In 2001 my first business, Tribeca Bodyworks re-branded as the Pilates Center of New York. The transition was short-lived on our way to our ultimate name - Real Pilates®. But 2001 was special for another reason beyond our name change. It was the year we conducted our very first teacher training program.
The decision to train teachers was borne out of necessity. We had been auditioning teachers for a while and I was dissatisfied with the caliber of candidates. In the wake of a disappointing interview, we determined that we could take this process in house and become a bona fide education center.
But first, we needed a manual.
Our early photo shoot models included some Pilates luminaries you may have heard of including Peter Fiasca, Junghee Won and Tiziana Trovati. To me, they were my Pilates pals. Once the casting was done and scheduled, I grabbed my very clunky camera and set about taking pictures. Honestly - that was the easy part.
Several weeks and hundreds of freeze frames later, I set about writing the very first manual. I had no idea what I was taking on. It took literally months to go through every single thing I wanted to write about every single exercise but there was no option other than to plod through page after page - hour after hour.
When I felt that I had taken it as far as I could, I sought out an editor.
Not just any editor - but someone I could trust to look at this enormous binder of hundreds of exercises with a keen eye and the wisdom to match.
My colleague, the late Bob Liekens generously offered his talents. He was the ideal blend of precision and brevity. What followed was a whirlwind of edits and phone calls and meetings. And then one day, we found ourselves finishing up the very last pages.
Bob continued his work with me during the initial program launch. He led that very first group of trainees through their seminars so I could learn the lay of the land but also run through the manual in real time for further edits. By the end of the seminars we had accomplished three rounds of edits from the first draft.
Our manual has evolved in myriad ways since then but it still represents a collective wisdom. Joe Pilates passed it on to Romana who passed it down to myself and to Bob and onto the next generation. The first four trainees made their way into the world and taught Pilates for years to come. Some are still at it today.
Our teacher training took a break after that. I needed time and energy to raise my two girls and that first cycle taught me just how much effort it would take to train teachers properly. It was 2013 when I took our manual down off the shelf, dusted it off and got back to work.
There are so many Pilates colleagues who have touched and influenced our program but looking back at our inception, besides Romana herself, Bob Liekens was the greatest contributor.
Today our Lead Trainer team is comprised of several teachers trained directly by Bob. They bring his spirit each day to our training. And of course, his words are embedded in our materials.
In gratitude for Bob and all who he touched.
~Alycea
Original RPTT Manual with Bob Liekens Edits
