager to horse-stable volunteer. Dance, though, has been her constant: she has been moving since the age of three, in the classical tradition common to Slavic culture, and it remains her great passion and means of self-expression. At La Casa del Corpo, she leads FIT & FUNKY 80s Aerobics and creative movement sessions for adults and little ones.

Hila

Hila is a professional singer and voice teacher with fifteen years of teaching experience and a background as a performing artist, having performed internationally across jazz, soul, pop, and Latin music. She teaches both adults and children, creating a supportive space to explore the voice, build confidence, and develop musical expression. For adults, she offers voice and breath sessions inspired by her "Awaken Your Voice" approach, weaving together vocal technique, conscious breathing, and a deeper connection with the body and its natural voice. With children, her focus is on singing, vocal development, creativity, and confidence, in sessions kept playful, engaging, and joyful.

Jonathan Marion

Jonathan discovered partner dance through salsa in the late 1990s and has been teaching since the mid-2000s, working with dancers around the world. In recent years, his heart has been in Brazilian Zouk, where his teaching centers on authentic presence and connection between partners. A cultural anthropologist by training, with a doctorate and scholarship focused on dance, embodiment, and performance, he is also an active transformational life coach (a Professional Certified Coach with the ICF and a Professional Fellow of the Institute of Coaching) trained in somatic, body-oriented work. For Jonathan, dance and coaching have always been two sides of the same coin: helping people feel at home in their bodies and meeting others with presence. It's this spirit he hopes to cultivate across everything La Casa del Corpo offers.

Marion Bedbur

Marion began her Oriental Dance journey in 1995, studying with local and internationally renowned teachers across a range of belly dance styles. Based in the Algarve since 2004, in 2007 she joined the Danza Duende Project, discovering a practice that unites movement, expression, and inner connection; she completed Level 6 Danza Duende® training and became a certified teacher in 2014. The following year she founded Danza Duende Experimental, offering workshops and classes focused on embodied movement, sensuality, inner beauty, and authentic expression. Her teaching is not about learning choreographies but about exploring movement, connecting with the body, and feeling at home within it — dance as presence, authenticity, and joy, the essence of Duende.

Nina Zampoura

Nina is a yoga teacher, dancer, and lifelong movement enthusiast with a background spanning yoga, ballet, rhythmic gymnastics, contemporary dance, and Latin dance. For her, movement has always been more than exercise; it has been a way to connect with herself, navigate life's challenges, celebrate its joys, and return home to her body. Through years of exploring both yoga and dance, she discovered the powerful relationship between movement, emotional expression, sensuality, and inner wellbeing. Her classes blend the grounding presence of yoga with the freedom and creativity of dance, creating spaces where participants can reconnect with their bodies, release tension, cultivate confidence, and move with greater authenticity.

Paul Morgan

Paul is from the UK and has practiced Tai Chi for ten years. Living with muscular dystrophy, he has experienced firsthand the benefits of this discipline — developing a deeper connection between mind and body and, with it, greater bodily control and flexibility. He brings a calm, grounded teaching style, gently guiding students through new movements while encouraging them to release old patterns that no longer serve them.

Rodrigo Rêgo

Rodrigo came to Qi Gong the way many practitioners do — through the back door of necessity. Training in Traditional Chinese Medicine at ESMTC in Lisbon, he first encountered it as one of the five therapeutic pillars of the system, a curriculum requirement rather than a calling. But when Western medicine couldn't find an answer for an autoimmune condition he had long lived with, it was Qi Gong — consistent, quiet, and unglamorous — that changed the picture. That experience stays with him, and it shapes how he teaches: not as performance or discipline, but as a conversation between the practitioner and their own internal state. A practitioner for over ten years, Rodrigo has trained across five classical systems — Shi Ba Shi, Ba Duan Jin, the Wudang 15 Movements, Yi Jin Jing, and Zhineng Qi Gong — each a different doorway into the same territory. At La Casa del Corpo he begins with Shi Ba Shi, the most accessible of these and a grounded starting point for anyone new to the practice. Outside of teaching, he is the founder of Meraki, a Traditional Chinese Medicine clinic in Luz, Lagos.

Sofia Albuquerque

Sofia discovered yoga in 2012, and it did her so much good that she began studying and sharing it — first with friends and the children she worked with as a social educator. She became a hatha yoga teacher in 2016 and completed her aerial yoga training in 2020, then taught in a wide range of settings, from institutions and schools to local clubs and wellness centers. A devoted student of yoga philosophy, she is now fully dedicated to sharing the practice's transformative power, designing each class with love, joy, and the intention of guiding others toward balance and well-being.

Tommaso Cavallo

Tommaso Cavallo has worked in the fitness industry for over six years, coaching hundreds of people and leading more than 200 classes. He specializes in Full Body and Bodyweight Training, helping people build strength, improve mobility, and increase overall fitness. Sport has been part of his life since age seven (he played football for 28 years and has been strength training for over 25 years). Along the way, he has explored many disciplines, giving him a broad understanding of movement, performance, and physical well-being. Born in Germany to an Italian family, he earned his fitness trainer qualifications there. His greatest passion is helping people discover what their bodies are capable of. His classes are energetic and challenging, designed for those who want to push themselves and enjoy training in a motivating atmosphere.

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