Maria Yu

Co-Owner

Maria Yu, NCPT®, and co-owner of Urban Body San Jose, was a Principal Dancer with the former Ballet San Jose. Maria (Jacobs) Yu’s seventeen year-long professional dance career is highlighted with lead roles in classics, many of which were uniquely created for her. At the peak of her career, Mrs. Yu worked with world-renowned dancer, Stephane Dalle on floor barre technique. The experience made her realize the importance of cross-training, and eventually led her to dive deeper into the Pilates Method. She credits Classical Pilates, Floor Barre, and GYROTONIC® Method used as cross training to stay fit, healthy, and active during the regular season and summer months off. Inspired by the strength and stamina these modalities provided her body, she decided to pursue a fully comprehensive Pilates training program with the guidance from Urban Body San Jose founding owner Shannon Bynum Adams, so that she could mentor other dancers to find the strength, joy, freedom, and confidence in their dancing that it provided her own career. Striving to inspire dancers and non-dancers alike to invest in their bodies, Maria believes that self-care is not indulgent, but rather necessary. To that end, Mrs. Yu, an NCPT® certified instructor, earned her full comprehensive Power Pilates certification under the guidance of Power Pilates master trainer Allison Gonzalez. Additionally, she completed Benjamin Degenhardt's 360 Pilates certification, ABT curriculum training program and holds a certification in Progressing Ballet Technique®. Mrs. Yu is a visual representation of the power of what Classical Pilates can do for the body and is honored to share this work with the San Jose community. A mother of three, she currently co-owns the studio, teaches and mentors in the Classical Pilates Method, and shares the effectiveness of the Pilates and Gyrotonic methods at Urban Body San Jose. Mrs. Yu is a strong advocate of using the modalities taught at Urban Body San Jose to maintain a strong physical body, and to connect the mind, body and spirit, to achieve a complete sense of well being. This, in her opinion, is the work’s strongest impact. In the words of Joseph Pilates, “The mind, when housed within a healthful body, possesses a glorious sense of power.”