Piano and Pilates Studio

When you've trained extensively to teach the Pilates method and it's cost you a huge amount in terms of time, energy and money, it's hard to watch studios pop up around you like restaurants that profess to achieve all the same things that you do, with very little training and a total disregard to safety.

Please do some research before you commit. Check your teacher's credentials. You should be able to find out which organisation they trained with, which studio they're affiliated with, how long their training was, and to what level. If they can track the lineage of their teachers back to Joseph Pilates, all the better!!

During a session, whether it's in a class or in a private session, you should feel closely observed, listened to, safe at every point during the session, and that you're body is being paid attention to. If all of these things aren't happening, find another teacher.

Lastly, bear in mind that training to do this doesn't come cheap. There's a reason Pilates sessions with comprehensively trained teachers is expensive. Be very careful of going for cheap classes and memberships that squeeze in high numbers in their classes.

Nadine
Level V Romana's Pilates teacher Romana's Pilates International
Trained (& still training!) with Rebecca Convey at Kinetic Pilates
Tested by Marjorie Oron from The Pilates Studio, Holland

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/apr/04/reformer-pilates-boom-injuries?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&fbclid=IwY2xjawQ92c5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFuV3VXbEEyaGp6aXh1VlRYc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHmAGkfRjEVDKkkiBwRoEqb1S-6kZacfl3yT8P0JEH7yfOQifRpWavSTUbqUQ_aem_VMFk2NuYY32N9X7QTz-VLA

‘Wild west’ reformer pilates boom is causing rise in injuries, experts warn Lack of regulation for specialist classes leaves UK fitness enthusiasts at risk, say professional bodies

Beautiful post!!

Advanced Pilates is quieter than your ego wants

Advanced Pilates isn’t flashy. It’s efficient. It’s controlled. It’s subtle as hell.

If everything looks dramatic, something’s compensating.
Mastery doesn’t need to scream — it just works.

Hard truth: if it looks boring, you’re probably doing it right

Want to know what makes the Romana’s Pilates Method so unique and effective?

Read this wonderful blog published by Life Span Pilates studio in New York, home of Master teacher trainer Cynthia Shipley…

Private Pilates Manhattan | The Luxury of Precision & Romana’s Pilates. In a standard fitness class, the goal is often to reach muscular failure through high repetition. In Romana’s Pilates , we aim for muscular intelligence . If you can perform ten repetitions of an exercise, but your form begins to waver by the fourth, the remaining six reps are not just ineffective

Another beautiful definition of Pilates by The Pilates Studio Devon. Thank you Louise - you have a wonderful way with words 🖤

Pilates isn’t just about what exercises you do — it’s about how your teacher sees you move within them.

Of course, the exercises matter - they are the framework from which we work, but the real work is how it’s adapted, guided, and refined for you.The order, the transitions, the precision — they’re all essential. But to a trained eye, your body tells a story the moment you start moving.

We see where instability shows up.
We notice asymmetry between sides.
We feel where the body is gripping, protecting or avoiding.
We recognise patterns of tightness, weakness, or imbalance.
And it’s within the exercise that we work with all of that.

Every cue isn’t random — it’s a response to what your body is showing in that moment.

That’s the heart of Pilates:
Not just doing the movement, but being seen in the movement — and using it as a tool to create balance, strength, and ease where your body needs it most.

Louise Lyus at The Pilates Studio Devon defines the Pilates method beautifully. Have a read...

Fitness Trends Come and Go – But Learning a Methodology Lasts a Lifetime…

The fitness industry is full of trends. One year it’s high-intensity training, the next it’s a brand-new piece of equipment that promises results in half the time. These trends can be fun to try, but they often fade as quickly as they arrive.

What really lasts is a methodology – a complete system of movement built on a deeper philosophy. That’s what Joseph Pilates created nearly a century ago with his method, originally called Contrology.

Joseph Pilates didn’t set out to create a passing workout; he developed a whole system of movement and a whole studio of apparatus to support the body for life. In his book Return to Life Through Contrology, he described his method as the “complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit.”
Some of his core ideas included:
🌟 Control: Every movement should be deliberate, not careless.
🌟 Breath: Full, deep breathing to energise and cleanse the body.
🌟 Concentration: Bringing the mind fully into the movement.
🌟 Precision: Quality of movement over quantity.
🌟 Uniform development: Training the whole body, not just isolated muscles.
🌟 Flow and efficiency: Moving with grace, balance, and economy.

These weren’t trendy buzzwords – they were timeless truths about how the human body is designed to function.

The beauty of Pilates is that it adapts to you. Whether you’re young and building strength, an athlete fine-tuning performance, or older and wanting to maintain mobility, the same system applies. It’s not about chasing the next fad – it’s about developing skills that support you for the next 20, 30, even 50 years 💪 💫

Who knew there’s a 4 hands piano concerto by Kozeluh!? An example of David Juritz’s brilliant programming for the Burton Bradstock Festival of Music and Art
Here David Gordon & I are starting the final cadenza… and sadly you’ll never know what happened because the video stopped!
It’s safe to say we had a lot of fun and wound each other up a bit before the orchestra re entered 😆🎶

A sparkling performance for 4 hands by Leopold Koželuch in the Gala Night programme.

Across Borders, Across Time: Two Hundred Years of Flute & Piano Music Friday 25th July, 8pm Flautist Rebecca Guy and pianist Nadine Cavaciuti reunite after 25 years to take you on a global journey of classical flute and piano music spanning 220 years and 3 continents.

Diary dates - tickets will be on sale from Bridport Tourist Information Centre on Friday 25th April for our concert on 6th June.

Main festival week kicks off on 10th August with an art exhibition followed by amazing music concerts by talented international musicians from Monday 11th. Keep an eye on this page for more news.

It’s nearly 2025 and I’m looking forward to returning to the UK and reopening the studio on Thursday 9th January.

Start your year by investing in yourself and learning the Pilates method with a comprehensively trained teacher, in a way that will help your body specifically and that will make sense to you.

Fully understanding the ‘why’ makes the ‘what’ makes sense and much more likely to inspire commitment and consistency to your practice.

Get in touch with Nadine at [email protected] to enquire about private one-to-one sessions in Ewell, Surrey.

Fantastic news… The Horton Epsom has bought the Yamaha grand piano!! It’ll bring so much great music into what is a truly world-class performance space! ✨✨

The Horton Supporters Hit The Right Note - The Horton Epsom The Horton’s 88 Keys Piano Fund was launched in April, appealing for music fans to donate £100 per key, so that we could give the piano a permanent home.

My views on muscle “tone”…. Because it comes up often from women asking if Pilates will deliver it…. And because Pilates is still largely marketed using this language.

Muscle tone isn’t actually a physiological concept—muscles either grow larger and stronger (hypertrophy), shrink and weaken (atrophy), or stay the same. The idea of ‘toning’ is an aesthetic myth marketed primarily toward women by the fitness industry that mainly wants us to be thin but with defined muscle. It’s really fu***ng boring. It’s really time we shift the narrative: for the most part strength training isn’t about creating a certain look (with maybe the exception of professional body-builders); it’s about building a body that’s powerful, resilient, and capable.

If you want to be able to swing your grandkids around & wipe your own arse at 80, you should probably just worry about staying strong (mobile, agile and balanced - all the things that Pilates delivers 😉), and worry less about what that muscle looks like.

😘

It was privilege to perform at this stunning venue The Horton Epsom

If you missed the concert, it will be available to watch for a donation on YouTube soon. Watch this space.

A big thank you 👏👏👏 to the incredible Nadine André for her fantastic musical performance last night, raising funds to help The Horton to buy the grand piano pictured.
The solo concert was filmed, so if you couldn’t attend but would like to watch online and make a donation, we will share the details soon.
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