Laura Porter Blackburn, Owner

Laura Porter Blackburn was born and raised in Louisville, KY. She matriculated at Brown University in Providence, RI and later received a Master's of Arts and Humanities in Dance and Theatre from SUNY Buffalo, focusing on Contact Improvisation (a form of postmodern dance in which points of physical contact between two dancers and the earth provide the starting point for exploration through movement improvisation) and mixed-media live art installations. After 4 years of studying Pilates in Buffalo, NY and with Deborah Lessen in NYC, and a year of kinesthetic anatomy with Irene Dowd, Laura moved to Boulder, CO for the Teacher Training Program at The Pilates Center, which she completed in 2000.

She then relocated to Paris, France, where she co-opened Centre Pilates de Paris in 2001. There she also met her husband Gionatan Surrenti who also practices, performs and teaches Contact Improvisation. In September 2003, they moved to Orvieto, Italy, where Laura continued her own movement practice of CI and Pilates, developing concepts behind “Movement Education toward True Health” and opening her own small studio, called Core Fluency Pilates. During this time in Orvieto, Laura and her husband also home-birthed their two children, Maya and Mattia Surrenti.

In July 2011, Laura opened Core Fluency Pilates in Clifton, realizing a dream to create a teaching center for the Classical Pilates work in Louisville. In 2025 she moved CFP to the Douglass Loop area on Bardstown Road where the studio can handle larger classes and more lessons. In 2013 CFP became a TPC Host Studio to help mentor trainees through the myriad training programs. In July 2019 Laura became a Licensed Teacher Trainer to conduct certification exams and certify new Pilates teachers.

She became a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher, and completed TPC’s Master’s and Post Graduate Programs. Laura is CPR certified and can teach Pilates in Italian, French and English.

Kim Root

Kim Root is a dance artist and movement educator based in Louisville, KY. She became involved with Pilates when recovering from a back injury. She soon was hooked, and shortly thereafter began a teacher training program through The Pilates Studio in Seattle which was guided and assessed by Romana Kryzanowska. She completed her training in 1996 and has had the opportunity to teach (and learn) at many different studios around the country. Kim enjoys bringing the breadth of her movement experiences and knowledge into her teaching.

Ashley Thursby

Ashley Thursby Kern received her training through Lotus Pilates in Bloomington, IN during her time at Indiana University. She completed her comprehensive Pilates Teacher Certification Program with training based on the original methods of Joseph H. Pilates. Ashley began Pilates at the age of 9 as a supplement to her focus in dance. Once she felt the effects of what Pilates had to offer, she knew that she wanted to learn more so that she could share the benefits of Pilates with others through teaching. Currently an Artist with the Louisville Ballet, Ashley’s passion is to work with moving bodies through Core Fluency’s new ‘Mend the Gap’ program. This specialized program for dancers will allow moving artists of all disciplines to improve imbalances within their bodies in their efforts to become a stronger dancer.

Larissa May

Larissa May was born and raised in Owensboro, KY. She grew up dancing with the Owensboro Dance Theatre and was introduced to Pilates as a Governor's School for the Arts participant. Larissa continued practicing Pilates while furthering her dance career in Chicago. She received her undergraduate degree in Spanish at Northeastern Illinois University and discovered a passion for Flamenco dance with resident company, Ensemble Español. She continues dancing locally with Flamenco Louisville and has been in several Kentucky Opera productions. Larissa completed the Advanced Teacher Training program with The Pilates Center in Boulder, Colorado in November 2018.  She is CPR certified and hopes to eventually teach Pilates classes in Spanish.

Kristen Hollinsworth

Kristen Hollinsworth’s first introduction to Pilates came early during her 24 year dance career in NYC. During this time she also worked with Susan Marshall creating many original dance pieces together, touring around the USA and Europe, making a stop in Louisville with a Philip Glass opera in 1997, teaching and setting work in various universities and companies including The Juilliard School, NYU, Princeton University and Pacific Northwest Ballet. Kristen also danced for 10 years at the Metropolitan Opera in numerous productions. Other choreographers she worked with include Doug Varone, Tami Stronach, Stephanie Miracle, and Nicole Wolcott. In 2017 Kristen moved with her husband and two children to the Netherlands residing in Amsterdam. During that time she made the decision to complete a comprehensive Pilates teacher training program at Smartbody which is Amsterdam’s oldest and most renowned Pilates studio. She studied for a year under master teacher Jelena Petrovic and began teaching at Smartbody after graduating from their program. There she taught for 7 years and in the final two co-taught, with Jelena, Smartbody’s mat teacher training program leading classes, lectures, student observations, and final exams. At the very end of 2025, ready to return to home, Kristen and her family relocated to Louisville, Kentucky to be closer to family and enjoy the bluegrass state.

Shireen Kawaguchi

Shireen Kawaguchi has always valued health and fitness. Her first exposure to Pilates was as a teenager and learned Mat Pilates from watching VHS tapes. In 2009, she received her Beginner Mat Pilates training through Power Pilates, and taught group classes at a local athletic club for about a year. Years of working a desk job took its toll on her back and she returned to Pilates to help with her back pain. She was a client for many years at Club Pilates. During the pandemic in 2020, she decided to change careers and become a full time Pilates instructor going through Club Pilates comprehensive training and has been teaching group reformer classes since 2021. As a lifelong learner, she decided she wanted a classical Pilates education as well and decided to enroll in the Advanced Comprehensive Program through the Pilates Center, Boulder, CO under the tutelage of Laura Blackburn. She is currently a trainee in the TPC program and works at CFP as a Junior Instructor.

She grew up in Portland, OR and moved to Louisville, KY with her husband before relocating to South Carolina. She enjoys teaching Pilates full time (online for CFP!) and helping people improve their overall health through Pilates.

Paul T. Carney is a massage therapist and flamenco musician who has been pursuing ways to bridge art and healing for years, a pursuit that eventually brought him to Pilates (big thank you to the dancers who encouraged it!).  His early martial arts experience introduced him to the idea that there is no separation between physical  and mental development and well-being.

In the Pilates method, he found an approach to the uniform development of that whole self that serves people wherever they are in their lives,  and supports, through teaching, his desire to encourage others in their development. As Bell Hooks said of art, the function is “to imagine what is possible”; then we can move forward in what Joe Pilates called this “commendable pursuit.”

Paul is currently a recent graduate of the TPC program working at Core Fluency Pilates.

New CFP Teacher

See yourself at CFP! We accept applications on a rolling basis. 

Now hiring a PMA-certified instructor from a 600+ hour Classical Pilates training program to teach privates and group classes afternoons, evenings, and Saturdays.  We are looking for a responsible, independent teacher, with a passion for Pilates, who feels compelled by our mission and vision, and is excited to be part of the Core Fluency Pilates Team.  Please send cover letter and resume to laura@corefluencypilates.com.