What Kind of Pilates Person Are You?

[sheepla]

Originally Posted by KathAL79

Neither. I'm a Pilates "purist" in that I don't care much for approaches that work in ballet / barre, yoga, etc., with the exception of Jules Benson's Total Core Pilates. Give me more Stott's approach or those based on or off of classical Pilates (Hilary Burnett, Ana Caban, even Lara Hudson).

I totally agree with this. I love barre workouts and do yoga every day but do NOT want those confused and mixed in with my pilates workouts. I only enjoy traditional, classical pilates workouts (though Stott is way too dry for me).

[toaster]

Can I say none of the above? I have learned that I am an extremely picky Pilates person--I like it, but very few workouts seem to click with me. Of the the choices above, I especially DON'T click with Mari Winsor and DEFINITELY NOT Jennifer Kries, but I also find Scott way too dry, and although I like Ellen, I've never really been able to get into her workouts (I don't think fusion-y Pilates appeals to me all that much either).

So, who does that leave? The Pilates instructor I click with the most is Ana Caban; I have several of her workouts. I also like Karen Voight's Abs & Back (this has been through several titles) and Kristen McGee's MTV Pilates (although I haven't liked her newer stuff).

[Janga]

I don't really like any of them. I just like the way Joe did it!

But re the ?s, I'd say Stott and Kries.

[PeakFitness]

Mari over Stott, I guess. But my fave is Ana.

[jahra]

I am a 21st century pilates person (Laura Peralta)
Love her pilates dvds, she is a dance therapist.

[carrie writes]

alternate between ana caban and brook silar

[KathAL79]

Originally Posted by herya

I also like Pilates On Fifth workouts and I have several of them from UltimatePilatesWorkouts.com. Corp sisters are really great for spicing things up while still retaining great form.

I agree. The Pilates on Fifth method strikes me as similar to Stott's in that it's rooted in classical Pilates (namely that taught by Romana K) but willing to play with the order and form a little, so for those of you like Stott's approach except for Moira, they might be worth checking out. I have one Pilates DVD by them, Pilates to Go, which isn't a big budget production, but their downloads are available at the website Marta mentioned plus on iTunes.

The funny thing about my Pilates "purist" tendencies is that I love yoga, too, and I've dabbled in dance, so you'd think I'd be the perfect candidate for fusion. But for some reason I want to do just Pilates with Pilates form and breathing, just yoga with yoga form and breathing, and so on. It would certainly be more time efficient to be a fusion fan!

With regards to the other form of Pilates "purism," namely the concern with the way Joe taught it, I was reading Alycea Ungaro's 15 Minute Pilates book last night and personally really like her approach, which is to understand Pilates' history and original presentation but allow for tweaks for individual needs and the development that occurs with current thinking on the body (such as the debates over spinal positioning in supine poses: neutral spine vs. imprint vs. flat back pressed into the mat). While I admire the effort involved, I worry a bit about those who want to set The One Way of doing all of the exercises in stone (see Peter Fascia's book, Discovering Pure Classical Pilates: Theory and Practice as Joseph Pilates Intended - The Traditional Method vs. The Lies for Sale); I seem to remember reading the 5 disciples have slight variations in how they understand what Joseph intended, perhaps reflective of his very smart tailoring of his approach to their needs.

[lfcjasp]

Never done Stott or Kries, but the clips I've seen of their material didn't tempt me. Had some old vhs tapes of Mari's and she didn't really interest me either. I love working out with Ellen, but even I know she's hardly "Pilates"...she's fusion, a blend of several disciplines. So I wouldn't classify her with Pilates really.

It would be nice to attend a Pilates class with a live instructor who could correct my form...a good idea to keep in mind