What is a Pilates Lineage?

Have you ever heard of “lineage” in Pilates? If not, you wouldn’t be the only one. There are a lot of Pilates teacher trainings that don’t teach Pilates history or are too short to even fit it in. I think Pilates lineages are pretty interesting, and they go back to where teachers got their training. Let me explain. 

First of all, I want to say that you can’t believe everything you hear. For example, I’ve heard (too many) Pilates influencers talking about Pilates history, and the information is inaccurate or completely wrong. This is unfortunate, because there are still people who learned directly from Joseph Pilates who are alive today! I was at a Pilates conference once where I overheard some women complaining about how they were tired of hearing about Joe over and over. The thing is, if it weren’t for “this Joe guy”, there would be no Pilates. 

The Origins of Pilates

Joseph Pilates started creating his method of corrective exercise well over 100 years ago while he was living in Germany and England. He started his movement practice to help himself. He was a sickly child and had rickets. Through his own observations of other movement practices, animal movement, and the evolution of children’s movement, he designed a movement method that corrected his own imbalances, and that of many others over the years. It wasn’t meant to replace your other exercise. It was meant to help you do all of those things better and life in general with more ease. 

He created the apparatus to help people to gain awareness, strength, and mobility to be able to do the mat work. The body weight work is the most difficult in the system, and the more you practice and find more control you can really see and feel this. I often highlight this with clients who will happily do a squat with weights but will complain about having to do a push up, pull up, burpee, and other body weight exercises.  

In 1926 Joe opened the first Pilates studio in New York city. Soon, he had people from the dance world because they’d got work that he could “fix them” so they could keep dancing. Most of his business was acquired through word of mouth, though he did write books and do some advertising. The funny thing is, while he taught people Pilates, he didn’t have a formal teacher training program. 

The Next Pilates Teachers

As Joe’s studio got busier, he started asking some students to help out. They learned the method directly from him and through practice. Soon, he approved a few people to be actual teachers and supported them when they opened their own studios. These first Pilates teachers who learned from Joe are called the elders of Pilates. 

Romana eventually took over Joe’s studio after his death. Ron Fletcher moved to Los Angeles and Clara, Joe’s wife, gave him her blessing to have a studio in California. There were also Lolita San Miguel, Mary Bowen, Carola Trier, Kathy Grant, and Eve Gentry. There also was Jay Grimes who stayed out of the spotlight, but he had been quietly teaching the method for years in California.

Since Pilates was never trademarked, there is no official terminology, other than what the teachers have passed down through their teaching lineages. Some say that Joe taught Contrology. Romana taught Classical Pilates, which is said to have been coined by one of her trainees after she created formal Pilates teacher training. Jay’s teaching was less “dancer-y” than Romana’s, and both changed the order of some of the exercises. 

The other elders added their own “flair” to the method and their teaching became known as Contemporary Pilates. But back then, the difference between teachers was small. After all, even though Joe taught everyone individually, they all learned from the same master. 

Today’s Teachers

If you are a true Pilates teacher, you should be able to trace your teaching lineage back to Joseph. I can trace mine back to both Romana and Jay. My first Pilates teacher was trained by sisters Amy and Rachel, who own The Pilates Center in Boulder, Colorado. I’ve trained under others who came through that lineage, as well. Then I trained extensively under Karen Frishman, who was trained by Jay Grimes for her whole career with some training from Romana, as well. 

Unfortunately, the “game of telephone” has changed things a lot in the Pilates world. Like I mentioned, not learning the history of Pilates is a big part of that. But there are others who haven’t been taught that Pilates is a system, the true intention of the apparatuses, or why we do each exercise. As long as you’re being taught safe exercise, that’s okay… but you just may not be doing Pilates. The more you study and practice Pilates, however, the more the puzzle pieces will fall into place. 

Be Curious

If you are a Pilates teacher, you should be able to trace your lineage back to Joe. Pilates has only existed for about 100 years, so it should be fairly easy to do. If you can’t, start asking questions. Not because you are being nosy, but because it’s fun to learn!