Another Living Legend

by: AndreaDow
Total views: 380
Word Count: 357

March 3rd, 2008

Mary Pilates, at a young 87 years of age, recently sat down with PilatesStyle Magazine for an interesting interview. I love hearing the stories from these living legends and wanted to share a few gems from the article.

Mary was one of the few that worked alongside Joe and Clara in their New York studio. She is the daughter of Joe's brother, Fred Pilates, who manufactured much of the original Pilates equipment including the reformer and Cadillac. Mary is proud to say she has had a daily Pilates practice for over 60 years....wow! Mary went to Joe and Clara's studio at a very young 19 years old. She ended up there because her parents had decided to move back to Germany. Her parents thought Uncle Joe's studio was the best place for her to "live". Despite having a closet size space with a V-shaped bed (designed by her dad and Uncle Joe) as her only personal area, she enjoyed working and living at the studio.

It sounds like Mary's training was nothing structured. One day Uncle Joe just said that she was ready to teach and told her to "go ahead and do it." Her days at the studio started at 6:30am when people were already lined up outside the studio doors and ended when the last client left around 9pm. When asked if she followed a special diet, she said "Oh, no!" We ate cakes, pies, drank soda, ate fried foods and hot dogs and so did Uncle Joe! What about the magic circle being inspired off a ring on a beer barrel? Mary could not confirm whether this story is true. She simply said that could have been the case! When asked what Mary thought about some practitioners teaching exactly how Joe taught compared to others who alter or add onto the exercises, she said "It's human nature to want to make changes- but why change what works?" She thought that Uncle Joe got things right the first time around.....

Thanks to Mary for still being around so many more generations can appreciate Joseph Pilates and his traditional method of exercise, "Contrology".

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