As a "Master Trainer", I went to Boulder, Colorado to attend the diligent classes of Amy Alpers, as well as her sister, Rachel Taylor Segel, founders of the world-renowned "Pilates Center" established in 1990. I completed The Pilates Center TTC in 2009 and graduated from the University of Colorado.
The pilates centre Boulder, Colorado
Two sisters, Amy Taylor Alpers and Rachel Taylor Segel, were trained by Romana Kryzanowska, Joseph Pilates' protégé and heir to his New York studio. This lineage is important because Amy and Rachel have strived to maintain the legacy and tradition of the original and classic Pilates method. They founded their studio in Boulder in 1990. These women are on a mission to heal the world by teaching Pilates, and their passion and commitment to maintaining the integrity of the method inspires others to become teachers.
The centre has been based in Boulder, Colorado, USA since , since 1990, but they host studios all over the world. You can find a PTC-trained teacher on almost every continent in the world, and their huge community of teachers and studios continues to grow. They pride themselves on offering one of the most reputable and comprehensive teacher training programs in the world, so no matter where you are, you can find and work with PTC teachers of the highest caliber (source: the pilates center boulder)
Romana Kryzanowska
Romana Kryzanowska was born in Farmington, Michigan, on June 30, 1923. She was the only child of Roman Kryzanowsky and Sari Pickett Kryzanowsky. Her father, Roman, was an accomplished artist in Detroit in the 1920s. Some of his work is housed at the Detroit Art Institute. Her mother, Sari, continued to paint and exhibit her own work after Roman's death in 1929.
Romana studied ballet as a child. At 16, while studying at George Balanchine's American Ballet School, she injured her ankle. Balanchine took her to Joseph Pilates to see if exercises rather than surgery could solve the problem. The exercises were successful and she continued to study with Pilates. Romana Kryzanowska became Pilate's protégé. 'Before I knew it,' she says, 'I was appointed an aide, which meant I didn't have to pay anymore.
On 11 July 1944, she married Pablo Mejia at St Patrick's Cathedral. The couple moved to Peru, where she practiced dance and taught Pilates. Her two children, Paul and Sari, were born in Peru and in 1958 she returned to the United States to work with Joseph and Clara Pilates in their New York studio. She also taught ballet. Towards the end of his life, Pilates appointed Kryzanowska as director of the Pilates Studio. Romana and Clara Pilates continued to run Joseph Pilates' original studio. Romana also trademarked the name Pilates in 1988, although Joe never referred to his work as Pilates. He called it Contrology. On October 19, 2000, Judge Cedarbaum cancelled the Pilates trademark registration in the Southern District Court of New York (source: Wikipedia)