Tara Crites was born and raised in the culture of Los Angeles and originates from an artistic family. Her talent in dance studies and performance awarded her full scholarships to California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) where she attended in 1999. This is where she met Marie-Jose Blom-Lawrence and developed interest in her technique wisdom on dance conditioning and injury prevention. Marie-Jose’s approach to body movement has highly influenced Tara’s skill and philosophy in Pilates for many years.

After finishing the CSSSA program, it led Tara to becoming alumni of California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts). She has also furthered her knowledge in dance by attending The Harkness Center for Dance Injuries at NYU Hospital. She is lively in research development for dancers and is also a member of International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) as a dance educator/scientist.

Tara Crites is the owner and operator of Pilates Arts Institute located in Woodland Hills. She encourages deep exercise principles. Tara is true to her beliefs of challenging exercises without unnecessary tension or injury risks. With her desire for adventure and pursuit she has hopes to motivate the entire fitness community to achieve their highest Pilates ambitions.

Tara has fulfilled the apprenticeship hours and exams with

1. Pilates Method Alliance (PMA)
2. Long Beach Dance Conditioning, Advances in Pilates Technique
3. Core Conditioning, focus on classical Pilates
4. Balle-Core Pilates Mat
5. Fusion Pilates for Pregnancy and Post Partum

Love the mat classes especially with Tara. She is great and offers a lot of personal attention. I love this studio and think it is a great place to improve my body.

- Crystal Perez