“Oceane’s thoughtful insights, analogies and teachings have changed my perceptions and use of my body. She has taught me greater body awareness, confidence and strength of movement.”
Océane McCord is a Pilates teacher, movement educator, professional dancer and choreographer, and the creator of the Zero State Method and Embodiment Liberation.
For more than two decades, movement has been at the center of her life and work—from professional dance and Pilates to somatic practice, creative exploration, and the study of embodiment.
Océane received her BFA in Dance, Magna Cum Laude, from Cornish College of the Arts after attending Idyllwild Arts Academy. She went on to perform nationally and internationally with companies including Shen Wei Dance Arts, AmDaT, The Only Tribe, Infinity Dance Theater, and Forward Motion Theater, appearing at venues and festivals throughout the United States and abroad.
Alongside her dance career, Océane trained extensively in Pilates at the Kane School of Core Integration in New York City, completing certifications in mat and full apparatus. Her approach to Pilates combines anatomical precision with breath, imagery, alignment, strength, mobility, and a deep awareness of the individual body. Through workshops with Irene Dowd, Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen, Eric Franklin, Liz Koch, and Amy Taylor-Alpers she integrates biomechanics, anatomy, embryology, and all the systems of the body into her teaching.
Today, she teaches private and semi-private Pilates sessions in Ojai, working with clients of varying ages and abilities to develop strength, balance, coordination, mobility, and a more integrated relationship with their bodies.
Over time, Océane's experience as a dancer, teacher, artist, and somatic practitioner led her to explore a broader question: What becomes possible when we move beyond familiar patterns and begin listening more deeply to the body?
From this inquiry emerged the Zero State Method, a somatic movement practice that uses breath, sensation, rhythm, improvisation, imagery, and creative disruption to access greater presence, responsiveness, and authentic expression.
Her workshop Embodiment Liberation: Breaking Patterns, Embracing Authenticity brings this work into an immersive group experience. Drawing from contemporary and jazz dance, somatic practices, pranayama, Butoh, Gaga-inspired movement, meditation, and play, participants are invited to soften habitual patterns and rediscover the body's instinctive intelligence.
Océane's teaching moves between precision and freedom: the structure and intelligence of Pilates alongside the curiosity, creativity, and expressive possibilities of the Zero State.
She currently teaches Pilates, workshops, retreats, and movement experiences in Ojai and internationally.
“Oceane is master level teacher of Pilates, yoga, dance, stretch and much more. She knows the inner body; its functions, connections and her clients strengths and weaknesses. She has strengthened and opened my body to be free from pain. ”
Philosophy
I believe the body is not something to master, but something to listen to.
Movement gives us a way to become more attentive to the subtle information that is always present—breath, sensation, tension, weight, rhythm, impulse, pleasure, resistance, and our relationship to gravity and space. When we learn to listen more deeply, movement becomes more than exercise. It becomes a way of knowing ourselves.
My teaching begins with this awareness. Whether working through the precision of Pilates or the exploratory practices of the Zero State Method, I am interested in creating a balance between structure and freedom, effort and ease, discipline and curiosity.
The body naturally develops patterns that help us move through the world. Some support us; others become limiting simply because they are familiar. Rather than judging or forcing these patterns to change, we can become curious about them. By shifting rhythm, orientation, imagery, breath, or quality of movement, we interrupt the expected and open space for another possibility to emerge.
This is what I call the glitch—the moment when habit is disrupted and we are invited into the unknown. Instead of immediately correcting the mistake or returning to what is familiar, we listen. Often, this is where creativity, play, and a more authentic response can arise.
My background in professional dance, Pilates, somatic practice, meditation, and the study of anatomy has taught me that embodiment is both precise and mysterious. We can study biomechanics, alignment, fascia, the nervous system, and the many interconnected systems of the body while also remaining open to imagination, intuition, and lived experience.
I believe humor and play are essential parts of this process. We do not need to perfect ourselves in order to become more embodied. We can explore our edges without losing softness, laugh at our human awkwardness, and discover strength without rigidity.
Ultimately, my work is about helping people develop a deeper relationship with their bodies—one that supports strength, mobility, presence, creativity, and trust in their own inner intelligence.
The goal is not simply to move better.
It is to become more available to life.
