Erika Palidar grew up outside Boston, MA, where she studied ballet with Jacqueline Cronsberg and Ellen Everett Kimiatek. She fell in love with ballet and music at a very young age studied classical violin in addition to ballet, and performed under the direction of David Commanday at Boston Symphony Hall. Erika attended Brown University, where she found a different path, double-majoring in psychology and political science, attending law school, and becoming a Federal appellate litigation attorney. Her passion for creative movement and physical discipline stayed with her even as an attorney, and she completed Pilates mat and reformer training with Powerhouse Pilates and Balanced Body in 2006. While teaching pilates to yoga teachers in Washington D.C., she met Faith Hunter and began training at her studio, where she began practicing and later teaching vinyasa yoga. Erika attained her yoga teacher certification in 2008 and is a Registered Yoga Teacher. She rapidly achieved the ranking of the top 10 yoga teachers in Washington D.C. in 2009. She was published in Yoga Journal Magazine, appeared in TexAppeal Magazine and YogaVibes videos, and received accolades in the Bavarian Times newspaper for her work with the U.S. Army Warrior in Transition Unit in Schweinfurt, Germany. Erika’s love for performance has also brought her to leading crowds at Yoga festivals in Texas and most recently, to performing as a ballet soloist in the Allegro Dance Theatre’s production of Cinderella outside of Fort Knox, KY. Erika is a proud military spouse, a mother of four children plus a White Shepherd named Snow, and loves to spend her free time with her family.