Authentic Pilates Conference 2025, Poland
When you begin your training to become a Pilates Teacher, I don’t think we grasp just how rich, varied and fascinating the history and origins of the Method is, not just Joseph Pilates himself but all the Elders and second generation teachers.
This month I had the incredible opportunity to attend the Authentic Pilates Conference in Poland and learn from seven second generation teachers, who presented the Pilates method exactly as it was passed on to them by their Elder. Each teacher brought to life the personal interpretations, techniques and vision of their Elder, all grounded in the true legacy of Joseph Pilates and his work.
These master teachers were so inspiring, warm, open-hearted and incredibly generous with their time and experience.
Debora Kolwey honoured Eve Gentry with the most powerful, kind and emotive session,
“…..she (Eve) didn’t change exercises, she didn’t make things up. She just knew very intuitively & experiencially how the body is made to move, how it’s designed optimally, with less tension, less holding, less gripping”
It is definitely on my wish list to learn more with Debora, I was spell-bounded and she explained, taught and shared her knowledge and experience.
Sarita Allen honoured the work of Kathy Stanford Grant, bringing happiness & joy to our bodies & souls!
All the exercises, Kathy’s Song, The Green Room, Rossitiere Chicken, show the powerful simplicity and effectiveness of Kathy’s cueing and being with Sarita was just such an authentic, heart-warming & fun experience.
Kyria Sabin shared the beautiful work of Ron Fletcher,
“The sculpture of the spinal column is indeed a work of art and engineering. The elongated, beautiful curves give beautiful form, and about 15 times more strength than if the spine were absolutely straight.”
This session was a fabulous explanation of the percussive breath technique and the 7 Standing & Centering Cues that are so foundational to the Fletcher work. This was further developed using the incredible Ped-i-Pul to assess alignment and provide powerful feedback.
Michael Fritz & Ton Voogt shared their memories & trues essence of Romana Kryzanowska, and the Pilates party really kicked off!
“Romana was not about being perfect, Romana was about trying 100%. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, it doesn’t matter what version you do, what matters is you’re trying as hard as you can & as long as you are doing that, we’re good.”
I wanted this 2 1/2 hours to last forever-the laughter, energy, sweat and quiet swearing!
I first “met” Michael & Ton during lockdown and their workshops blew me away, their knowledge & experience are vast, all delivered with their incredible warmth & sense of fun.
Katya Smirnova shared the wonderful work of Lolita San Miguel,
“The Spine Corrector never lies”
and this session really highlighted the amazing Pre Pilates exercises of Lolita. So many gems especially the 5 smiles & “wrinkle up not down!”
Jillian Hessel explored the exercises presented in Carola Trier’s book, Exercise, What It Is, What It Does.
I am lucky enough to have a copy of this priceless book which, although aimed at children, has so many great exercises for everyone. This session was so much fun as we worked through the unique, simple yet effective exercises from Carola.
The Conference was exceptionally well orgainsed by Oleh and Tania from @international.pilates.school which was held in the stunning coastal town of Jastrzebia Gora, near Gdansk, Poland and we even swan in the Baltic Sea on our last morning! So much gratitude goes to them for bringing together such an incredible line-up of Pilates lineage for our global Pilates community. I can’t wait to attend this event next time and I hope you will join me!
Follow @international.pilates.school for details of future events.
