Here are two guys that I can guess many of you are aware of, they being Michael Fritzke and Ton Voogt. For those of you who don’t know them, they are both classically trained in the Pilates method and creators of the TRIADBALLTM. They spend an estimated 75% of their life traveling the world sharing their knowledge about Pilates at various conventions, workshops and studios. I had the pleasure of catching up with them via Skype while they were enjoying a rest at their home in Phoenix, Arizona. I say pleasure because from the start you could feel that while M & T possess a great depth of knowledge and a love for Pilates, they were generous and disarming in personality.
Michael originally hails from Minneapolis, MN, USA, while Ton was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. They are one of those rare couples that are together 24/7. They met in the late 80’s living in Vienna, Austria while performing in a production of Cats. They were in the same dressing room and friendly, but neither of them were interested in anything more than being friends/colleagues at that time. It wasn’t until 1991 while living in Zürich, Switzerland performing in yet another production of Cats that their friendship turned into a relationship.
Life moved on, as it inevitably does for all of us, and they found themselves in New York desiring a break from life in the theatre. Familiar with the Pilates method, having been introduced to it as performers in the 1980s, they found themselves at Drago’s Gym at 50 West 57 Street in NYC. It was here that they met Romana Kryzanowska for the first time. They immediately embarked on an apprenticeship with Romana with the aim of becoming teachers. No manuals, no workshops, no hour counts. No, Romana took them under her wing and taught them organically from her own great knowledge and intuition, the way Joe had taught her. She made it very clear from the start that she would declare them as ready when she found that they truly were. After a year of daily sessions, assisting and teaching along side Romana; and ending everyday with “question and answer” time, she told them they were ready to test out. M & T both speak of this time with great affection, punctuating the significance that time had in their lives.
After becoming certified M & T started to teach at the Pilates Studio in NYC at 2121 Broadway in NYC. The studio was owned by Sean Gallagher who was the Director of Pilates, Inc. for which Romana was the Master Instructor. At this time apprentices divided their hours between Drago’s Gym and the Pilates Studio of NYC. The Pilates Studio was also connected to Performing Arts Physical Therapy and it was during this time that M & T first started to work with Physical Therapists to incorporate Pilates into a patients physical therapy. Their clientele at the studio included many celebrities (Julianna Margulies, Donald Sutherland, Roberta Flack, Phylicia Rashad to name a few). They even created a special warm-up for the Broadway cast of The Lion King which they taught every week at the theatre on 42nd street.
When Bob Liekens left his position as Teacher Trainer at the Pilates Studio to work for Power Pilates, Romana asked “the boys” as she always called them, to take over and become Teacher Trainers. Of course they were flattered and honored by her request so they started their second Pilates apprenticeship with Romana to become Teacher Trainers. It was during their test out to become Teacher Trainers that Romana first put them together to teach as a team. As Teacher Trainers and Supervising Instructors at the uptown Pilates Studio in NYC, M & T worked closely together with Romana and her daughter Sari Mejia Santo, training, guiding and testing hundreds of apprentices through the program.
In 2003 Romana split from Pilates, Inc. to start her own organization Romana’s Pilates. M & T decided they did not want to be a part of any organization and become independent. Although the decision was not an easy one for them, it was an organic one. They had arrived at a point in their Pilates careers that they felt belonging to and just teaching the curriculum of an organization was too restrictive. During their time with Romana they had continued to study with different teachers, Pilates Elders, healers and other forms of movement including Chinese Meridian Exercises, Yoga and more in-depth anatomy. M & T wanted to utilize all of their knowledge and experience. So they began to pursue their own path. They continued to teach their clients as freelance teachers in NYC, worked for various non-profit organizations like Share an organization for women with breast and ovarian cancer, and developed and created the TRIADBALLTM. It didn’t take long before they were asked to present workshops at studios and conventions worldwide. This led to eventually being asked to consult and help set up independently owned and run certification programs in Norway, Austria, Portugal, England, The Netherlands and Costa Rica.
I myself have some favorite exercises, that I perhaps give too often to my clients. I thought that this would be true of all of us, so I asked M & T what favorite exercises that they perhaps give too much. “None” was their answer.
“Really!?!” I ask in disbelief.
“Well,” says Michael “I certainly give a lot of cat exercises.”
“That doesn’t count” I counter, “You can NEVER have too much cat!” 😉
We agreed on that one.
M & T explain their answer: “Our favorite exercise is the exercise our clients need on that day. Sometimes it is an exercise to stretch a kink out of their bodies. The next time they might feel disconnected or sluggish and their body needs something else. For us it is about finding the right exercise and version that will give our clients the experience they need mentally and physically. The Pilates method teaches the client how to adapt to the constant changing needs of their body”.
“Okay then, is there some aspect of the work that you are especially drawn to at the moment?” I ask.
“Spinal rotation” Ton answers.
I engage enthusiastically, for while I cannot say that I lately stress rotation in my own teaching, I work with it a lot in my own workouts and would love to hear their insights.
“Due to the lifestyles of most people these days the posture and spinal alignment of most people is pretty poor.” Ton says. ” Stability and mobility is totally out of balance, and we feel that the lack of spinal rotation is one of the biggest problems. People flex, extend and side bend, but proper rotation does not often get the attention it needs and people get hurt when they rotate from the wrong part of the spine. The important thing is that most of the rotation happens in the thoracic spine”. (And it was this part of the conversation that gave rise to the illustrated article Rotation Of The Spine, which I highly recommend if you have not read it.)
The Skype date was getting long, and always endeavoring not to overstay my welcome, I strategically start to steer the conversation to a close with a leading question. “Can you please give some advice for a beginning instructor?”
“Keep an open mind, keep learning and ask questions. This is just the beginning of your journey. Keep taking sessions. Develop your observation skills and enjoy working with your clients, if you pay attention they will teach you so much.”
And with that, I express my great pleasure in getting to spend time with these wise and generous gentlemen whom I would love to meet in real life. And to my delight, they express the same back to me.
Workout with Michael and Ton on pilatesanytime.com Use code 6894EBC for a 30 day free trial
Upcoming events with Michael and Ton
– February 28 – March 2 Zest Convention St. Petersburg, Russia info at www.fitlab.su or email info@fitlab.su
March 6 & 7 Moscow; info@fitlab.su
May 30 – June 1 WSSC Miami; www.wsscconference.com
June 7 & 8 Prague; www.pilatesczech.cz
June 12 – 15 Oslo; hanne@pilatesstudio.
June 21 – 22 Edinburgh; www.bodycontrol.
– For a complete calendar for upcoming workshops check www.zenirgy.com