History
It is widely acknowledged that Joe Pilates was a man well ahead of his time. He was born in a small town near Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1880. His father was a prize-winning gymnast, his mother a naturopath. From a young age he suffered from a variety of ailments, including asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever. He happened upon a discarded anatomy book and, in his own words, he “learned every page, every part of the body. I would move each part as I memorized it.” He also studied gymnastics, yoga and body building, and by the age of 14 was fit enough to pose for anatomical charts.
In 1912, Pilates moved to England and worked as a boxer, circus performer and a self-defense trainer. He was interned during World War 1 with other German citizens on the Isle of Man. He taught boxing and self defense to fellow inmates. It was here he lay the foundation for his method, which he called ‘Contrology.’ He modified his exercises to accommodate injured and immobile patients in the hospital by rigging springs to hospital beds. This invention was transformed into the modern-day Reformer machine.
Pilates emigrated to New York City in 1926. He met a nurse and teacher named Clara on the ship to America, a woman who later became his wife. They established a studio in New York, in the same building as the American Ballet Theatre. It was a result of being this close to dancers that Contrology became a part of ballet dancers’ training and rehabilitation. The great George Balanchine sent some of his dancers to Pilates for strengthening, balancing and rehabilitation. From 1939 to 1951, Joe and Clara spent their summers at Jacob’s Pillow, a popular dance camp in the Berkshires, endearing him and his method to famous dancers, including Martha Graham, Jerome Robbins and Ruth St. Denis. “At some time or other,” according to Dance Magazine (Feb. 1956), “virtually every dancer in New York, and certainly everyone who has studied at Jacob’s Pillow between 1939 and 1951, has meekly submitted to the spirited instruction of Joe Pilates.”
Joseph Pilates practiced his method daily, and lived a long and healthy life. He died at the age of 87 in 1967. Clara continued running the studio and training until her death years later.
