BA '94 (College of Liberal Arts)Alumni Association Member About Paragon Pilates, Physical Therapy & Dance MedicineWe provide physical therapy and Pilates training to help you move better and feel better in your body. Visit Paragon Pilates Address5101 Vernon Ave. South Suite 2AEdina, MN 55436 Contact About CariCari Riis Stemmler has been teaching Pilates since 1997 and educating Pilates teachers since 2001. She has an extensive background in Pilates, dance, movement science, anatomy and yoga. Her professional dance career began in 1991. She performed both company and commercial work in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, and South America. She performed with Ballet of the Dolls, Winifred Harris’ Between Lines, and Cirque Productions among others. She has been a practitioner of Ashtanga and Anusara yoga since 1996 and started teaching Pilates in 1997 while dancing professionally in Los Angeles. Cari trained in Dance Medicine with the prestigious Harkness Center for Dance and has lectured at national dance summits at the Edge Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles and in Minnesota for the Minnesota Dance Medicine Foundation. She also served as Education Chair for the Minnesota Dance Medicine Foundation, and started the “Ask the Experts” outreach program. Cari was part of the original movement that pioneered the idea of combining Pilates and physical therapy at Core Conditioning in Los Angeles, CA. In 2009, she moved back to her home state of MN and opened Paragon, which was the first fully integrated Pilates and physical therapy studio in the region. She is a PMA Gold certified Master Teacher and teaches comprehensive Pilates teacher training courses and continuing education as a Senior Master Instructor for Balanced Body Education. She is also a Master Teacher for CoreAlign, Bodhi Suspension, and Anatomy in Three Dimensions. Cari also teaches continuing education courses on integrating Pilates with physical therapy and special conditions, and has presented at national Pilates conferences since 2005 including Pilates on Tour and Pilates Method Alliance. Cari holds a B.A. degree in Cross-cultural Communication from the University of Minnesota, has attended countless hours of continuing education coursework, and is a casual student of neuroscience. She enjoys helping those individuals with involved and complex movement issues, taking a whole-body myofascial approach to healing.
