On a rooftop in Harlem sat a small group of 25-30 black women from across the globe to meet, coalesce, hug and share at the The 3rd Annual BlackGirlPilates weekend. Regardless of whether we all agreed with each other, we agreed with the possibility of connecting.
I wanted to meet Dyane Harvey Saalam, an accomplished performing artist, founding member of Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, educator, choreographer and certified Pilates teacher.
She has taught dance and Pilates at Princeton University, Hofstra University, Lehman College, Borough of Manhattan Community College, and the American College Dance Festival. She has served as a panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts, Arts-in-Education programs and the New York Foundation for the Art and told the small group circled around her that her teacher/mentor, Judith Covan-Newfeld, told her, “we are all Pilates Sisters.”
For the few moments that she shared her experience with the group, the words that resonated the most was the admonition to bring one’s — “whole self” — all the energy, voice and spirit to each interchange with a person, group and the world.
I know the collective body of BlackGirlPilates Teachers did just that for the duration of the weekend.
I am glad to have been in the mix and in the company of the brilliance of the group.
“we are all Pilates Sisters.”
