Meet Our Teachers
Ellice Apostolos
Ellice Apostolos empowers every woman to connect to her body's innate wisdom and pleasure so she can move through the world in her fully expressed radiance. As a certified S Factor instructor, Ellice offers deeply transformative trainings where what begins as a personal erotic movement practice within the studio walls can become a sustainable practice that enriches every area of life. Ellice also guides women entrepreneurs to build the life of their desires through her online programs. She empowers them to put deep self-care and pleasure at the heart of their work so they can lead with their feminine genius, avoiding overwhelm and experience the success of a lasting and sustainable business. Learn more at https://www.elliceapostolos.com/
Ellice holds a degree in Theatre and Dance with an emphasis on performing arts from UC Santa Cruz. With an extensive background in dance and choreography Ellice has been performing for close to twenty year in the Santa Cruz area. She has choreographed and directed original pieces for Santa Cruz's annual What is Erotic? the past three years. This community sourced performance provides locals with or without a performance background a mentorship opportunity for discovering what is erotic to them and honing their performance skills to share their message with the community. One of Ellice's greatest delights is to support others to discover how they want to tell their story through their body, whether they want to perfect that for the stage or develop a personal practice for authentic expression. With years of exploration in the area of somatic healing and authentic expression she is excited to be specializing in the area of sensual movement for women now. In her S Factor classes, Ellice invites every woman to drop into her body's truth, eradicating shame and self judgement so she can unearth her pleasure, confidence and full emotional expression through dance. As a Board certified Holistic Nutrition Consultant Ellice adds a layer of body love and self-care through private and group nutrition education, guiding women to have a healthy thriving body so they can show up fully for all areas of their life.
As owner of Steel and Grace, Ellice offers a wide variety of weekly S Factor classes suitable for women with or without dance experience. Whether you want to pole dance, learn a fun wall routine, discover your flow with floor work, unearth your sexy, learn a lap dance or add a strip tease to your play, Ellice is excited to dance with you!
Simona Sivils
Simona Sivils is a Czech native raised in the Bay Area and recently re-located to Capitola. Simona is married to her junior high school sweetheart and is mama to two hybrid cats.
Simona’s love for all things acro and fitness began at the age of 10 when she discovered cheerleading and was instantly drawn to building human pyramids. Simona became part of a co-ed stunt team in high school and an all-girl team in college, where she found great passion in being a “flyer” and in performing with her squad(s) at a competitive/National level. It was during this time that Simona also gained some basic gymnastics skills.
Simona started pole fitness in 2012 and has since performed/competed in duet and small group pieces, as well as in 5 solos, placing 1st in 2017 GGPC Entertainment L4, and 2nd in 2016 PPC Entertainment L3. Simona excels at both static and spin pole and is especially drawn to strength and acrobatic moves with a love for all things flips, tricks, tumbles and drops. Simona is also exploring other aerial arts such as trapeze and lyra.
When not poling, Simona works full-time as an Occupational Therapist in both the hospital and home health settings. She is a foodie (and the wife of a professional chef!), loves photography, all things tropical, and curling up with a good book.
Tina P
Tina P (aka @GoddessAfrodisiac) is one tough cookie with sensitive icing. Hailing from Chicago, she started studying acting and movement in her teens. Though you could always find her on the dance floor, Tina P never imagined she'd be a professional dancer, and certainly not a pole dancer. After winning a free class she became obsessed with pole, attending classes five days a week. Eventually Tina P was accepted into The Choreography House's scholarship program in 2017 where she got her first teaching opportunity. Being an actress, Tina P loves to perform and has danced in Girl Next Door, Seven, and Santa Cruz favorite What Is Erotic. She has been featured on The Root website and as a pole double for R&B singer Mya. She is also the co-creator of @BlackPoleGoddess which celebrates exotic polers of color.
Tina P recently moved to the Santa Cruz mountains to work at a Buddhist retreat center. She is excited to be joining the Steel & Grace team to share her Bump N Grind style, a super fun blend of the sensual and ratchet sides of dance. Moreover, Tina P has a deep interest in uplifting women and loves to use movement to help women to love themselves...one heel clack at a time.
Vaidehi Amair
Vaidehi is a yoga and dance teacher dedicated to feminine movement. She is a certified instructor of BUTI Yoga, Vinyasa and Yinyasa Yoga, Pole Level 1, and Pole Conditioning. She loves hosting creative woman empowerment workshops that include movement, ritual, and dance.
Vaidehi is a performing and recording artist (dancer, rapper and singer) who performs on stage, bringing her love for music and rhythm into one. She is also a multimedia producer that loves capturing beauty through the camera and editing reels for dancers, yogis and small businesses in the field.
Michula aka "Mikey"
Michula Nunez aka “Mikey” is a native Californian who grew up doing competitive gymnastics and cross-country running. After graduating from Vanguard University, she became an exotic dancer. Due to her gymnastics background, performing tricks on the pole were very easy and within a couple of weeks had developed a six-pack! She enjoyed the fact that pole dancing was a creative outlet, as well as, a great workout. Her career as an exotic dancer was short-lived as she sought after a “real” career. She became the primary school science teacher (K – 3rd grades) at a prestigious private school where she created the entire curriculum and completed her credential in a post-graduate program.
One morning in 2001, as she was prepping for classes, she heard a fitness studio owner in Long Beach, CA talk about offering pole dancing classes on a popular morning radio show. Immediately, she called the owner and she was hired on the spot! Michula was instructing primary school science during the day and teaching pole and lap dancing in the evenings. Soon she also began instructing Pilates, Spin, Step, and a host of other fitness classes. Michula’s knowledge of science and pole dancing helped the studio owner to create a national certification for pole dance instructors under the umbrella for Mad Dog Athletics.
Michula soon realized that she preferred teaching adults and enjoyed fitness far more then elementary school. In 2007 she opened Antix Fitness Studio in Redlands, CA. She wanted people to realize that pole dancing is an art and sport. Her studio specialized in both alternative and traditional fitness classes – from Pilates and Cardio Kickboxing to Lap Dancing and Exotic Floor Work. Michula distinguished and embraced the two different styles of pole dancing – exotic (stripper-style) and the pole fitness style (aka “Pole Sport” or “Pole Fitness”). Due to social media and an explosion of studios opening to offer pole dance classes, early on, Michula was invited to teach internationally and perform at these studios. On the homefront, Antix also began performing exhibits and shows in Redlands that benefited local non-profit agencies to help share the pole gospel. Michula created and hosted the first nationally renowned pole dance showcase, ‘Rock the Pole’ with the most amazing aerialists at that time. As a co-founder of East Meets West, she created the first competition that allowed men competitors, as well as the first doubles competition in pole dance history.
After 10 years of serving hundreds of clients at Antix Fitness Studio, she closed the studio so her and her husband could move to Monterey County. She continues to teach workshops across the nation and teaches at another local studio in Gilroy. She now brings her gifts to Steel and Grace Studio and can’t wait to get aerial with you!