Elise Foss was born in
Brazil and raised in Venezuela. She began her dance career at the age of five.
In addition to experiencing spicy Latin American dance, Elise studied
jazz, ballet and modern dance. She
went on to study economics, but her true passions were fashion design and dance,
and she taught jazz classes as she studied.
After she moved to the United States in 1992, she pursued her interest in fitness by training to become an aerobics instructor and a personal trainer. She earned her certification from the American Council on Exercise for both leading Group exercise classes and personal training. Elise has also earned a Fitness Specialist certificate from the University of Illinois Chicago. Additionally she received a Special Recognition in “Mind Body Connection” through the American Council on Exercise.
Elise also owns and operates Feeling Good Wellness Company,
which provides in-home fitness training services, group exercise classes and
corporate presentations in the Chicago area.
Elise has taught group exercise classes of various kinds
since 1985 nationally and internationally.
She can be found teaching classes these days at Chicago’s finest health
clubs including The Evanston Athletic Club and Forest Grove Athletic Club.
Elise gradually added some Latin dance moves to her routines to keep her
students interested, and these Latin-inspired classes soon became the most
popular.
Armed
with fantastic feedback, she decided it was time to take her hot, body-shaping,
self-expressed routines to a larger audience, and she especially wanted to reach
out to her native Latin-American audience in Spanish.
Therefore, the idea of the first video was born.
Elise and her video partner Andrew, decided to work on a Latin workout
video. Viva! Latin
Rhythm Workout and ˇViva! Aeróbicos con Ritmo Latino. They
produced one in English and the other in Spanish.
She wanted to have exercise videos that
were not just about
working out. It had to be about
having fun, feeling sexy, and being self-expressed while burning the calories.
So many thoughts and little details went to this production.
" I am so thrilled to be able to offer them to
people as a great alternative to working out:
dancing as a way to stay healthy!”
Viva Elise, Inc., as a company, is committed to fun,
self-expression, fitness, harmony, and greatness in people’s lives!