From the Core Studios

Doonya classes here are THE BEST! Alka is an AMAZING instructor — super high energy, super friendly, and an excellent teacher. She does a great job breaking down the moves and making everyone feel comfortable. The whole focus of the class is on having fun! The fantastic workout and conditioning is just a bonus :) I cannot say enough good things about Doonya as a workout, and Alka’s classes in particular. It feels like going to a party, but not just any party — a really good party where you can just relax, not worry what anyone else is thinking, and have a wonderful time dancing your heart out. No matter what kind of day I’m having, I know that after Alka’s Doonya class I’m going to feel amazing. Thank you Alka! :)

I am writing specifically about Chisel’d and Sculpt’d with Tayvon. I took it through ClassPass and haven’t tried others here yet. The class was excellent. I do a lot of barre, some yoga, some metcon, strength training, etc. The only time I’m as sore as I was after this class is after I work out with my personal trainer. The whole hour was different, we never did the same exercise twice, which made tough exercises easier to get through. It was really challenging but fabulous. This and Brittany’s metcon class at Reformation Fitness are the best/​toughest bootcamp workouts I’ve done in DC. Tayvon was very pleasant, too! Not a fancy or hip boutique studio, which was a nice change, but very clean and bright.

Great studio for Pilates, cardio and all around whole-​body fitness. Really enjoyed recent «booty bootcamp» which is going to get me in shape for the summer! Small space but they maximize every inch. Can’t wait to go back.

I like supporting local businesses and coming to a neighborhood place where people recognize me and the owner is so personable. I’ve taken Dunya and Zumba here and I enjoyed both of them a lot, even as someone who did not come with a very high level of fitness to begin with. I will agree that it is a bit of a small space but lately the class sizes have been smaller so I think they have been limiting the numbers better lately to make it an enjoyable class for all. It’s a new studio so I think they are still also playing around with what classes and instructors work best, so there have been a few times when classes I expected got changed around or cancelled (with plenty of advance notice at least). The prices are very reasonable though, so give it a try and pardon the growing pains that any new business would have!

I’ve taken boxing (with actual gloves and mitts), beginner reformer, mat Pilates, zumba, Afro beat, ballet bar conditioning, doonya, and booty camp. All of them are great workouts! I live super close to this studio so it’s convenient for me and the classes they offer are great. Dee is very approachable, knowledgeable, and responsive to her clients. I highly recommend Blaise’s boxing class (great if you want to focus on technique), booty camp with Dee, and zumba with Ghita. Oh, and Afro beat is awesome. So is ballet barre conditioning. It’s all great! The prices are reasonable as well. Check it out!

The space itself is a bit awkward, but when you move into an old row house type building and don’t remove some of the walls, you end up with a living room with a drop ceiling.
I took an intermediate reformer class with Dee and she was energetic and very talkative (even to people not in the class while we were in the middle of class). There were 3 of us with varying levels of pilates. I’ve taken reformer pilates for 3 years, another student had only taken 4 reformer classes and the other student was a regular of Dee’s.
After we all got settled in, Dee took it upon herself to try and teach 3 different classes to one class. I ended up sitting around for probably 10 minutes total of the class waiting for my instruction while she individually instructed the other two students. Even when I was told what to do next, I was only given the name or rapid instruction of the series without walking me through it so she could jump to the next person to instruct them.
I appreciate what she was trying to do but unfortunately it didn’t work. We all signed up to be in the same class so just instruct one class and let the students regulate the weights themselves according to their level.

I truly enjoyed the Beginner’s Reformer class with Dee. She’s hilarious and helps you stick the poses in correct form. They even had snacks and Gatorade for us after practice. Definitely recommend this studio!

Took a yoga class here with visiting instructor Johan. I’m sad to say it was horrible. It seemed that he had never been instructed how to actually teach, and we were just visually following his almost SILENT practice in his living room. That is okay (I guess) if you have a handle on yoga poses and alignment, but for those folks in the class that needed more guidance and instruction, it was downright unsafe because some of the poses he did were more advanced with no instruction or modifications offered.
Also, staff kept coming in and taking photos without asking anyone for a release. This is both unprofessional and uncomfortable.
I have a friend that has really loved the Zumba classes so maybe there is some redemption here, but my personal experience here was definitely not good.

So glad I found this gem of an exercise studio in Park View. I’ve taken mat Pilates, boxing & conditioning, barre and Zumba. Each class has been excellent — a great workout and lots of fun too. The instructors are knowledgable and encouraging, making for a very comfortable environment. This small studio has so much to offer. I can’t wait to try their other classes!

Let me start by saying the class was good… I broke a sweat. It was just me in the class, but I can understand that for a 12:15 class on a Thursday. I can’t knock the studio too much for the space. I understand that they’re working with what they have. But it’s sort of awkward to move around in.
The instructor asked if I had taken a reformer class before, and I responded that I have been taking classes for 10+ years. I did not say I was a certified Pilates instructor myself, but it seems that is what she expected of me. With thousands of Pilates studios out there, each instructor has a different style of teaching and different names of things. However, never has an instructor ever just thrown a name of an exercise at me and just basically said «ok. Now do it.». You just can’t do that with reformer Pilates. An instructor should do just that… INSTRUCT me on how you would like me to set up and do the exercise on the reformer (instead of looking at me like I’m stupid while I sit there and wait for your instructions). At one point I just had to flat out say «okay, can you just tell me how you want me to set up?»
She told me that Bailey Rizer is an instructor there, and if so go to Bailey’s class. She’s fun, engaging, encouraging, and most of all a very good instructor. You can also find Bailey at Reformation Fitness in Shaw.

I took a reformer class here and really enjoyed it. The equipment is outstanding. The instructor was awesome. I will definitely be back!

Neat little gym in a retrofitted old DC townhouse, with two studios. Downstairs is a Pilates reformer set up, looks a bit tight but they have excellent equipment. Upstairs is a room for body conditioning, mat Pilates, yoga, Zumba, plus some equipment for aerial stretching and meditation. I loved the Zumba class with Ghita, she had great choreography and was easy to follow.
I look forward to trying other classes, especially the aerial classes — I hope they start offering those soon!
The set up is a little tight there, and right now it doesn’t seem they provide a water fountain, which is odd. And you have to rent mats or bring your own… A little awkward if you are coming from work.