Most Pilates teachers out there today can trace his or her lineage back to Joe and Clara Pilates, and this includes such heavyweights as Mari Winsor and Moira Stott. I, for example, originally was a Pilates client when I was a student at SUNY Purchase. I learned under Steve Giordano who studied with Joe's student Romana Kryzanowska. Then I worked with Karen Carlson in Philadelphia who studied with Mary Bowen and Kathy Grant who both studied with Joe. And I received my certification from both Michelle Larson and her teacher Eve Gentry who studied with Joe. Since then I have worked directly with Romana, with Eve before she died, and with Kathy. So even though my studio training affiliation is with the PhysicalMind Institute I trace my lineage as a student and teacher back to Pilates himself and when people ask me what style of Pilates I teach I can honestly say that it is my own, but informed by all of my teachers.
Of the 10 students of Joe's who taught Pilates either at his studio or opened their own (yes, there were other New York Pilates studios open in the 50s!), only 6 are still alive and 5 are still actively teaching in their 70s and 80s! Each individual took what he or she learned from Joe and Clara and expanded the work with their own knowledge and expertise. Additionally, many of the Elders worked with one another. Hence, the different styles of Pilates, all of which can ultimately be traced back to Joseph Pilates himself.
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