About

A Virtual Arts & Wellness Center
Un Centro Virtual de Artes y Bienestar

Find Your Center is a virtual arts and wellness center run by Kate and DeShawn Robins and based in the United States. We teach live online classes in adult ballet, flamenco, Pilates, and capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art. We also offer on-demand classes, wellness workshops, and private coaching.

Find Your Center es un centro virtual de artes y bienestar dirigido por Kate y DeShawn Robins y ubicado en los Estados Unidos. Enseñamos clases en vivo en línea de ballet clásico para adultos, flamenco, Pilates y capoeira, un arte marcial afro-brasileño. También ofrecemos clases bajo demanda, talleres de bienestar, y entrenamiento privado.

To Find Your Center is
Encontrar Tu Centro es

To know and honor yourself and respect those around you.
To find balance and calm in your daily life.
To find a place of confidence and power.
To be in control of your center of gravity.
To move with efficiency and strength.

Conocer y honrar a ti mismo y respetar a los demás.
Encontrar equilibrio y tranquilidad en tu vida diaria.
Encontrar un lugar de confianza y poder.
Estar en control de tu centro de gravedad.
Moverte con eficiencia y fuerza.

Our Mission
Nuestra Misión

To offer a safe and supportive virtual space where we empower our clients to meet their wellness goals through the training and practice of artistic, fitness, and intellectual pursuits.

Ofrecer un espacio virtual seguro y acogedor donde empoderamos a nuestros clientes a lograr sus metas de bienestar a través del entrenamiento y práctica de actividades artísticas, atléticas e intelectuales.

Our Approach to Wellness
Nuestro Acercamiento al Bienestar

We take a wellness-based approach to teaching adult ballet, Pilates, capoeira, flamenco, and other areas of expertise that have enriched our lives.

Nos acercamos desde una perspectiva del bienestar a la enseñanza de ballet, Pilates, capoeira, flamenco y otras áreas de nuestro conocimiento professional que nos han enriquecido la vida.

Capoeira

Capoeira was developed by African slaves in Brazil desiring freedom from their oppressors. They combined music, dance, acrobatics, and fighting to both express and defend themselves. This Afro-Brazilian martial art continues to be a source of hope and pride for many people. Capoeira is a Brazilian Portuguese word pronounced "kah-poo-way-dah."

Ballet

Ballet is a European dance form that is used to train athletes and artists all around the world. At Find Your Center, we emphasize the power of ballet training to improve athletic and artistic performance, build confidence, and contribute to overall fitness and wellbeing. Ballet originated in Italy and gained popularity as a French court dance in the 17th century. Most ballet terms today are in French.

Pilates

Flamenco

Who We Are
Quienes Somos

We are a husband and wife team passionate about wellness, arts, and fitness. Get to know us by reading our Blog.

Kate Feinberg Robins began her ballet training with Nan Klinger in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. There she performed with the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet, dancing lead roles in ballets by Francis Patrelle and Michael Vernon. Kate also studied at Ballet Hispánico, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, Chautauqua Institution, School of American Ballet, BalletMet, Ballet Cristina Helena (Brazil), Richmond Ballet, Embrujo Flamenco (Chile), and with acclaimed Spanish dance teacher Aileen Passloff. She has taught ballet to professional flamenco dancers, young folk dancers and gymnasts in Chile and the US. She taught the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus and choreographed for children and teenagers in Champaign, Illinois. Kate holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology and has conducted research on learning, culture, language, and child rearing in bilingual communities. She has led sustainable development projects in community-based education in South America and the United States. At Find Your Center, Kate enjoys combining her expertise to strengthen her own community through instruction in cultural arts and wellness.

DeShawn “Quiabo” Robins began his capoeira training with Gary “Trovoada” Williams in Detroit, Michigan, where he trained instensively for eight years. He then trained and taught under Denis Chiaramonte in Champaign, Illinois for seven years. DeShawn has given guest classes at capoeira events throughout the Midwest. In 2009, he choreographed the capoeira section of Millicent Johnnie’s The Hip Hop Project for the University of Illinois Dance Department. He is also a composer and a runner, and has cross-trained in boxing, fencing, aikido, and kendo. DeShawn currently serves as technical consultant in Geographic Information Systems for Esri in Redlands, CA (USA). For DeShawn, capoeira has always provided a creative outlet, a physical and mental challenge, and a sense of community. At Find Your Center, he seeks to share with students the guidance, inspiration, and pride that capoeira has offered to him throughout his life.

Our Story
Nuestra Historia

At Find Your Center, we combine our unique experiences and expertise to approach ballet and capoeira from a new perspective. When Kate and DeShawn met, we had both trained for many years at professional ballet and capoeira schools, respectively. We were both pursuing careers in other areas, but drew immensely on our ballet and capoeira training in everything we did. We found that despite the cultural distance between ballet and capoeira, we had essentially the same training in recognizing and striving for excellence. We knew how to set seemingly impossible goals and work diligently toward them. We knew how to combine movement, music, and athleticism to create beauty and magic. We knew how to give and take, to work with strength and lightness, with confidence and humility. We knew the constant everyday work that it takes to center yourself, lose your center, and find it again.

Ballet and capoeira both require a physical centering that lies at the heart of performing difficult balances and movements with a defiant ease. This physical centering starts with the most basic movements and is a constant endeavor. Ballet dancers and capoeiristas must continually focus their energy on finding their centers of gravity and moving with efficiency. Athletes and performers of all kinds can use ballet and capoeira training to get the most out of every movement, to perform each gesture with power and purpose.

Finding your center is also an intellectual and emotional endeavor. Many martial arts forms require meditation to focus mental energy and remain calm and centered in combat. In capoeira, this energy is called axê. In ballet, it might be called stage presence. In any discipline, it takes focused training to be present and aware of all the moving parts in every moment. Ballet and capoeira students learn to channel emotions and thoughts into creative energy, to pause, step away from the chaos of life, and find a place of confidence and power.

At Find Your Center, we also seek to foster a community where students of all kinds can be themselves, and where all kinds of people can be students. For students who want to train professionally, perform, and compete, we will get you there—we will take you as far as we can, and connect you with other training opportunities when you need more. For students who just want to stay healthy, have fun, feel beautiful, and de-stress, we will get you there too. Come with your friends, your siblings, your kids, or by yourself. Be ready to focus, work hard, and feel the joy of accomplishment. We will challenge you to center yourself, we will be there for you when you lose your center, and we will guide you to find it again.