The Pilates Elders..Who Are They? What Are They?
The Elders are about 10 individuals who learned Contrology or Pilates directly from Joe Pilates himself. One such Elder, Romana Kryzanowska, taught “the exact exercises and ideas that Joe Pilates and his wife Clara taught to her.” The method is now referred to as the Classical Method of Pilates. The other Elders all went on to teach Pilates, with some developing their own exercises and training programs based on the Pilates Method they learned from Joe. Up until about 2 years ago there were still quite a few Elders alive and teaching. Now, there are about 3. Most current instructors can trace their “lineage” back to one of these Elders:
Clara Pilates
Romana Kryzanowska
Eve Gentry
Kathy Grant
Ron Fletcher
Carola Trier
*Lolita San Miguel – still alive and teaching at 81 years young
*Mary Bowen – 84 years old and still teaching
*Bruce King – alive and teaching
*Jay Grimes – still teaching
Here is a breakdown of Lineage and what type of instructor you can call yourself:
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An Elder learned Pilates directly from Joe Pilates and then started to teach Pilates themselves
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You are a First Generation or “Master” instructor if you learned Pilates directly from an Elder
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You are a Second Generation instructor if you learned Pilates from a First Generation or Master Instructor
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You get the idea! I am a Second Generation Pilates Instructor. 🙂
