Issue #385 – Wednesday, November 23, 2022 Sharry Traver Underwood’s notes from Joe’s Jacob’s Pillow classes (as posted by Jonathan Grubb) With the very kind permission of Sharry Traver Underwood and with the assistance of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Archives, I am delighted to bring you Sharry’s notes that she […]
Pilates and Kung Fu – by Reiner Grootenhuis
Issue #402 – Wednesday, June 7, 2023 Pilates and Kung Fu by Reiner Grootenhuis Some of my V-bed observations are listed further below if you have time and interest. Reiner started his professional career studying psychology, all the while studying Weng Chun, the martial and healing arts of the South […]
Pat Guyton Remembers Bruce King
Issue #373 – Wednesday, June 22, 2022 Pat Guyton Remembers Bruce King “Movement in correct alignment produces correct muscular development.” Bruce King As students we meet our teachers at one point in their teaching life. We are influenced by our teachers and by their practice of Pilates. Each of our teachers […]
Pilates: More than Just the Exercises – by Miguel Bengoa
Issue #368 Wednesday May 11, 2022 Pilates: More than Just the Exercises by Miguel Bengoa Before I became a Pilates teacher… I was a language teacher. A very “learner focussed” teacher one: Students of language were “learners” learning skills, not studying “rules”. We studied what the learners brought in and […]
Wall Of Fame Fridays – by Cathy Strack
Issue #366 – Wednesday, April 20, 2022 TheWall Of Fame Fridays by Cathy Strack Joe Pilates taught his method to many famous men and women during his lifetime. The walls of his studio at 939 Eighth Avenue in New York City were covered with photographs signed by many of his students […]
Lost in Translation, Part II – by Amy Alpers
Issue #363 – Wednesday, March 23, 2022 How the Pilates Method Has Changed Over the Years by Amy Alpers In my last article on this subject, I discussed several key differences between the way Romana taught certain Pilates exercises in the 1980s/90s, versus the way they are shown on archival […]
Pilates History – Pehr Ling and Knockaloe Camp – by Jonathan Grubb
Issue #361 – Wednesday, March 2, 2022 Pilates History – Pehr Ling and Knockaloe Camp by Jonathan Grubb There are many references in Knockaloe Camp newspapers to ‘free exercises’ being performed at the Camp and usually these references describe parts of gymnastic festivals which were held there. Free exercises are more […]
Some Pilates History and a Pilates Myth
Issue #355 – Wednesday, December 15, 2021 Some Pilates History and a Pilates Myth A myth and some science from Adam McAtee Back when I was a novice Pilates teacher, I came from a belief that Pilates was limited to “the order” and “real teachers” not only knew the order and […]
Eugen Sandow and ‘Life is Movement’ – by Jonathan Grubb
Issue #354 – Wednesday, December 8, 2021 Eugen Sandow and ‘Life is Movement’ by Jonathan Grubb Life is Movement! They could be words from a page of one of Joseph Pilates’ books. In fact these words are the title of a book by Eugen Sandow which was first published in 1919. […]
Pilates: The Past in the Present (and Future) – The Making of a Documentary Series on 1st and 2nd Generation Teachers – by Marion Kessel
Issue #353 – Wednesday, December 1, 2021 Pilates: The Past in the Present (and Future) The Making of a Documentary Series on 1st and 2nd Generation Teachers by Marion Kessel The idea of doing a film on the Legacy of Pilates and those who inherited ideas and practices from Joseph Pilates […]
Lost in Translation – How the Pilates Method Has Changed Over the Years – by Amy Alpers
Issue #351 – Wednesday, November 10, 2021 Lost in Translation How the Pilates Method Has Changed Over the Years by Amy Alpers When my sister and I first opened our studio, The Pilates Center (in Boulder, CO, back in 1990), and launched our teacher training program, we had basically one […]
Let’s Talk Springs – by Reiner Grootenhuis
Issue #350 – Wednesday, November 3, 2021 Let’s Talk Springs by Reiner Grootenhuis For us Pilates apparatus fans, springs are an essential part of the method. For each exercise and client, we try to choose the best spring setting for the body in front of us. Depending on the apparatus, […]
The Heart and Soul of Pilates – the Mat Work – by Ana Caban
Issue #335 – May 19, 2021 The Heart and Soul of Pilates – the Mat Work by Ana Caban “No man – No machine can correct or create vitality, power, or health for you; everything comes from within; you have to unfold it.” -Joseph H Pilates I still remember the […]
Every Breath You Take…Pilates Paradigm Shifts and Going Against the Grain – by Ivan Zagorsky
Issue #334 – May 5, 2021 Every Breath You Take…Pilates Paradigm Shifts and Going Against the Grain by Ivan Zagorsky I find that Pilates is similar to Kung Fu – every school teaches their own style, even though the basic movements look similar on the surface and humans with the […]
The Side Way Sitting Stretch – by Reiner Grootenhuis
Issue #325 – Wednesday, February 17, 2021 The Side Way Sitting Stretch by Reiner Grootenhuis ”The Side Way Sitting Stretch” is the original name used by Carola Trier I first discovered this exercise in the archive pictures of Joseph Pilates‘s student Carola Trier. Shortly afterwards I was taught the […]
Pilates Wisdom from Jay Grimes – by Ana Caban
Issue #318 – November 18, 2020 Pilates Wisdom from Jay Grimes by Ana Caban When I sat down in Balanced Body Headquarters over 2 ½ years ago, I had no idea what an amazing and historical ride I was in for. I entered a conference room with managers of several […]
Review of Caged Lion – by Reiner Grootenhuis
Pic: Author John Steele with Joe and Clara Issue #316 – Wednesday, November 4, 2020 Review of Caged Lion by Reiner Grootenhuis As a Pilates Intel regular, you probably read the excerpt from John Howard Steel’s recently published “Caged Lion” here a few weeks ago. Time for a review and […]
Pre-Pilates and Beyond – by Christina Maria Gadar
Issue #312 – Wednesday, September 23, 2020 Pre-Pilates and Beyond by Christina Maria Gadar “I give people homework, like exercises to do in bed before you even put your feet on the floor in the morning. We don’t pop ‘em into a class and command them to do a […]
Mary Pilates – by Bonnie Hubscher
Issue #310 – Wednesday, September 9, 2020 Mary Pilates by Bonnie Hubscher Early in my Pilates career, and full of enthusiasm to share it, I held workshops to bring Pilates to people’s attention. Mary Pilates LeRiche was invited to be our honored guest speaker at one of these workshops and […]
Pilates at School A Dream Has Come True! by Eva Obenaus
Issue #309 – Wednesday, August 26, 2020 Pilates at School A Dream Has Come True! by Eva Obenaus I was a teacher of physical education and history at a Commercial High School in Austria from 1978 until 2017. In 2004, I started my Pilates education with Juliana Afram in Hamburg, […]
Taking a Walk with Joe! Excerpt from ‘Caged Lion’ by John Howard Steel
Above a pic of author John Howard Steel and Pilates Intel editor Brett Miller Issue #307 – Wednesday, August 12, 2020 Taking a Walk with Joe! Excerpt from ‘Caged Lion’ by John Howard Steel When summer came and the days got longer and warmer, Joe would suggest we take a walk […]
Joe’s Breaststroke by Reiner Grootenhuis
Issue #301 – Wednesday May 20, 2020 Joe’s Breaststroke by Reiner Grootenhuis There are certain exercises in our Pilates system which seem to be difficult when you do them for the first time … and they often stay difficult even when you keep on practicing them. For many of us, […]
Coming into the Zone with Pilates – by Suzanne Martin
Issue #300 Wednesday May 5, 2020 Coming into the Zone with Pilates by Suzanne Martin Breathing is a major principle in our Pilates tradition. Mr. Pilates continually emphasizes breathing in Return to Life. I believe we can all agree that all movement starts with a breath as movement emanates from […]
Love All Around – The Romana Kryzanowska Biography A Review by Rebekah Le Magny
Issue #296 – Wednesday, April 8, 2020 Love All Around – The Romana Kryzanowska Biography A Review by Rebekah Le Magny Title: Love All Around – The Romana Kryzanowska Biography Author: Cathy Strack and Carol J. Craig Foreword by Mari Winsor Date of Publication: 2019 Pages: 287 Availability: www.cathystrack.com Price: […]
Engage Deeper into your Teaching – by Clare Dunphy Hemani
March 12, 2020 Engage Deeper into your Teaching by Clare Dunphy-Hemani I think most Pilates teachers today share the belief that our lineage has value because the connection back to Joe, either directly or through one of his students (our elders), helps keep the tradition alive. It wasn’t that long […]
To Be or Not To Be a Teacher – by Kaisa Marran
Issue #289 – Wednesday, February 5, 2020 To Be or Not To Be a Teacher by Kaisa Marran Pilates teachers rock, they change people’s lives! Joseph Pilates may not have been a great teacher, but he was a genius, no doubt. He had an obsession where nothing stopped him working […]
Airplane on the Cadillac – by Reiner Grootenhuis
November 6, 2019 Airplane on the Cadillac by Reiner Grootenhuis Setup: Attach traditional leg springs at a height of 80 – 85 cm / 31.5 – 33.5 inches. The higher the spring attachment, the easier raising the body into the diagonal becomes. Supine position with the head pointing toward the […]
The Amazing Chest Expansion – by Clare Dunphy-Hemani
October 9, 2019 The Amazing Chest Expansion by Clare Dunphy-Hemani I guess if I had to pick one universally effective, versatile Pilates exercise (which in my opinion, should be taught in every session and for nearly every person), it would be Chest Expansion. It includes all the essentials of total […]
The History of the Pilates Cadillac – by Reiner Grootenhuis
Joe Pilates on the Cadillac – thank you IC Rapoport May 29, 2019 The History of the Cadillac by Reiner Grootenhuis Be sure to check out Reiner’s brand new Cadillac manual, available at Amazon, at the VERY FAIR price of $67 The Cadillac and I didn’t have an easy […]
The Order – Learning from Romana By Tricia Dean O’Donnell
November 21, 2018 The Order – Learning from Romana By Tricia Dean O’Donnell In 1997, none of us realized we were observing history, while undergoing our teacher certification for The Pilates Method of Body Conditioning under the supervision of Romana Kryzanowska and Bob Liekens. There were many apprentices, sometimes nearly […]
In Memory of the Great Bob Liekens
November 7, 2018 In Memory of the Great Bob Liekens (this is the Pilates Intel edition from Nov 7 in its entirety) Hello , For the few of you who have not heard the news, you now most likely have guessed from the title that the wonderful Bob Liekens passed […]
Changes Romana Made to Pilates: Brett Interviews the Bob Liekens
August 22, 2018 Changes Romana Made to Pilates: Brett Interviews the ‘Great’ Bob Liekens Interview with Bob Brett: You know Bob, since I started taking your LEAP program, I have been impressed by how much you talk about how Romana changed and adapted things, allowing her to teach Pilates as she […]
Romana Kryzanowska’s Place in the History of Pilates by Amy Taylor Alpers
Romana Kryzanowska’s Place in the History of Pilates By Amy Taylor Alpers May 23, 2017 I wrote a piece for PilatesIntel awhile back in which I told Romana’s history and tried my best to describe her character and vivacious, fun-loving nature. Give her a glass of champagne, take her […]
Romana Kryzanowska – Maintaining the Integrity and Spirit of Pilates – by Amy Taylor Alpers
Romana Kryzanowska (1923 – 2013) Maintaining the Integrity and Spirit of Pilates by Amy Taylor Alpers Romana Kryzanowska loved life, and she lived a full, rich, colorful, satisfying, adventurous one, always surrounded by family, friends and students. She was part “American Annie Oakley”, part “Russian prima ballerina”, part “Peruvian shepherdess”, […]
Pilates Breathing and “The Hundred” as Taught to Francene Perel By Mary Pilates
Pilates Breathing and “The Hundred” as Taught to Francene Perel By Mary Pilates I am so fortunate to have been taught by Mary Pilates, niece of Joseph Pilates. Mary was very emphatic about breathing as one of the fundamentals of the Pilates Method. I recorded Mary speaking and one of […]
A Hybrid of Many Masters – by Jillian Hessel
Hybrid of Many Masters By Jillian Hessel If you are a teacher, or even an avid student of Pilates, you can trace your lineage back through a special mentor or formative teacher. We each discovered Pilates traveling our own unique path, and this is how the living chain of lineage […]
A Strong Woman – Carola Trier – by Eva Rincke
A Strong WomAn: Carola Strauss-Trier by Eva Rincke Carola Strauss-Trier was the first person to open a Pilates studio – other than Joseph Pilates himself. She contributed significantly to establishing the Pilates method in the field of rehabilitation. The story of her life is just as interesting as […]
Joe Pilates’ Childhood In Poverty – by historian Eva Rincke (Part 2)
Source: Stadtarchiv Mönchengladbach Joe Pilates’ Childhood In Poverty – by historian Eva Rincke (Part 2) “Perfecting the knee bend and many things to commend, his youth was gymnastic to the end.” – Joachim Ringelnatz, Setting up the Equipment (First Draft) Alongside his secret outings into the woods, the only other thing Joseph […]
Joe Pilates’ Childhood In Poverty – by historian Eva Rincke (Part 1)
Source: Stadtarchiv Mönchengladbach Joe Pilates’ Childhood In Poverty – by historian Eva Rincke (Part 1) “Perfecting the knee bend and many things to commend, his youth was gymnastic to the end.” – Joachim Ringelnatz, Setting up the Equipment (First Draft) There is a copy of an old photograph at the city archives […]
The Importance of Honoring our Heritage – by Kathy Corey
The Importance of Honoring our Heritage By Kathy Corey Heritage is the linking of the present to its original source. To know where we are today, we need to honor the link to our past. No matter what are our differences, we share the common bond of the man who […]