As a student of Pilates teacher Romana Kryzanowska, I remember a teacher-training session a decade ago when a young instructor asked Romana why she never got bored of teaching the same exercises. Romana answered, “I am not teaching exercises. I am teaching a person.”
This approach continues to motivate my work with Pilates––which I’ve been teaching for more than 25 years––and sparked my thinking about why Pilates training might be valuable for ballet teachers. Instead of approaching pedagogy as a script of steps or exercises, perhaps we could focus on dancers’ individuality. I call this a “Pilates lens,” and find it’s especially beneficial for nurturing each student’s unique potential.
A Pilates lens is an approach that focuses on alignment, mechanics, and personal instruction. This “lens” prioritizes adapting one’s teaching to suit individual anatomies rather than forcing dancers to mimic external shapes. How is this achieved? By teaching students how to activate the transverse abdominis muscle, lengthen the spine, and sequence muscle engagement, dance educators can promote efficient, injury-free movement.
Here are nine recommendations:
1. For dancers who hold tightness in the neck and shoulders.
I encourage spine lengthening as it tends to counter tension. Guiding dancers to imagine their spines are anchored through the tailbone and extending through the crown of the head improves posture and reduces strain. An image of holding a lit candelabra without spilling wax also helps dancers find this length and balance.
2. For dancers who have difficulty spotting.
This could be due to neck and shoulder tightness, so I sequence this action by first teaching a dancer to engage their core muscles first and then turn their head in one direction before going in the other. This builds coordination as a dancer can remain steady in their center while moving the head freely.
3. For dancers with a pronounced lumbar curve.
I gently place my hand on a dancer’s lower back and encourage them to press towards my hand. I also use verbal imagery, like envisioning a laced-up corset, to activate the transverse abdominis muscle. This can improve proficiency with turns and petit allégro.
4. For dancers who need to improve flexibility and mobility.
Some dancers have tremendous flexibility in parts of their back but lack mobility in other parts. This makes it difficult to do a traditional sit-up, so I teach a sit-up from a standing position. Having a dancer stand with their back to a wall and their feet far enough away so their back makes contact with the wall, I guide them to roll down, and then back up, one vertebra at a time, as if peeling away from the surface. This is particularly useful in a group class because the wall offers tactile feedback for each person’s spine.
5. When teaching dancers sequencing.
To teach sequencing I explain the importance of engaging larger muscles before smaller ones, both to reduce strain on smaller muscles and disperse effort. This can be taught using a grand battement that initiates from the core rather than relying on hip flexors. This can then be applied to center combinations like grand allégro, where I encourage dancers to focus on body alignment to reduce excessive limb force or yanking legs into positions. When dancers work with an image of their torsos containing energy that radiates through the limbs, they can perform safer and more fluid movements.
6. Helping dancers use different parts of their body wisely.
One of my favorite quotes attributed to Joseph Pilates is “Don’t do 10 pounds of exercise for a 5-pound movement.” When I see a dancer working very hard but failing to find stability in their core, I have them rethink the effort they are investing. To work the body differently, I differentiate between body parts and their roles. For instance, I ask them to consider giving the trunk area 50 percent of their effort, the legs 20 percent each, and the arms and neck 3 percent each.
7. For dancers who may be overcomplicating a combination.
I coach these dancers to use the body as a lengthening and stabilizing element. For example, in any balancing position, a dancer can imagine engaging the torso by pressing the front of the body toward the back while stretching from head to tail. An image that helps is holding two ends of an elastic and keeping it taut by pulling it apart and noticing how it simultaneously stretches and tightens.
8. For dancers who struggle with alignment.
Often, I see a dancer who is aligned when stationary but loses core stability when in motion. I encourage these dancers to practice “regrouping,” which means periodically checking in when performing a combination. This is especially helpful during transitions within a combination which offer opportunities to find alignment, coordination, and focus.
The Pilates lens fosters a mindset shift, for both teachers and students, moving away from correcting and toward nurturing potential. By celebrating each dancer’s anatomy and progress, instructors create positive learning environments. This tailored approach allows dancers to work within their natural alignment, enhancing longevity and artistry. And I have discovered, over time, these adjustments not only encourage more sustainable movement but also more expressive and joyful dancing.
Based in Virginia, Catherine Earp is a Level 4 Romana’s Pilates Teacher Trainer. Originally from Saint Joseph, Missouri, she took her first Pilates class as a student at Saint Olaf College, during an ACDFA conference. As a dance major interested in physical fitness, she wanted to learn about different exercise genres. She graduated from Saint Olaf College with a dance and economics dual major, and went on to train with Romana Kryzanowska. Today she combines her background in dance and fitness to design safe yet challenging Pilates workouts.
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