For nearly 25 years, Dr. Nick Cucuzzo has been involved with wellness, fitness, healthy living and Pilates style exercise. As a wellness expert and exercise specialist, he has been employed in various areas of preventive medicine. He has worked with: adults in fitness programs, obese children, substance abusers, stress patients, ballet dancers, severely burned children and has mentored students doing internships and practicums in the field. Nick danced professionally for 14 years. He is now taking clients for private sessions in Pilates based exercise.
Education
Nick holds a Ph.D. and a dual masters. One from the University of Houston in Exercise Science, the other a master's in environmental engineering from Manhattan College in New York City He was awarded a full graduate stipend from the Florida State University to obtain a doctoral degree in Movement Science. His dissertation study was carried out at the Medical College of Georgia's Preventive Medicine Institute under a grant from the National Institutes of Health in Washington , D.C The study focused on the effects of behavior modification as compared to a structured exercise program on selected physiological and psychological factors in obese minority girls ages 7-11 Nick has attended university and professional language schools in Italy, Greece , Australia , Mexico and Scandinavia .
Performing Artist
As a classical dancer Nick trained with City Ballet of Houston under Margo Marshall and danced in the southwest USA and northern EuropeHe trained with masters of the art such as: Frederick Franklin, Anna-Marie Holmes, Luis Fuente, and the late: Robert Joffrey, Sasha Minz, and George ZorichAs an artist-in-residence in Scandinavia , he became conversational in Norwegian and then traveled to Florence to learn the Italian language and study Cecchetti ballet technique. Upon his return to the USA, he performed with the Houston Grand Opera company during its nationally televised PBS premiere season at the Wortham Center dancing on stage aside Placido Domingo in Verdi's Opera, "AIDA"
Experience
In addition to lecturing and conducting research at FSU, he acted as associate director of the successful university-based adult wellness program for three years. It was during this time that he became the keynote lecturer and acting consultant for the State of Florida Department of Education's nutrition education and wellness program. He joined the Galveston ’s Shriners Hospital for Children in 1997 under a grant from the National Institute for Disabilities, Rehabilitation and Research. Dr. Cucuzzo's contribution to Shrine efforts of creating a model pediatric burn rehabilitation program, was directing the establishment of the Children's Wellness Center . The center took an interdisciplinary and holistic approach to improving a burned child and family's quality of life by increasing their levels of regular, purposeful physical activity which included use of the classical Pilates reformer and Cadillac work. As a visiting professor in the College of Health and Human Performance’s, Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology at the University of Florida , he taught Pilates mat exercise certifying through Pilates Concepts of Houston under John Gossett and the New York Physical Mind Institute. He is also on staff at Pilates Houston.
Future Aspirations
Nick's future aspirations include achieving optimal wellness and mentoring, educating, and counseling others in the same via physical activity and Pilates exercise. He aspires to publish literary and scholarly works, extending his interests to the national and international arenas.
