Diane Diefenderfer

Diane Diefenderfer joined the Department of Dance at UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts in 1988. She teaches all levels of ballet technique, pointe, and repertory, as well as Pilates mat and reformer classes for the Dance Wellness Program. She also serves as undergraduate advisor and conducts auditions for admission into the dance major.

Diefenderfer trained with the Harkness Ballet in New York and studied at the American Ballet Theatre School with Patricia Wilde and Michael Maule. Her professional career began with the Frankfurt Ballet under Alfonso Cata, Kent Stowell, and Francia Russell. She danced in the corps de ballet and later as a soloist, performing in classic repertoire and numerous Balanchine ballets. Returning to the United States, she was a guest artist with the Eglevsky Ballet and New Jersey Ballet before joining John Clifford’s Los Angeles Ballet as a soloist. She performed extensively in Europe, Asia, and the United States in works including Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, Apollo, La Valse, and Allegro Brillante. Her 20-year career as a dancer, along with her work with master teacher Wilhelm Burmann, strongly influenced her teaching style. She has taught for Dance Aspen, the Jillana School, Ballet Pacifica, DeFore Dance Center, Academia de Ballet del Valle in Mexico City, the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts, and Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas. She is a committee member and teacher for the National Choreographers Initiative.

Founder of Studio du Corps/Pilates Center of Orange County, Diefenderfer is a second-generation Pilates teacher with more than 30 years of experience in the Pilates Method. She holds a master teacher certification from her mentor, Ron Fletcher, and is a PMA Gold-certified Pilates instructor. In 1987, she opened Studio du Corps, introducing Pilates to Orange County, and two years later founded the first Pilates program in UCI’s Dance Department. She has trained Olympic athletes and figure skaters, and in 2002 began a Pilates program for the Human Resources Department for the City of Irvine. She has also taught at Irvine Regional Medical Center and at Hoag Hospital for cancer survivors. Diefenderfer has presented at the Body Mind Spirit Conference, Pilates on Tour, and the Pilates Method Alliance conferences. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, Sports Illustrated, and Pilates Style magazine. She is a Distinguished Faculty member for Pilates Anytime and part of the Legacy Project online.

Diefenderfer has given lectures at the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul and Tsukuba University in Japan. She is a contributing author to Women’s Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins). She continues to conduct the Teacher Training Program at Studio du Corps, founded in 1995, guiding and certifying the next generation of Pilates teachers.