Asha Gangolli, a native of Chicago, began studying classical Pilates as a young ballet student to supplement her dance training under the tutelage of Romana certified Melanie Hortin. Looking for a full body workout that provided strength and length, Pilates became the perfect answer to cross training. Dancing across the US with Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet she continued to study pilates from world renowned teachers across the country. Since becoming a professional dancer with Alabama Ballet in 2014, Asha has performed soloist roles in Roger Van Fleteren’s Dracula and Cinderella, as well as George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. She has been a dance educator and barre fitness instructor for over 5 years, and her passion for her clients and deep belief in movement as medicine has propelled students to success. In 2015 Asha became a Peak Pilates certified instructor and has since taught Pilates in both the Chicagoland and Birmingham area.

Lindsey Chitwoood, originally from Dallas, TX, has called Birmingham home for almost 20 years. Having always been an active person, she came to see and feel the benefits of Pilates after giving birth to twins. Her original goal was to use Pilates to rebuild the core strength that was necessary to manage the day-to-day physical demands of small children, but it wasn't long before she got hooked. Pilates gave the benefits of strength and eliminated the nagging low back and shoulder pain without the strain and stress of all the high impact workouts.

Lindsey was certified through Joel Crosby, a 2nd generation instructor of the Jay Grimes lineage, with Classical Pilates Education at his Vitality Method Studio, Duluth, GA in January of 2020. Since then she has completed over 150 hours of workshops and workouts with 1st and 2nd generation instructors and leaders in Pilates with different lineage backgrounds, like Kathi Ross-Nash, Sonje Mayo, and Blossom Leilani Crawford. Lindsey is also certified in Pilates Suspension Method (TRX) and Barre Above Method. Outside of Pilates, Lindsey is married with three children, serves as a community volunteer for several non-profits, and consults on small tech projects including website and database development.

Valery Lopez -

Valery discovered Pilates and immediately fell in love with the method's unique ability to create uniform muscle development in the body through mind-body discipline. Valery is comprehensively certified through The Pilates Center (TPC) in Boulder, Colorado. Valery wholeheartedly identifies with Pilates's core principles and is passionate about carrying out Joseph Pilates’s mission: to heal the world through healing the body. She believes Pilates empowers people, fosters peace and awareness, and ultimately transforms body and mind. 

Jackie Zarcone, originally from Nashville, TN moved here to Birmingham in 2021 with the opportunity to start The Pilates Center Teacher Training Program. After graduating from The University of Alabama with a B.A. in Dance in 2013. She moved back home to Nashville, Tennessee where she spent the last nine years teaching ballet. She is also ABT® Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. With her years of experience teaching ballet she saw Pilates as the perfect complement to fill the gaps in teacher training. Recently graduated from The Pilates Center's Intermediate Plus teacher training program in Boulder, Colorado.

Liz Holley is a comprehensively certified graduate of the Streamline Pilates Teacher Training Program under the direction of Master Instructors Eva Kauffman & Lise Fischer (Intermediate | Aero Joe Pilates Satellite - Birmingham, AL 2020). Outside of Pilates, Liz is married with 4 children. Her study of Pilates assisted her in rebuilding core strength post pregnancy. Liz believes greatly in the benefits of a dedicated Pilates practice, having avidly studied the method as a student for over a decade before beginning her teaching career.

Jenna Graham, originally from Oklahoma City, was introduced to Pilates as a young ballet student. While attending SLK ballet, a pre-professional ballet school in New York City, Jenna turned to Pilates for cross training and to address muscle imbalances. Taking private sessions from Carrie Kenneally (Level 4 Romana’s Pilates instructor and widely known in the NYC dance community), Jenna soon saw that Pilates not only improved her ballet technique and daily posture, but it also created an understanding of the connection between mind, body, and spirit. Instead of being angry at imperfections and weaknesses, Pilates offered a space to work through those things with patience and care. Jenna hopes for clients to experience this mind, body, and spirit connection, addressing the needs of the whole person through the ingenious and challenging work of Joseph Pilates.

A contract with the Alabama Ballet brought Jenna to Birmingham in 2014. Soon after, she began to work towards a Pilates certification and now holds a comprehensive Pilates certification through Peak Pilates. Jenna joined the Aero Joe team in 2016 and has since taught in the Birmingham area as well as in Oklahoma City and in New York City.

Kaitlin Winborn, a native of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, has been a Birmingham resident for 13 years. She first came to the state to attend the University of Alabama in 2006, where she majored in dance with a minor in nutrition. While at the University, she featured in the Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre, Dance Alabama, and also was a member of the Crimson Caberet dance team. After graduating and moving to Birmingham, she performed for Arova Contemporary Ballet company as a dancer and aerialist from 2011 to 2014.

Kaitlin completed her Comprehensive Certification Pilates training through Peak Pilates in 2013, when she also received her PMA certification and started teaching at Aero Joe. During her first stint with AJ, she trained extensively with Kelly Pearce, a graduate of The Pilates Center Bridge Teacher Training Program. After a 6 year hiatus being a stay-at-home mom of 2 girls, Kaitlin is excited to return to work with AJ's fabulous clients.

Kaitlin loves sharing Pilates because it is truly a method that can benefit everybody, and every body, in all walks of life. It is one of the few fitness disciplines which can be equally beneficial to a grandmother looking for improved posture and range-of-motion, to a professional athlete looking for high-performance.

Christina McClellan began her aerial journey with a Beginner’s class at Aero Joe Pilates over two years ago. Christina had recently been diagnosed with arthritis in her lower back. A practitioner of Pilates since college, Christina sought a new method to help alleviate the pain -strengthening and stretching her muscles in different ways. Under the mentorship of Anne-Marie Mitchell and Jennifer Colvin, Christina has been able to deeply explore the art of aerial and its benefits affecting stretching, strengthening, and confidence-building.

Christina earned her Aerial Yoga Academy certification in 2017. Previously, Christina has served as a swim coach, a sport she still practices to today, and was a member of the University of Alabama Women’s Rowing team. She holds a M.A. in History and a M.S. in Museum and Field Studies from the University of Colorado. She works full time in Birmingham for UAB.

With nearly 30 years as a dance and fitness professional, Anne-Marie MItchell is the lead instructor of aerial curriculum for AJ Pilates. Both her biological parents were professional ballet dancers and Anne-Marie began her dance training in 1974. By 1976, she was touring the southeast on “The Freedom Train” and various children’s theater productions. She began her serious ballet training in 1981 at the North Jefferson Academy of Dance which led to her being accepted in the Ballet program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham at the age of 14. The UAB Ballet directors graciously encouraged Anne-Marie to audition and attend the Summer Intensive programs taught by ABT and Joffrey Ballet in New York. While dancing with Joffrey II (the apprentice company), Anne-Marie began fell in love with the Pilates classes at the Pilates Studio directed by Romana Kryzanowska and New York Aerobix. Coming home to Birmingham in the autumn of 1984, Anne-Marie could find very few gyms that offered these types of classes, so she decided to become a Jazzercise fitness instructor. This first certification sparked a passion for knowledge. As Anne-Marie learned and grew, she earned more certifications (Pilates Method, Step Reebok, Yoga, aquatic exercise, senior fitness, Zumba, and national group exercise/personal training certifications). She eventually became a national presenter and developed her own fitness programs. The newest chapter in Anne-Marie’s history includes Aerial Yoga here at Aero Joe. She recently attended a teacher training course with Aircat Aerial Yoga in Boulder, CO where she trained with 20 year veteran aerialist Cathy Gauch. This beautiful fitness program allows students to gain the benefits of muscle toning, deep yogic stretching and graceful movements; all facilitated by the silky yoga hammock. Anne-Marie believes in tailoring each class so that every student feels they can successfully try new poses and emerge from class feeling relaxed and energized with a sense of joy and accomplishment. Anne-Marie retired from professional dancing in 1990, but she still stays involved with local ballet companies.

Why Joe? Though influenced by modern movement science, we are continually inspired by the original methodology of our namesake and founder of the form: Joseph ‘Joe’ Pilates.

Why Aero? Each of our movement modalities involves defying gravity in some way. In Pilates, strength derives from moving the body through as many planes in space as possible, all with resistance to gravity’s forces.

At Aero Joe, all are welcome. We believe a studio environment that is beautiful, welcoming, and less clinical enhances our vision to impart true mind-body benefits for our community

We have some of the best parking in the city! There is ample parking in convenient lots on either side of the Aero Joe studio. For those familiar with Pepper Place, the parking lots are adjacent to Bettola on one side, and on the other side - Hop City and Blue Print on 3rd. Street parking is also available.

Please note our new address: 2924 3rd Avenue South (Hop City Building). From the front facade on 3rd Avenue S. please walk around to the entrance on the right side of the building.

Our intro classes are for true beginners, and we welcome new clients to our intro classes weekly!

We ask even our elite athletes to start with one of the above on the apparatus. Safety is our highest priority, and it is important to have the foundational experience to learn proper alignment & how the apparatus function. Intermediate classes are reserved for those with prior apparatus experience.

Please note the 24-hour cancellation policy. Please get in touch with us directly in the event of an emergency or contagious illness.

If a waitlist notification occurs before the day of the session, the class will be charged per the general cancellation policy. If the waitlist notification occurs the day of, we issue a refund if the client notifies us to request a refund before class start time.

At AJ PILATES, NO alcohol or drug use is permitted. Any student suspected of being intoxicated on the premises during fitness activities will be dismissed without a refund.

No cash or credit refunds.

Please note the expiry dates on all packages. (Intro 3 sessions: 4 weeks; 5 sessions: 2 mos.; 10 sessions: 3 mos.)

Memberships offer an allotment of classes to be booked and used within one month (4 weeks). We do not provide membership pauses or rollover classes (expiration date extensions).

In the event of a severe weather class cancellation by the studio, your class credits will be restored to your online account for re-booking. All participants will be notified via email in the event of a weather cancellation.

All purchases apply to lessons with our team, not a specific instructor. A substitute may teach at any time. All Pilates instructors have a minimum of 450 training hours and are highly vetted.

We conveniently have 2 bathroom / dressing rooms on-site. There are both cubbies and hanging racks to store belongings during classes.

We teach Classically-based Pilates with contemporary & functional (therapeutic) influences. With over 40 years of combined experience, we specialize in instruction for special conditions such as herniated discs, arthritis, meniscus tear, Shoulder girdle injuries, plantar fasciatis, joint replacements, spinal fusions, MS, ALS, Parkinsons and more. We expertly & safely tailor sessions for all bodies, all levels.

Please contact us prior to registration if you have the following special conditions:

blood pressure issues; sight/eye issues; vertebral issues, pregnancy, heart conditions, easy onset motion sickness, ankle issues, rotator cuff tear

Please note a private lesson evaluation may be needed. Some participants with special conditions may be limited to private training only.

Welcome to AJ Pilates! We are so glad you have chose us for your classes.

We are a socks studio. Please wear grip socks. We have socks for sale in-studio, if you wish to purchase any.

We have mats for students, and everything else that you will need!

New clients are asked to arrive 5-minutes early to complete a waiver. So as to not interrupt a class-in-progress, new client forms must be completed before the start time of class.

Our Intro Package offers the best savings for first time beginners.

All intro and beginner level group classes are open to first time visitors — even our Aerial classes. No experience is necessary for beginner level classes.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

The upper level classes are reserved for those with prior apparatus experience. True Pilates is a skill that is developed. It does take practice to achieve mastery over time, such as with martial arts or dance. Part of the experience is learning how the equipment operates, and it can take several classes to feel very comfortable using the apparatus. It is well worth it to achieve Pilates full benefits! If you are new to Aero Joe with prior experience please contact us so that we may guide you to the best classes for you.

If a late arrival occurs, the lesson will end at the originally scheduled time.

If you arrive more than 15 minutes late, your class will be ‘rain checked’ for another day.

Through 60 years of research, Pilates was developed by Joseph (Joe) and his wife, Clara, with the goal of creating transformational exercise. Pilates, now a world renowned workout method, will help create a long, lean physique. Perhaps even more remarkable, Pilates as derived from Joe’s original methodology provides a host of “whole person”corrective benefits — relieving postural imbalances, improving flexibility, easing chronic pain, improving mood and more.

As revolutionary entrepreneurs, inventors, and movement therapists, Joe and Clara elevated exercise science to art. Our goal at Aero Joe is to uphold the integrity of Joseph "Joe" Pilates’ proven methodology while enhancing our client's overall well-being.

Select any Pilates Equipment or Aerial Fitness Classes! ($49 - 3 group classes, 4 week expir.)

Our most popular package option is the 10-session package. The more you buy, the more you save.

We recommend our memberships for the best savings rates to achieve optimal results with 2 x / week group classes.

All “equipment class” credits (packages & memberships) apply to Pilates Equipment and/or Aerial Fitness Group Classes.