Issue #462 – Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Poking Back at the Classical Pilates Stereotype
by Rebekah LeMagny
A few weeks ago, my friend Brett published an article titled “Poking the Classical Pilates Bear.” It seems his poking was effective, because here I am—ready to respond.
Let me start by saying: to my knowledge, there is no actual bear in the classical Pilates repertoire. There are swans, eagles, bats, monkeys, elephants, crabs, seals—and even tigers, (though not many people know about the tiger), but no bears.
Brett’s article acknowledged the many benefits of classical Pilates but argued that some teachers in the classical camp rigidly follow rules with a Fremen-like fanaticism. While he was careful not to claim all classical instructors are zealots, the implication was clear: the Pilates community is riddled with fearful, rigid, irrational, and hostile purists.
I won’t pretend that kind of elitism doesn’t exist. But let’s be honest: the most extreme behavior usually comes from those who’ve been certified for all of five minutes and haven’t yet learned how to teach Pilates—or people.
Rebekah is a supremely gifted and multifaceted human being. So accomplished, in fact, that listing her achievements would require a separate volume — possibly with an index. For now, you should know she was voted “Best All-Around” in preschool and has heroically saved more than one ladybug.
Her kindness to animals is legendary — so much so that she’s earned a lifetime exemption from being nice to humans. The word most often used to describe her is “enchanting,” though “delightful” is a close second.
Rebekah teaches Pilates in her intimate (read small) home studio in France, where she somehow manages to teach over 200 hours a week, while dealing with four needy kids and a complicated dog. She has managed to cram an extraordinary amount of equipment into her tiny space. Motto – where there’s a will, there’s space. Students know better than to question her authority or mock her accent, unless they’re prepared to do extra teasers… or mysteriously disappear. We tried to follow up with a few who had, but strangely, they’re no longer reachable. Her students call her Big Sister, not because of her charming personality but because she sees everything. She knows when you are sleeping. She knows when you’re awake. She knows when you are cheating so don’t you dare, for goodness sake!