Fletcher Pilates Lineage
WHAT IS FLETCHER PILATES?
evolved from the source
The international Pilates revolution owes much of its momentum to Ron Fletcher. A 20-year student and protégé of Joseph and Clara Pilates, Fletcher’s organic, movement-based approach to the Pilates method has inspired generations of Pilates teachers and practitioners. As Fletcher Pilates continues to grow in popularity, so too grows the demand around the globe for Fletcher Pilates Teachers. Our state licensed post-secondary school satisfies this demand and ensures the consistency and continuity of the Fletcher Pilates lineage.
In body, mind, breath, and spirit we carry on the work of Joseph and Clara Pilates, as articulated by our teacher, Ron Fletcher. We facilitate this legacy through a continuous transformational learning process. We embody excellence and professionalism as we educate and mentor the next generation of Pilates Teachers in the legacy of this work.
Our curriculum derives from the physical conditioning method developed by Joseph and Clara Pilates in the 1920s and expands to include its evolution and interpretation by Pilates Master Ron Fletcher.
Our school provides one of the most comprehensive and definitive international Pilates educational programs of its kind and is the only program endorsed by Ron Fletcher.
About Ron Fletcher
THE STORY OF FLETCHER PILATES
It’s hard for me to imagine how I could begin my life as a boy in Dogtown, Missouri, and end up in New York City with Martha Graham and Joe and Clara Pilates as teachers. I think there is a higher power that leads us to our path, and that perhaps, little is left to random chance. I continue to feel that many of my students are drawn to my work by the same higher power that led me to my special teachers.
Ron Fletcher (May 29, 1921 – December 6, 2011) was an American Pilates Master Teacher, an author and a Martha Graham dancer. He was also a Broadway stage, network television, cabaret and International Ice Capades choreographer. Fletcher is identified as a “Pilates Elder” – a “first-generation teacher” who studied directly under Joseph and Clara Pilates.
Originally referred to Joseph Pilates by a fellow dancer for treatment of a chronic knee injury, Fletcher was schooled in the principles of Body Contrology (the name Pilates gave to his fitness and conditioning method) by Joseph and Clara Pilates with whom he studied – in their New York City studio at 939 8th Avenue on and off from 1948 until one year after Joseph Pilates’ death in 1967.
Though Fletcher achieved significant notice in the entertainment industry for his choreography, he is best known in the 21st century for having introduced the Pilates conditioning method, from its home base in New York City, to the American west coast via his Ron Fletcher Studio for Body Contrology, which he opened May 1, 1972 on Rodeo Drive at Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California.
autobiography
The Early Years in Ron's words
It’s hard for me to imagine…
how I could begin my life as a boy in Dogtown, Missouri and end up in New York City with Martha Graham and Joe and Clara Pilates as teachers.
I think there is a higher power that leads us along our path and that, little is left to random chance.
I feel that many of my students are drawn to my work by the same higher power that led me to my special teachers.
I arrived…
in New York City in 1944 and was able to secure a job in advertising at Saks Fifth Avenue. Shorty after, I attended a dance concert by the Martha Graham Company and I knew that this was where I needed to be. Ignorant of all protocol, I presented myself and persistently waited until I was granted an interview with Martha. She agreed to allow me to study. Looking back, I can see that I had natural physical gifts that one needs for the rigors of dance. Still my study had commenced late for a dancer. I did not have the luxury of years of basic dance classes that prepare the artist for performance. The Graham technique is very strenuous and I began to have problems with my knee. Exploratory surgery was recommended. However, this was very risky and could have ended my career. One of my fellow classmates suggested that I should take myself to Joe Pilates. This is how I began the study of Contrology.
