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About

The Romana’s Pilates Approach

Joseph Pilates asked his longtime student, Romana Kryzanowska, to continue teaching his method of body conditioning after he was gone, and dictated every exercise to her exactly as he meant it to be. When Joe died in 1967 Romana helped his wife, Clara, run the studio and has been teaching ever since, maintaining the integrity of the work in its original form.

In the last several decades, Pilates has exploded, becoming more mainstream, and many people have added their own spin on the work, some offering certification programs. While it has been very exciting that Pilates has impacted so many lives, and many are getting good results from these variations, some of the changes people have made or their lack of training before teaching have caused injuries, sometimes giving Pilates a bad name.

Although by the time they tried it was not possible to trademark the word “Pilates,” in an effort to put a label on Joe’s original work, Romana recently trademarked “Romana’s Pilates” and “True Pilates.” And today Romana and her daughter Sari continue to travel around the world teaching the Pilates method just as it was taught to them by Joseph Pilates. Find out more at: www.romanaspilates.com

At our studio

We strongly believe that Pilates in its purest form creates the best results because we have seen it in our clients’ bodies. Because preserving the integrity of the method is so important to us, all of our instructors are certified by Romana’s Pilates(TM).

We encourage you to work with all of the instructors at Reform. Scheduling your sessions with everyone will make your experience here more fun, more well-rounded, and will give you a better understanding of the work. We have seen the best results in the clients’ bodies that have done this.

We promise we will NEVER STOP LEARNING! We love Pilates, and we practice what we preach. Our goal as Romana’s Pilates Instructors at Refom is to keep becoming better teachers. We are fascinated and humbled by the Pilates Method and strive to go deeper in our understanding of the work and in our own practice. We take lessons from our mentors and attend continuing professional education (CPE’s) with Romana’s Pilates frequently. This keeps all of us excited about Pilates and gives us new ideas and inspiration in our teaching. The work is infinite, we love that it will never get boring!

The Making of Reform Pilates Studio

I started taking Pilates as a college student in the Skidmore Dance Department. In a very short time Pilates completely changed my body and my dancing. For the first time I was able to move using the right muscles and I was immediately hooked!

When I graduated from Skidmore in 2002 I stayed in Saratoga and worked at Shannon-Rose Design. I continued to study Pilates mat work and began working on the apparatus as much as I could. Pilates was one of the most important things in my life. I would have $4 left in my bank account, but would figure out a way to take a lesson every week. I enjoyed my job at the graphic design firm very much, but my body did not like sitting at a desk all day. I felt so good doing Pilates, I knew I had to figure out a way to get certified. Eventually I saved enough money that I was able to quit my job and spend most of 2005 at True Pilates NY (at the time it was Drago’s Gym) in the Romana’s Pilates certification program.

My experience as an apprentice at True Pilates was priceless. The studio on 57th street is truly “the mothership” in the Pilates industry. This is where the best instructors in the world come for their lessons! I learned so much from these amazing teachers while I was in the program, and continue to today.

Something that really struck me during this time, was how many different things I learned from working with a variety of these teachers who were all teaching me the same thing! The other thing that really hit home was how valuable it was to be able to see other people doing Pilates. It was exciting, motivating and gave me a better understanding of the task at hand. (So THAT’s what it’s supposed to look like!)

My vision for my studio became crystal clear… I wanted to offer my clients the same type of experience I had at True Pilates. It has been my mission to create a studio for our community in Saratoga Springs that offers several Romana’s Pilates Instructors to work with (you should try working with everyone, you will be surprised how much you will learn when the same thing is taught to you in a different way!) in a space where there is enough Pilates happening that you will learn from watching other bodies as well.

In a few years time I have been lucky to find some amazing instructors to join me that have the same passion for Romana’s Pilates as I do. And today, what we are able to offer you is exactly the experience I had hoped for.

Our Equipment

At our studio we use only Gratz Apparatus. Joseph Pilates worked with Mr. Gratz, a furniture maker, over half a century ago to manufacture his equipment. Today, Gratz continues to build Pilates apparatus to Joe’s exact specifications, and Mrs. Gratz is still a client at True Pilates NY.

As classically trained Pilates Instructors, we know that it is the little things that make a big difference. Having the right equipment means seeing results in our clients’ bodies. If you have ever used another type of apparatus, you will not believe how good Pilates exercises feel on Gratz equipment. You will experience Pilates as it was meant to be done.

For more info about Gratz, visit them online: http://pilates-gratz.com

Our Staff