Body Moves - Teaching the Pilates Method
As a dance major, my interest in formulating my own Pilates-based movement series based on spirals later turned into my honors thesis.
Academic focus: Dance major
Concentration: Choreography and Performance
Honor's Theses: An Exploration of Spirals
Internship: Anderson Pilates
Additional Degrees: DPT & MS in progress
Employer: Independent Pilates Instructor
Prior to attending Mount Holyoke, I had taught at Anderson Pilates in Tucson, AZ. It was my home studio where I had studied for a few years, and deeply connected with both the methodology and the staff. My interest in the how the body moves, and how one can train the body to achieve various outcomes began long before I found myself at Anderson Pilates, but it was there that my curiosities were developed into action.
The studio was unique in that it didn’t hold to one lineage of the Pilates Method - of which there are approximately eight, that have very different perspectives on what Pilates is and is not. Each one of my teachers was from a different background, and thus the studio was a vibrant center of collaboration, discussion, investigation and development. While at the College, I taught Pilates my first J-term for a student-run course. I also taught briefly in the dorms. But the MAT certification that I held was something I wanted to expand into a full apparatus certification.
I was also interested in formulating my own Pilates-based movement series based on spirals which eventually turned into my honors thesis. Establishing an internship at Anderson Pilates the summer between my sophomore and junior years, allowed me to accomplish both of these items, as well as learning the ins-and-outs of studio ownership.