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Before her students walk through her studio door, you can find Dionne Figgins in the room by herself. The lights are often dimmed, soft music is flowing through the space, and she is just moving. Sometimes she’s going through her Pilates mat exercises; other times she’s immersed in a full-blown freestyle, but she always takes […]
As a student of Pilates teacher Romana Kryzanowska, I remember a teacher-training session a decade ago when a young instructor asked Romana why she never got bored of teaching the same exercises. Romana answered, “I am not teaching exercises. I am teaching a person.” This approach continues to motivate my work with Pilates––which I’ve been […]
When Florida State University professor Tom Welsh arrived in Tallahassee in 1991, dance science was uncharted territory. “Mostly, it was technique teachers who were looking for ways to keep their dancers dancing,” he says. “It was just a field people imagined could happen.” He immediately set to work building the university’s dance science program from […]
While teaching jazz at Gus Giordano Dance, sometimes Lauren Giordano Curran forgets she’s not a student. “You have to listen to your body. I have to know I can’t do a full-out battement because I’m going to tear my hamstring,” she says. “Teachers forget that and go right into it, and you find yourself, like, […]
Biking develops strength in the quadriceps and glutes. Working at a lower resistance will enable dancers to avoid building bulky muscles. An elliptical gives you an intense cardio workout without the impact on your joints. Adjustments to the incline and resistance can add variety to the workout. Pilates stabilizes the core and targets specific muscle […]
Your browser does not support the video tag. Blossom Leilani Crawford is a Pilates historian and disciple of first-generation Pilates student Kathleen Stanford Grant. Here, she demonstrates some of Kathy Grant’s “Cat” exercises, a series of quadruped exercises aimed at helping hypermobile dancers develop strength and stability.
Pilates Anatomy: Your illustrated guide to mat work for core stability and balance By Rael Isacowitz and Karen Clippinger Human Kinetics, 2011 204 pages Ideal for a Pilates instructor or general practitioner, Pilates Anatomy is an informative and comprehensive guide to the technique. Examining movement from the inside out, the book shows which muscles are […]
