Category Archives: History & Archival

  • Kathy Grant: A Teacher’s Teacher

    I never had the privilege of meeting or working with Kathy Grant, but have many friends and colleagues who did work with her extensively. My mentor, Marie-José Blom from Long Beach Dance Conditioning, was quite close to her and speaks of her often. In fact, on the day of Kathy Grant’s death I was with […]…

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  • Carola Trier

      Again today we are looking at where the origins of the Pilates work began. To understand the metamorphosis and the progression that this work has endured, we need to understand the people behind it. As Contrology got passed down exercise by exercise and then got translated into certification form, those creative souls that regard […]…

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  • A Brief Animated History of Pilates

    We wanted to share our short history of Pilates video. This video is part of our Course Prep Program. We had a lot of fun making it. What do you think?!…

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  • There’s Something About Mary

    We were fortunate enough to spend the week with Mary Bowen here at our home studio (laboratory!) in Asheville, NC. The following is a short excerpt from a three-hour interview with Mary in her home studio in Connecticut. We hope to have the rest for you soon. Until then, enjoy! Let us know what you […]…

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  • Mary Bowen

    See our interview with Mary here… A number of first-generation Pilates teachers that Joseph Pilates passed the work onto are still with us. These teachers are full of wisdom and give us real insight into how and why the work developed like it did. I have gotten to work with a number of these individuals, […]…

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  • Romana Kryzanowska

    Note: Romana Kryzanowska passed away on August 30, 2013 after the writing of this post. She will be missed, but her influence lives on. When Pilates and Pilates teacher training comes up, one name always in everyone’s minds is Romana Kryzanowska. She is the oldest first-generation teacher and has been one of the biggest forces […]…

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  • Ron Fletcher: A Short History of a Movement Visionary

    As many of you know, we lost Pilates Elder Ron Fletcher in 2011. Although he’s gone, his creative and inspired work lives on through his method called Fletcher Pilates. He was a wonderful man and teacher and a beautiful storyteller. I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with Ron early in my career. He […]…

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  • The History of Pilates

    To understand Pilates, it’s important to know a bit about the background of its creator, Joseph Hubertus Pilates. Pilates was about fifty years ahead of his time and so did not enjoy financial success during his life. He did not receive appreciation of his work until long after his death. Pilates was interested in physicality […]…

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