Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in 1880. He was a sickly child. To combat this he took up body building. So successful was he that by his mid teens he was posing for anatomy portraits. The next fifteen years were spent becoming an accomplished skier, diver, gymnast, boxer and self-defence expert.

It was 1912 when he came to Britain earning his way as a Circus performer [probably an acrobat] a boxer and self defence teacher. On the outbreak of hostilities in 1914 he, like many German nationals was interred. With this time on his hands he set out to develop his ideas on physicality and mentality. According to one source he later boasted that because they followed his regimen not a single one of his fellow internees was laid low with the terrible flu epidemic that killed millions in Britain in 1918.

The 1920’s saw Pilates in Germany again. The Weimar Republic was in control and the devastating war reparations had increased inflation to monumental proportions. During this period he worked with most of the movement pioneers of the time, including Rudolf Laban inventor of the first dance notation.

Accounts vary, but at some point during the 1920’s Joseph Pilates left Germany for America. He set up his first studio some time after that, again accounts vary although a commonly held view is that the date was 1936. What is clear is that Martha Graham and George Balanchine were early converts. Who influenced who? George Balanchine certainly saw the effects on his dancers and actively encouraged them to go to Pilates’s studio. Martha Graham’s ideas of natural movement from the centre certainly fitted with Joseph Pilates ideas on movement. Anyway the end result was a long, continuing influence with the dance world.

George Balanchine (1904-1983) American choreographer, Founder of New York City Ballet.  Widely regarded as one of the founders of American Ballet.

Martha Graham (1894- 1991) American dancer and choreographer. Founder of Contempory dance now known as the graham technique