About the studio
Behind the fanlight.
Fanlight opened in 2024 in a 1920s building in Santa Barbara’s Upper East, with arched windows and a half-round fanlight over the front door. Co-founders Clara Velasco and Maren Holt put the two practices they teach into one room.
One room, two methods.
Clara and Maren taught in the same Santa Barbara studios for years, one at the pulley tower and one on the reformer, and kept sending each other clients. A shoulder that needed Clara’s circles usually needed Maren’s straight lines next, and the other way round.
So they put both in one place, the square and the circle under one roof, with six teachers who talk to each other about the people they teach.
The building did the rest. The fanlight over the door, a half circle sitting on a square, turned out to be the whole idea in one shape.
The pulley tower, along the far wall.
Co-founder · The circle
Clara Velasco
One-to-one GYROTONIC® sessions at the pulley tower, the Strong Back classes, and a lot of patient explaining.
- Background
Grew up in Santa Barbara, swimming open water off East Beach through school and college.
- Turning point
A shoulder injury in her twenties ended the racing. The GYROTONIC® Method gave her a full, pain-free reach back.
- Training
Certified to teach the GYROTONIC® Method, with a comprehensive Pilates training on the full apparatus.
- Teaching
Teaching in Santa Barbara since 2012: private sessions first, then group reformer classes.
- Now
Co-founded Fanlight with Maren Holt and leads the GYROTONIC® side of the studio.
If a movement hurts, we find the version of it that doesn’t. There’s always one.
Co-founder · The square
Maren Holt
Classical Pilates on the full apparatus, the class schedule, and the early classes.
- Background
Grew up in Minnesota, came to California for college and stayed.
- Turning point
Ten years as a rehab aide in a physical therapy clinic, helping patients relearn everyday movements: standing up from a chair, reaching a shelf, turning to look over a shoulder.
- Training
Followed her patients to Pilates and completed a comprehensive classical training on the full apparatus.
- Teaching
Group reformer and private sessions in Santa Barbara studios.
- Now
Co-founded Fanlight with Clara Velasco and runs the reformer program, from the schedule to the early classes.
Watch first, then teach. Most people only need one thing changed.
On Clara and Maren
What their students say about them.
Sample reviews written for this concept studio.
“Maren's classical class is precise in the best way. She explains why each exercise comes where it does, and the hour makes sense as a whole.”
Hannah B., sample review, about Maren“I tried the GYROTONIC® work with Clara for a stiff neck from years at a desk. The circular movements felt strange for one session and wonderful from the second.”
Peter L., sample review, about Clara“Clara and Maren are a great pair. One gets you moving, the other gets you lined up.”
Jess M., sample review “I've done Pilates at four studios. This is the first one where the teacher watched me for a whole class before changing anything.”
Teresa G., sample review, about Maren
New to the studio
Start with the intro: three classes, any format, with any of the six teachers.