About Ron Fletcher

Ron Fletcher began his studies with Joe and Clara Pilates in 1948 after sustaining a severe knee injury while dancing with Martha Graham. Impressed with the effectiveness of the work and the truth of its concept, he continued to study with the Pilates' for the following 2 decades while maintaining a busy career choreographing the Ice Capades, TV musical shows for NBC and Broadway shows. He opened the Ron Fletcher Studio for Body Contrology in Los Angeles in 1971, with Clara Pilates' blessing. This first Pilates studio on the west coast soon became a mecca for the stars. It also became a major catalyst for public awareness of the value of the Pilates method outside New York City. Staying true to the "A-B-C's" of the method, Ron Fletcher has continued to carry on and develop the work. Now in his 80's, he maintains an active teaching schedule throughout the United States and abroad.

About Joesph Pilates

Around 1914, Joseph Pilates was a performer and a boxer living in England and, at the outbreak of WWI, was placed under forced internment along with other German nationals in Lancaster, England. There he taught fellow camp members the concepts and exercises developed over 20 years of self-study and apprenticeship in yoga, Zen, and ancient Greek and Roman physical regimens. It was at this time that he began devising the system of original exercises known today as "matwork", or exercises done on the floor. He referred to his regimen as "Contrology." A few years later, he was transferred to another camp, where he became a nurse/caretaker to many struck with wartime disease and physical injury. He began devising equipment to rehabilitate his patients, taking springs from the beds and rigging them to create spring resistance and movement for the bedridden.

 While Joe was the outspoken force behind his method, his wife Clara, a trained nurse, quietly incorporated his concepts and exercises in ways that benefited more seriously ill or injured clients. Her approachable style and special techniques spawned a dedicated lineage of teachers whose work flows through and uniquely colors the landscape of the Pilates method today. It is perhaps because of Clara that Pilates is clearly recognized as a positive form of movement-based exercise that truly can be tailored to any level of not just fitness, but also of health.