Faculty

Yoga Haven founder and director, Betsy Kase, RYT-500, C-IAYT, has been practicing yoga since 1991. She began during a time when her work and personal life were considerably stressful. Almost immediately, she found a simple yoga practice unlocked a layer of peacefulness she had been searching for since she was a teenager. After a couple of years of practice she finished her teacher training at Integral Yoga, and then continued with prenatal and postnatal trainings. Since then, she has studied with some of the most accomplished teachers. Realizing that her need to connect with and help people was more successfully accomplished as yoga teacher, she changed careers. After moving back to Westchester from NYC, she found herself somewhat lost trying to meet people, practice yoga and find a like-minded community. So, as the saying goes, “If you build it, they will come”… Yoga Haven opened its doors in 1997, starting as a one room space in Tuckahoe. It worked! People showed up and kept coming. Yoga Haven then expanded significantly, offering 70+ classes a week, taught a variety of levels and styles by highly qualified teachers. In January 2012, Yoga Haven 2 opened its doors in Scarsdale. Many of the students who attended one of our first classes in Tuckahoe back in 1997 continue to practice.  In 2020, Covid unfortunately made it impossible to continue the studios.  Both studios closed mid-March and never re-opened.

Betsy’s passion is finding ways to affect student’s lives in a positive way. She has witnessed yoga’s profound ability to reduce a student’s pain, whether it be physical, mental, emotional and/or psychological. Over and over she sees the results of her work and is thrilled to be intertwined in a community who deeply cares for the studio, herself and each other. Her most profoundly satisfying work is Yoga Haven’s annual 200 hour teacher training program. Directing this program, she is able to share her own 20 year experience and enable new teachers to have the tools to reach their beginner students as they start their own journey.

Shannon is a certified yoga instructor and has her 200-hour teacher training certificate from Kripalu Center for Health and Healing. She is also certified with Yoga 4 Cancer, a leading program in specialized oncology yoga. A former professional dancer and studio owner, Shannon has taught dance for over 30 years. Her passion for yoga and movement comes from many places. As a dancer, Shannon found movement to be an uplifting form of expression. She started with yoga to heal physical injuries and found that yoga can also help with balancing the mind.

You can find out more about Shannon on her website www.mindandmoveyoga.com.

Haven has been Shannon’s yoga home for the past 17 years, and she looks forward to being part of this special community as a teacher.

Jill Ganassi has been studying and teaching yoga for over 25 years.  She is a Certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor and is a Certified Yoga Therapist.  As well as teaching online, and in person at various locations around NY, she has her own small, peaceful center, The Lake House, where she teaches group and private yoga and stress management.  Jill is a NY State Licensed Master Social Worker and is certified in Ericksonian Hypnosis.  She also teaches workshops on yoga and stress management around the tri-state area.  She taught the philosophy portion of the Yoga Haven Teacher Training for over 15 years and has a passion for incorporating the philosophical aspects of yoga into all yoga practice.  She wants to invite everyone to explore this wonderful new collaboration between Haven Yoga and Steffi Nossen Dance!

CATHERINE KINGSLEY was born in England UK where she received her dance training in London at the Royal Ballet School and the Royal Academy of Dance( of which she received the Solo Seal Award and is a lifetime member ) Ms. Kingsley performed with the Royal Ballet,Royal Opera Ballet,Bavarian Opera Ballet, Milan Opera Ballet and was the founder and Artistic Director of The Anglo- American Ballet, NYC and the International Dance Festival of New York. As a teacher  Ms. Kingsley studied with the RAD London and the Vaganova School in Russia. Guest teaching includes Boston School of Ballet MA, Ballet Arts, Broadway Dance Center, Steps Studio, Marymount Manhattan College NYC and Stevens College, MO

Ms.Kingsley diverse choreography has been presented at Lincoln Center, Houston International and Edinburgh International Festivals and many other venues in addition to numerous Outreach educational programs of which she narrated. Ms. Kingsley has presented lectures on dance at Columbia University and Mount Sinai Hospital, NYC.

Apart from being a major force in the dance world Catherine was a fashion model for Dior, a print model and has appeared in television commercials and in movies as an actor. Catherine is a costume designer/constructor for custom – made costumes. At present Catherine teaches, coaches privately and presents Master Classes throughout the USA and Internationally.

A graduate of Manhattanville College, Silvana Larkin holds a BA in dance/theatre with a concentration in dance therapy. She has studied locally and performed for Gabri Crista of the Bill T Jones Company and Carlos Orta of the Jose Limon Dance Company. Mrs. Larkin has been with Steffi Nossen since 2004, teaching creative movement and ballet throughout Westchester to mainstream and special needs populations. She became a certified ZUMBA instructor in 2011.

Tara Mazurek’s passion for outreach began as a young dancer performing at nursing homes, local charities, and elementary schools. She trained and performed with the Eastern CT Ballet Company, where she was the first student to be asked to teach for the school at just 18 yrs old.  After receiving a BFA in Dance from Marymount Manhattan, she performed professionally in musical theater and cheerleading. She then continued in outreach as a teacher, bringing dance to after school elementary programs in CT, creating a ballet program for the Hasidic community in Brooklyn, and teaching at studios in Manhattan and the tristate area. Recently relocated to White Plains, she loves working with organizations in Westchester through Steffi, serving adults with special needs and preschool students.

Tara teaches our Moving Wheels & Heels classes in our year-round and summer Adaptive Dance programs, Ballet & Tap combo class, and classes throughout our Outreach Programs.

Wendy Morsberger, trained at School of the Dayton Ballet and Buffalo Ballet Center, eventually making her way to the Royal Ballet School.  After a performance career, culminating in the Royal Ballet (England) and Frankfurt Ballet (Frankfurt, Germany) taught ballet, pointe and injury prevention at Boston Ballet, Harvard and more dance schools in Boston and Westchester.

A trained physical therapist holding an MS in Physical Therapy from Massachusetts General Hospital, Institute of Health Professionals, Wendy has trained in the acclaimed Mark Morris Dance for PD program in Brooklyn, NY.

Deirdre O’Connor, originally from Dublin, Ireland, completed her 200 YTT with Betsy Kase at Yoga Haven in 2005. She has studied many different styles of yoga over the years and she draws on these styles as inspiration to teach a playful yet intentional class with the goal of getting herself and her students out of their heads and more into their bodies. Deirdre teaches a dynamic vinyasa style class that combines creative sequencing, a spirit of lightheartedness and a dose of inspiration to help deepen the connection to your practice and yourself. She teaches group and one on one vinyasa style classes and is also a skilled Thai Massage Therapist (also referred to as lazy man’s yoga!).

Paige Sabo is a professional dancer, actor and singer based in NYC. She recently toured the nation with the National Tours of South Pacific and An American in Paris (US Lise Dassin). Other credits include: In The Mood (Swing Dancer/Dance Captain) National and Australia Tours, The Music Man (US Zaneeta) and Peter Pan (Lost Boy/Jane) at North Shore Music Theatre. She is also a proud company member of AlmaNYC, a dance collective in NYC. Paige grew up studying dance in Seattle, WA and received her BFA in Dance from the University of Arizona.

Michelle is a yoga + movement educator and teacher trainer.  She has been teaching yoga for ten years and called Yogaworks in New York City her home for many years.   Her mindful approach invites inquiry into movement and she is skilled at demystifying complex postures into smaller, digestible pieces.   She is deeply interested in how the body moves and enjoys making yoga feel accessible to beginners and advanced practitioners alike.  Her yoga classes are open to all levels and explore building strength, awareness, grace and resilience in the body, not only through traditional asanas, but through playful movements as well.   In her classes you can expect thoughtful sequencing and natural movement that you can take with you into your daily life, and practice is always followed with an opportunity to restore the body.