[Tom Floyd]

Gary Calderone, Pilates trainer, lecturer, and author, is one of the original graduates from The Pilates Center in Boulder, Colorado, having studied under Rachel Segal, Amy Alpers, Steve Giordano, and Romana Kryzanowska.

Gary also apprenticed for 18 months with Wendy LeBlanc-Arbuckle, creator of the Core Connections® Pilates three-dimensional Body Mapping Paradigm, and Program Director of the Core Connections® Pilates Teacher Training Program at The Pilates Center of Austin (PCA).

In addition to his transformational training at The Pilates Center of Austin (PCA), Gary completed an Associate Directorship (2000-2002) of the Core Connections® Pilates Training Program and was certified as a “Teacher of Teachers” for PCA. He has delivered PCA’s Teacher Training Program in Austin and Chicago, and continues to travel nationally as a “teacher of teachers” for the PCA.

As the founding director of the Pilates Center of Fort Collins, Colorado, Gary brought the classical teaching to the attention of the medical community. His collaboration with MDs, physical therapists, Rolfers and other health professionals illuminated the healing potential of Pilates Contrology, particularly around patients suffering chronic or acute pain.

Since Calderone’s Concepts in Contrology debut in 2003, Gary has been a presenter at international Pilates conferences, and he returns to Polestar Pilates in 2006 as a sponsor.

Gary has released to the global Pilates community a CD - the first of its kind - to enrich our understanding of the transformational powers innate in the Pilates method of physical and mental conditioning, originally called Contrology.

The Body/MIND Series Volume 1: The Pilates - Contrology Correlation: Going Beyond Technique is a convenient way to ‘listen and learn’ while driving to your studio. It provides state of the art information explaining the life changing effect Pilates has on an individual and is a researched, refreshing, and inspiring strategy to convey the deeper message of Pilates to your clientele.

This CD is a precursor to his forthcoming book, Body, Thought and Form: The Pilates Path to Happiness. Both the CD and the book are richly embellished with profound ideas of seminal 21st century thinkers, addressing the Body/Mind profession we find ourselves in and the impact that we can have on the world as Pilates teachers.

Though a second generation Pilates teacher spanning 15 years, Gary started as a jazz dancer in the 1970s. When injuries threatened his well-being, Gary turned to holistic health care as a remedy. His 12 years of learning, teaching and lecturing with a Naturopathic physician deepened his understanding. This was the beginning of a quest to find the "owner’s manual” for individualized health care. Discovering Pilates in 1991 and experiencing its effects as transcending mere exercise, Gary knew there was more to learn than just doing it.

The notion of Pilates being ‘more than an exercise,’ as revealed in the multitude of clients that elevated themselves from mental and physical dis-ease (including himself), motivated Gary to study the depth of knowledge available from seminal teachers and correlate the experience as "going beyond technique."

In the following interview, conducted via email, Tom Floyd asks Gary about his background and the development of his newly-released audio CD and upcoming book.

Tom: Tell us more about your background: in the early 1990s you were involved with holistic health care as a teacher and lecturer. How, then, did you discover Pilates; and was your first experience with it "transcendent?"

Gary: I was transitioning from an educational/technician/consultant career as a protégé of Dr. Michael Nealiegh, N.D., Director of Research for Focus 21 International. I taught and lectured in three countries. This holistically based company out of San Diego was the first to employ a single-source whole food into products, topically and internally applied, that would slow down the aging process. This was the forerunner of the popular non-pharmaceutical joint pain relief products today.

Understanding preventative healthcare and recognizing degeneration as an imbalance, Pilates seemed like a natural progression to pursue my purpose on the planet.

My first interest in the body was through movement. Being a jazz dancer in the 70’s, touring with a professional dance company, took a toll on my body. I came to Pilates through old injuries and pain. I was declining fast. Surgery was eminent – yet, it never happened. Practicing and teaching the Nicholaus Technique, the first Pilates-based system in the 70’s, spared me surgery. But I didn’t completely heal myself from this chronic condition until my exposure to Pilates in the 90’s.

Perhaps the word transcendent is a bit “heady.” Allow me to bring some definition and clarity to what I am expressing. As a noun, “transcendence” is “the state of excellence or surpassing, going beyond usual limits” . As an adjective, “transcendent” is “lying beyond the ordinary range of perception.”

We as Pilates practitioners intuit that what we teach others is a body/mind connection. We experientially and empirically understand the noun. We get excited and passionate about the potential that is created and felt by our clients as they move into this realm of physicality (the body). In the adjective form of the word resides the new frontier of quantum science. As Dr. Carol Davis explains, “Quantum physics takes into account the role of the nonmaterial, especially consciousness, in the physical world.”

Joseph Pilates said, “Return to life through Contrology.” Today, Dr. Wayne Dyer tells us, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” So, one’s experience of self-renewal (in the body) can shift one’s perception of the world (in the mind).

My mission is to take Joe’s writings and correlate their deeper and perhaps higher meaning to 21st century vernacular. What seminal teachers are telling us today was expressed by Joe and could be realized by doing his Contrology exercises – a health technology ahead of its time, not popular then, but literally all over the world as doctrine and health modality today.

My first experience of Pilates started with meeting my first teachers, Amy and Rachel, fondly known as “the sisters,” founders of The Pilates Center of Boulder. At this meeting in their center, seeing Pilates equipment for the first time, I was arrested by a strong familiar feeling of “I have been here before.” This deja vu was so strong and disorienting that it brought tears to my eyes, and my newfound teachers concernedly asked if I was alright. I couldn’t speak from the alchemy I was feeling, a strange mix of fear and bliss.

Tom: What aspects of the program at the Pilates Center of Boulder made it a special training environment, and what lessons did you learn there that continue to be important to you?

Gary: The one aspect that stands out in my mind is that this was the first Pilates Center of Boulder certification program. A pencil. A piece of paper. Bare bones boot camp! We were the prototypes of Pilates teachers in a brave new future of fitness. We didn’t know then that Pilates would soon become doctrine as a healing modality!

Meetings were made and relationships formed. This for me had a profound future pull. Little did I know at the time that being introduced to Wendy LeBlanc-Arbuckle would culminate in a lifelong friendship, mentorship, and apprenticeship. Meeting Wendy was the beginning of a new way of thinking for me that has deepened my awareness of how powerfully influential the student/teacher relationship can be in a Pilates session. Her CoreConnections®Pilates teaching has influenced the creation of this “first of its kind” CD and a book on the way.

The sisters had a far-reaching mission statement. Today their center has claimed its place as a globally recognized training facility with graduates all over the world.

Tom: Tell us about your training experiences with Romana. How valuable were her contributions to the Pilates Center's training program?

Gary: Romana’s contribution to the training program was vast, hard to put into words. Let me describe my direct experience with her. Here are three memorable experiences:

I recall posing this question to her from being overwhelmed by the magnitude of some 500 exercises possible within the brilliance of Joe’s method. I asked, “What would you recommend out of all this that would be essential to the clients’ health and wellbeing?”

She responded, “Mat work and footwork on the reformer.”

Another moment was participating in a Level II reformer class she was teaching. I was still struggling with previous hamstring injuries and when we got to Splits I expressed my concern. Her response was, “You are healed!” And then I realized – I was! Considering all that is required in this Beginning/Intermediate level work I had just performed, it was a matter of my perception that shifted to do the Splits. And I did!

Finally, I had the great opportunity to be her student while she taught the Wall on me as the rest of my classmates observed. Clearly she resurrected me into ‘a return to life’ as everyone gasped and applauded the results! I have yet to feel again that assemblage of length and strength. Her hands are so informative – it was a magical experience! Figuratively speaking, I walked away a new man. I will dare to say, in that moment, a changed man.

Tom: Anyone who has read "Your Health" and "Return to Life through Contrology" understands that Mr. Pilates intended his method to change lives in ways that go beyond the physical. You sum it up well when you say:

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In the two books he wrote, Joe implied three themes that further define the core benefits one receives from Contrology. I’ve identified these three themes as:

1) Outcome, which means the reduction of symptoms and deals with the BODY.
2) Perception, which means mental clarity and deals with the MIND, and
3) Living Life fully, which means purpose, passion, and deals with the SPIRIT. This is the framework in which we can understand the relevancy of "Return to Life Through Contrology."

In your CD, you speak of the transformational, life-changing benefits of Pilates as well as the technique of the method. In your view, what has priority? Is it possible to have life-changing benefits without "technique," or are the two components so interwoven as to be inseparable? If inseparable, then how could correct technique fail to produce transformational benefits?

Gary: It is in the doing that we get this. When Joe wrote “Return to life through Contrology,” the philosophy came first and the prescribed exercises next. This tells us that the means to the end was in the practice of his idea or method toward self-knowledge.

The transformational aspect is realized through the attainment of the idea.

“The idea is the whole thing. You fall in love with and
stay true to the idea. It looks like, feels like, and sounds
like that. It feels like intuition. The idea is talking to
you…in hopes that this will communicate and translate
the same to others.” – David Lynch, Film Director

That and only that, in my opinion, is every Pilates teacher’s quest. Otherwise, why do we do this?

Regarding technique: as you know, there are several schools of thought on how to teach this method of physical and mental conditioning, evidenced by the surviving elders and their protégés charged with carrying the name and the work forward.

Ultimately, it is the client, the end user, who will gain self-knowledge. This paradigm was espoused by the Greeks and was the bedrock upon which Joseph Pilates built his method.

Here is an excerpt from my book that helps define our understanding of the value of technique:

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Pilates Contrology is a health technology whose time has come. Although we often interpret the term "technology" to mean hardware, it is actually a system of practical knowledge. Technology is derived from the ancient Greek word techne. It can be translated to refer to art, craft or skill. Plato viewed techne and systematic or scientific knowledge as being closely related. Aristotle went a step further by asserting that techne was the systematic use of knowledge for intelligent human action. (ed.footnote;copyright,Donald Clark;Essay on Greek Philosophy.)

The practice of technique converts “information into intelligence.” Certainly, a Pilates teacher must know what s/he is doing (technique) to guide a willing participant to reach transformation. The key here is “willing.” According to Wayne Dyer, willingness is the gateway to trans-form-ation, the process of going beyond the limitations of form.

So, as we work with our clients, we are moving them to greater potential through awareness, knowledge of self. The awareness is in the techniques you teach, which goes far beyond the exercise.

Tom: You say, "Teaching Pilates is intuitive, holistic, and relational. And men generally don’t have that particular forte. That is, most men. But women do." To you, does that explain why Pilates is vastly more popular among women than men? Does being a Pilates practitioner involve a mind-set that most men simply don't "get?"

Gary: Yes, or at least in part. Women seem to have more of a mindset toward the aforementioned attributes – more of a healing nature. I think for most men, these attributes are outside their context of what is relevant to a workout. What we know from elders like Romana, according to Peter Fiasca, is that Pilates was originally for men. The masculine vernacular of “workout” had its origins then. Today, and this is the reason for the CD and book, not only are we in a different time in history (although based on current events, you wouldn’t think so), but we see a different paradigm of fitness emerging. Joe said that fitness is the prerequisite to happiness, via a coordinated trinity of body, mind and spirit. How does one obtain that union? This is our quest today: to find, feel, and express in words and practice how that union can be achieved.

Joe also said, “My work will live forever.” At that time it was not very popular. How do we explain that today it is all over the world?

“Concepts in Contrology” stands on the notion that Pilates Contrology is a vehicle toward higher consciousness. And this may lend credence to the notion that there is a feminine energy resurgence to help balance the patriarchal mandate of aggression and hostility in the world today.

Tom: In a similar vein, you said, "Remember, Joe never wrote about the cosmetic benefits of his work; rather, he spoke of principles that are true, sound and unique: timeless, universal truths." It seems to me that men are more likely to be after the “cosmetic,” physical results of exercise: the chiseled, muscular look. Mr. Pilates did not write of those results, but it seems apparent that he modeled them. He was proud of his physicality, if not a bit on the vain side! Just view his pre-war (circa 1912) footage of his Greek/Roman statue act and other performances. Archival footage and photographs also record that he maintained that chiseled look into his 60s!

Do you think there have been some physical components to the method that he practiced, and prescribed to other men, which have been lost to the method we practice today?

Gary: I recall in my classical training that a Level III–IV Stomach Massage series offered an option of light hand weights. Or in the Standing Arms Series, The Wall and Rowing on the Mat, Romana suggested heavier weights for men. I am only citing these examples as evidence that Pilates for men was different than Pilates for women.

Here is an excerpt from my book that illuminates that Joe wasn’t the only one out there preaching physical cultivation. He evolved from a lineage of notables with a similar quest. Joe had to compete for the attention he felt due, hence his cosmetic appearance and flamboyancy.

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With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to see that young Joe had a gift for physical development that first helped him to overcome his boyhood frailties; then led him to become a successful gymnast, boxer, diver, skier, self-defense expert and circus performer; and culminated in the system of exercises that now bears his name. But it should also be noted that he grew to manhood at a time when “scientific physical culture” was drawing great attention across Europe.

At the dawn of the 20th century, a “fitness revolution” had captured the public imagination, with notable support from political figures such as U.S. presidents William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson and King George of England. One acknowledged leader of this fitness movement was the Polish-born physician Vladislav Krayevsky, who in 1885 founded the St. Petersburg Amateur Weightlifting Society. Krayevsky believed that physical culture was a crucial ingredient in the prevention and treatment of illness. Among his many followers was the famous strongman George Hackenschmidt, author of a book titled “The Way to Live,” who credited Krayevsky with teaching him everything he knew. Krayevsky himself published two influential books on physical development at the turn of the century. Joseph Pilates, by then a budding athlete and strongman as well as an avid reader, must have been aware of Krayevsky’s teachings. Another leading advocate of physical culture was the Russian-born strongman George Sandow, who distinguished himself by combining superb physical development with a flair for showmanship, teaching ability and public generosity.

That was the world in which Joseph Pilates first developed Contrology. But as his work matured, he was able to see far into the future – beyond his own time to our time today. He clearly saw that his work would spread across the world, and that it would be taken up by men and women alike. Among the first generation of Master Teachers, more were women than men, including of course Joe’s wife Clara. Today, we know that Pilates is for everyone: women and men, young and old, fit and infirm. Joe’s vision has come to pass.

Tom: Thank you for sharing so much with us!

Stayed tuned for an announcement as to when Gary's CD will be available for purchase online!

Readers, now it’s your turn. For a limited time, Gary will be available to answer your questions. Ask your question as a new topic in this forum. The interview itself is locked.