Pilates. How Did I Get Here?

So....how did I get into pilates?   Well… have a seat. It’s a fun story! Okay, let’s face it – I was a ‘fearless’ kid. I jumped off the roof of our seaside cottage for fun and ran everywhere I went because walking just wasn’t fast enough. I did every sport I could. College gymnastics (I wanted to be Nadia Comaneci) led me to a dance class and I found my love and calling – dance, music and choreography.  I couldn’t get enough. I did modern, ballet, jazz, contact improvisation, performance theater, Latin dancing, any training I could get my hands on. I started teaching.  I moved to  New York  City for two years and worked at Dance Theatre Workshop as a graphic designer creating posters and promotion for small dance companies.  I inhaled art forms: dance, theater, Broadway, museums, big shows, small shows, street shows, loft shows. ART! ART! ART!  I trained with an old timer, Phyllis Lamhut (of the Alvin Nikolais Dance Company) and choreographed, directed and produced concerts. 

In 1985 I traveled to South America solo and taught dance at the University in Salvadore, Brazil. There, I trained in “capoeira” (the fabulously athletic martial art/dance) at the very first academy of capoeira.  In a narrow, tiled-floor second-story flat in the red light district of Bahia, I took three-hour classes three times per week. Our instructor, Almiro was a young, powerful 25-year-old master teacher.  This is where I learned Brazilian Portuguese,   The class was made up of 40 Brazilian men and four women; one French and three Americans, Our names were Zina, Zulema and Zonnie! What are the odds? We worked our butts off!

Back in my home town of Portland, Oregon the next year, I rejoined Do Jump! Movement Theater – an acrobat/trapeze/theatre/dance company headed by the talented Robin Lane formerly of the Pickle Family Circus, San Francisco. Think early Cirque du Soleil with a small budget. I had been a founding member of the original company before leaving for my travels.  Robin formed a dynamic and widely varied troupe made up of fine athletes and artists including two dancers, a mime, an actor, a gymnast and one of the top 10 women martial artists in the country. We had six months of trapeze and acrobatic training before we created our first show. We worked out of a huge, silent movie theatre (Echo Theatre) built in 1910 that we renovated and rigged for trapeze. Together we co-created shows and built a kids training program for gymnastics and trapeze. Do Jump! is still a powerful force in the Pacific Northwest over 30 years later.

However, after twenty years of professional dancing, teaching and choreographing, my right knee started hurting and wouldn't stop.  It limited my motion. I eventually saw a surgeon who recommended surgery to realign the knee cap. Oh no!  However, around the same time, a dancer- turned-Pilates instructor and friend told me she could fix it. My interest was piqued. I traveled to her tiny upstairs Los Angeles home/studio two to three times a week. I remember her telling me I had an intelligent body. God - I hoped so after all that work!   One month later, my leg muscles were balanced out, my knee stabilized and it miraculously stopped hurting! Now I knew about a technique that actually fixed misalignment in the body. I tucked that knowledge away for my future.

I sold my LA dance school in 2000 and started traveling. In Florida, I hired my first personal trainer. Steve was the kind of trainer that when you were done, you couldn’t lift  your arm to turn the door knob to leave the gym. I had to swing my arm and land my hand on the knob, grab and rotate it with the whole body. I loved it of course! Steve was opening a Pilates studio nearby and asked if I wanted to teach Pilates there.  My first thought was “I don't know how to teach that!” He invited me to take a class.  During that first class I knew that I inherently understood Pilates – I had been teaching alignment and correction of the body for years, creating strong, flexible,  finely tuned and aesthetic dancers. I realized that this was a perfect next step for me. I knew I would need Pilates myself for the rest of this life.  

I had seen many dancers get injured and have trouble fully recovering. When I worked with Cirque du Soleil choreographer Debra Brown, I found out that each Cirque show had an in-house Pilates studio and the performers were required to work out with the trainer two times per week to prevent injuries.

So the opportunity fell in my lap and I dove in.  I trained like crazy in 2001 and 2002.  From there, I traveled to Sydney, Australia and continued to train myself and new clients. I came back to the States the next year and then took the opportunity to study at the International STOTT Pilates Center in Toronto. There I received extensive training on both mat and equipment Pilates. This is where I really learned the basics of correct posture and developing optimal neuromuscular performance by focusing on core stability and balancing muscle strength with flexibility. The training included  Pilates rehab technique. Brilliantly laid out, the curriculum was extensive and thorough.

Pilates has been around since Joseph Pilates opened his own studio in the early 1900’s in NYC. He called it “Contrology”. His viewpoint was that one can completely control every system of the body through precise exercise, breathing and mental focus.

I never stopped learning and training. I receive two private sessions per week. There is nothing like having another expert’s eye and direction.  She can see what I cannot  when I'm working out myself. I also gained experience in Egoscue, another alignment method for stopping chronic pain that dovetails beautifully with Pilates.   

I have the goal of  an aesthetic and fit body for life and it requires continued work. I’m on it and I love it!