Alumni Spotlight: Sara Iisaka

A career in classical ballet is not the only path taken by alumni of San Francisco Ballet School, and Sara Iisaka is representative of this. Sara is a manager and coach at [solidcore], a Pilates-based boutique workout center that was founded in Washington, DC and has just opened a new location in the Marina neighborhood of San Francisco. Her journey started in the classical realm though, with her parents being musicians who encouraged her to begin dancing at age three. She started training in ballet and jazz locally in her hometown of Mill Valley and joined San Francisco Ballet School in fourth grade when a friend suggested that they audition.

Sara remembers her time at SF Ballet School as when she started to get more serious about dance, saying “dance became my life.” It gave her a deeper appreciation for ballet, and a sense of consistency and routine came from the structure of the training. Her time at SF Ballet School concluded after four years, but her dance journey was only just beginning. After a stint of competitive dancing in high school, Sara earned her BFA in Dance Performance from Chapman University and completed a professional program at Gibney Dance in New York City.

As a young dancer auditioning and “living the life” in NYC, she first discovered teaching fitness as a means of supporting herself that was flexible, but also fulfilling. She got her Pilates certification through a professor that offered it and began teaching circuit training at a place called F45. [solidcore] happened to be right next door, and she was introduced through a partnership between the two.

Despite her love for the art form, teaching dance has never appealed to Sara because it is “too intertwined with [her] own artistic identity”. Fitness, by comparison, is less subjective than dance and she loves that it is a way to share and celebrate movement that is accessible to every person. The philosophy of [solidcore] specifically is centered around high-intensity low-impact movement that helps you create the strongest version of yourself, and Sara loves coaching this to show people how amazing it feels to move your body.

Dance is not completely behind her though, as the lessons she learned through dance factor constantly into her work. These days she does both managing work and coaching, and managing her time and the time of other coaches feels like choreographing to her. Sara currently feels like she needs time away from dance to “marinate, rest, and reflect,” but it is a nice full-circle moment for her to be back in San Francisco, where she took an important step in her dance journey. San Francisco-based alumni are encouraged to check out Sara’s classes at [solidcore] in the Marina!