The owner of MAYA Movement Arts, Kelly VanLeeuwen is an athlete who both massages and teaches athletes.

She is the first Sling, Trapeze, Aerial Yoga and AcroYoga teacher in Greenville. She blends both a passion for anatomy and a love of fluidity in her movement and teaching style. Kelly teaches Aerial Sling, Dance Trapeze, Aerial Fitness + Yoga, Pilates, Mobility, Yoga Flow, Core, Conditioning + Inversions, AcroYoga and Partner Massage.

She began teaching yoga in 2006, receiving certifications through Max Strom, Jamie Elmer, Shala Worsley, Stephanie Keach, and both Greenville Yoga (Vinyasa in 2008) and the Asheville Yoga Center (Yin Yoga in 2008 and Pre+Post Natal in 2012); graduated from the Asheville School of Massage & Yoga and received her SC massage license in 2009; studied Thai Massage with Lia Pardy in Asheville in 2008, at the Naga Center in Oregon and the Thai Institute in D.C. — both in 2012, as well as in Northern Thailand in 2013; became a certified AcroYoga teacher through AcroYoga International based in California in 2013; and moved to Austin, TX, to apprentice with aerialist Lydia Michelson-Maverick the same year.

After moving home to Greenville, SC, in 2014, she opened MAYA — the area’s first aerial studio in May, and continued to advance her aerial training. She is certified in Aerial Sling at the Intermediate level through Circus Arts Institute (CAI); in AcroYoga through AcroYoga International; in Aerial Yoga through Levity Aerial Yoga; in Lyra 1/2 through Aradia USA; and has completed the Level 1 teacher training in Silks, Trapeze and Rope through Paper Doll Militia. She is currently pursuing her Advanced Sling training under the mentorship of Amber Monson of Sky Gym through CAI. She believes a teacher is always a student, and keeps up with her tradition of traveling around the South East for lessons in Atlanta with Constance Palmer and McKinley Vitale of The (old) Space; in Asheville with Waverly Jones, April Skelton and Cody Hayman of Empyrean Arts; and in Athens through the lovely coaches at Canopy Studio, the dance trapeze mother ship.

Kelly specializes in deep tissue table massage and Thai massage for athletes -- including cyclists, para-cyclists, triathletes, Ironman competitors, martial artists, cross-fitters and power lifters, golfers, Cirque du Soleil performers and acrobats, dancers from the Alvin Ailey troupe to Broadway shows, and yogis. Her style tends to be deep, specific, therapeutic and sports-related, and her techniques address muscular imbalance, trigger points and fascia. She incorporates cupping, scraping (IASTM), Tok Sen (hammering), and kinesio taping modalities into her work, after adding to her Naga Center trainings with certifications from RockTape -- including Blades + Blades Advanced, and Fascial Movement Taping Basic + Performance.

She provides on-site massage and yoga services to the Experience Domestique Climb with George Hincapie camps at the Hotel Domestique, and has worked with Hincapie, Lance Armstrong, Christian Vande Velde, Mark Cavendish, Cadel Evans, and Larry Warbasse, among others. She massaged during training camps and competitions for the Roger C. Peace Para-cycling team and both the road and triathlon teams for the Greenville Cycling & Multi-Sport/Greenville Hospital System partnership. She has worked with the Palmetto Peloton Project’s Challenge to Conquer Cancer "Ride to Austin," the Greenville Spinners’ cross-state tour, the Ride to Remember for the Alzheimer's Association, the Hincapie CEO Challenge, the USA Olympic Para-cycling team during a World Championship competition, and Cirque du Soleil’s OVO and Axel casts during their Greenville tours.

Kelly has taught yoga all around the Greenville area since 2006, including to the drama and voice students at the SC Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities, the music studios at Furman University, and most of the studios in town. In 2018, she completed her comprehensive Pilates certification through Club Pilates in Reformer, Mat, Exo Chair, Springboard, barre and TRX, and taught at the Greenville Club Pilates studios on Augusta St + Woodruff Road for almost 5 years. She has taught at her current studio — C.O.R.E. grow strong on E North St — since their opening in June, 2021.

For more information, or to book, text : 864.704.5605.

Email her at : mayamovementarts@gmail.com, or via the contact tab on the site.

Follow her on IG at : @maya_movement_arts