Doing everything in classical form is definitely our guidepost and  principled foundation, yet, once a month, spicing it up with variety, nuance and refinements is so very good for the soul and spirit.  Peter brought all that jazz — and then some — to his session yesterday.   A session like this helps one rekindle your love and appreciation for the work of Pilates over and over again.

This is why we do this with a #2ndGenMaster!

I have not had the pleasure of working under Peter’s direction and eyes IRL, yet everyone I know and respect as a teacher has.  He is one of New York’s favored teachers and within the first few minutes, it was clear why.  We used the tower/cadillac mat for a 15-20 minute pre-Pilates mat that felt very “KSG-esque.”  No surprise, as Peter spent fifteen years  studying and working for Kathy Grant in the 80s. He warmed up all the joints and body parts and then we moved to the Reformer.
On the Reformer, he jazzed up footwork with a variation that you will simply have to experience from the recorded session.  While he didn’t state it, I recognized the KSG “before the Hundred” Arm Circles from earlier work with Blossom Leilani-Crawford.  While leading us through The Hundred, he was actually singing a “jazz scat” rather than the boring count.
You can tell Peter loves dance, rhythm, flow the freedom of spine extension and doing things differently; and he didn’t hold back with the Backward Rowing series.  He threw in a little Carola Trier extension and blew our minds with a 15-count combo sequence for Front Rowing that felt like a dance of the body thru all of the elements of the series.  Check the video clip below 🙂
We used the Ladder Barrel for Swan and Short Box, moved back to the Reformer and ended with the Spine Corrector and I felt all of the influences, history and Peter’s years and experience  with all of  his mentors, friends and teachers: Kathy Grant, Romana Kryzanowska, Deborah Lessen, Carola Trier in the very precise and distinctive way he taught and  encouraged us to move, providing a “more complete workout between the use of the body in space and in relation to gravity.”
The other personal “WOW” of the session, is that my first Pilates teacher, Juliet Harvey and my current Pilates teacher, Brett Howard,  were both in attendance with me and the other twelve #PilatesSisterSquad members enjoying all this goodness together.  I am very clear and aware if I hadn’t had the solid, precise and specific foundation of their teaching and style embedded in my body, I would have been lost in the sauce with Peter.
This was a goodie.  If you would like to experience it, use this link to download a copy.
#2ndGenMaster #PilatesSisters Classical Pilates Classical Pilates #2ndGenMaster Pilates Teacher