This Mat & Chat was hosted on on Instagram Live on Sunday, February 14th, 2021. The chat followed a 25 minute mat workout.
Victoria: If you tuned in late, Juliet gave a little bit of an introduction about how she got into Pilates- the year I was born- maybe it was on my birthday, who really knows! But we’re going to go back into that now, and into her journey through the Pilates world and her Pilates program, studio ownership, and all of the above. You said that in 1989 you were in college at Purchase, right?
Juliet: Yes, my freshman year was 1989.
Victoria: So many Pilates people have come from SUNY Purchase. It’s a fabulous program. If anybody watched the Mat & Chat two or three weeks ago, I had Simona Cipriani, and she also went through the program at SUNY Purchase.
Juliet: Just to be clear- I didn’t go through the program. Oh, do you mean the dance program?
Victoria: I guess, well- let’s differentiate.
Juliet: SUNY Purchase has many things, but they have a dance program. So I got my BFA in Dance at Purchase. At the time that I was a student, we were required to take a semester of Pilates mat. That was what I took in 1989. It was done with a woman named Nancy Allison, from Romana’s studio. Separate from being in college, there was a Pilates studio there, and Romana had some of her teacher training programs that she would have done up at SUNY Purchase. I never did the actual Pilates certification, but I was a student and I did that course. That was my first introduction. I was not until after college that then I got certified.
Victoria: Like 10 years later you said, right?
Juliet: Exactly.
Victoria: Okay, so walk us through- after you got your BFA in Dance, what happened next? Because I know you did Massage Therapy. Is that what happened next?
Juliet: Yes. Massage prospects with a BFA in Dance are really fantastic. So I moved in to the city and I didn’t want to be a waitress- I mean I tried, but I was really the worst waitress ever- so that wasn’t going to work out for me. I had a friend in college who was a Massage Therapist, and I thought that sounded interesting, a nice tie-in to having done so much dance. So I looked up where the massage school was in the city, and it was 6 blocks from my apartment- so I though that was a sign.
Victoria: Totally. I believe in signs.
Juliet: That was all the research I did. That was the extent of it. So I decided I should go there, so I did. I became a Massage Therapist and that suited me very well- I felt like that was something I was supposed to do at that point in my life. So I did that for quite some while. Massage is very intense, as I’m sure everybody knows, and I could see that I could do it, but that I wasn’t going to be able to do it full-time forever. So I started to look at what would make sense. I was taking yoga at the time at a place called Yoga Zone. Power Pilates used to share studio space with them, and I thought I would try a Pilates class, and I did it and thought: “Wow. I’m in a totally different place from where I was in college” and it really felt right and felt like the right people as well. It just connected to me.
Then I got certified, at first in mat with Susan Moran, who is amazing. Then I had Pilates and massage, which is a great combination. Then I got hired at Riverdance- the show- to be a Massage Therapist and to teach the company strengthening. They wanted to keep these dancers strong while they were on tour. I gave them strengthening classes, I gave them warm-up classes before the show every night. I did that on tour, and then the show came to Broadway. Once the Broadway run was done, I went to work at Power Pilates.
Victoria: I remember commercials on TV, growing up in Connecticut, for Riverdance on Broadway. So cool.
Juliet: Yup. It just had its 26th Anniversary. Twenty-six years ago is when it started. I was with them from about 1999 until 2001. I was teaching at Power Pilates at just a fantastic time for that studio. It was when Bob first got there, and he was really such a deep mentor for me- he was an amazing, amazing man. Susan- incredibly gifted and artistic. Learned so much from her. Peter Rowell was there at the time and Phoebe Higgins. And anybody that doesn’t know who Phoebe Higgins is- she was Bob’s original teacher, along with like Carrie Regan. She was Moira Stott’s original teacher. Phoebe is a legend. She is a notable person in the community for sure.
Victoria: That’s awesome! What an incredible experience you had.
Juliet: I did. I was super fortunate. So then, after a number of years, my husband and I were looking to purchase something. The city was out of our reach, and I read an article about Beacon. I came up, and they didn’t have a studio. Again, that was my research. So I said: “I think we should move here!” *laughs*
Victoria I mean that’s half the battler right? If you want to open a Pilates studio- just finding a town that doesn’t already have one, or finding a town that doesn’t teach your Pilates.
Juliet: Exactly. That was in 2006, and so I opened th studio then and it’s been 15 years, and I don’t even know where the 15 years went.
Victoria: I want to go back to probably everything you mentioned, but I do want to go back to Riverdance, because that’s so interesting to me. I don’t come from a ballet background, which you do, but I tap danced from 10 years, from when I was 5 to 15. Not that it informed knowledge of my body at all, but as somebody who is a musician, and especially was more so in the past, I just found the connection to the rhythm of tap dancing and the beat to be more accessible for me and my voice. I think that Irish step dancing has that in common with step dancing. From someone from a ballet background, what was your reaction? Had you been exposed to that before?
Juliet: I knew zero about Irish step dancing when I started with that company- zero. It was so foreign to me. It gave me such an appreciation for all forms of movement. The people that were in that company are supreme athletes. What they did every night was nothing short of incredible. I gained so much appreciation for that art form and I had so much fun! They would teach me little steps- they threw me on stage one night like: “Come on! Do something!” So it was just a fun time. If you know anybody that’s Irish, there’s no better time than with a group of Irish people. So it was a lot of laughing for two years.
Victoria: Oh, I’m sure. I’ve never done it but I’ve obviously seen Irish step dancing and I’ve always through that it was so cool. It’s basically tap dancing on steroids. I really do think it’s next-level tap dancing and I just think it’ really awesome.
Juliet: Yeah, I just really gained an appreciation for their precision. Looking at it, I didn’t understand all of that until I was around it a lot more. At the time- they don’t have any codified warm-up like you would in a modern class or a ballet class- and that’s really why they were looking to bring somebody in. They wanted to prevent injuries. They wanted to be able to provide their dancers with ways to stay strong, and they didn’t really know how to warm their bodies up. Really, they would just come in and start dancing without having done anything prior. So it was really about education, like- here’s how you can keep your bodies strong and stable if you do X, Y, and Z. It will lengthen your life as a dancer.
Victoria: What are the most common injuries for a step dancer?
Juliet: Interesting question. I thought when I started that I would know, just by looking at them. But it really was the same as any dancer at all. Those that were more flexible got injured a lot more. Those that were tighter just had a lot more stability dn they didn’t end up with as many injuries. So it was the same as really any kind of athlete- those that are very flexile are just more prone to injuries, because they don’t have as much stability in their body. Teaching ability was really important.
Victoria: Cool. It sounds like teaching them could then inform your teaching of Pilates as well, because there are so many times I’m sure over the last 20 years who have walked in to the studio and they are hyper-mobile, or they do have that ability. For me, that’s something where I’m always super aware when someone walks in like that. Just because you can get in to a certain sort of extension per say, doesn’t mean we are necessarily going to take it there. We’re maybe going to take it two notches down, right? So there is always something- when I see anybody who is hyper-mobile in any of their joints, I’m always more cautious because I do think there is more opportunity for something to go wrong.
Juliet: Absolutely, 100% agreed with you. And that is something that Bob would always talk about. His technique didn’t work for dancers because it stretched them out more, it worked for them because it brought stability to their body, and that’s what they needed to allow them to get stronger in their technique.
Victoria: Right, it’s so interesting. So did [Riverdance] hire you because you had the dance and massage therapy background, or just massage therapy?
Juliet: Both. Because I had dance, massage, and Pilates. They were looking for somebody with Pilates and massage.
Victoria: Okay great, awesome! That is so cool. I can’t imagine anyone more qualified to help somebody than someone with all three of those in their back pocket. Like: “I’ve got a solution for this!” “I can help you here!” It sounds like a great match for you, and a very rewarding couple of years.
Juliet: It was a great time.
Victoria: You did talk about certifying at Power Pilates with Bob and Susan. When Bob passed away, a while ago, what- a year and a half ago?
Juliet: It’s been 3 years.
Victoria: Oh my God! It’s been three years?! I had Susan on- maybe it was the anniversary- regardless. When we had Susan on, she talked so much about Bob. Obviously they were very close as they ran Power Pilates for a number of years, and I thought who better? Juan [Estrada] as well- he had so many great things to say about Bob. But I would like to hear from you, what your experiences were with Bob and what you took away from him as a Lead Teacher Trainer when you were learning the Pilates system.
Juliet: Clarity. There was nobody that taught with as much clarity as Bob. He was able to bring this technique into a place where you didn’t have so many questions. There can be a lot of questions- but when you’re learning it, it’s so important to be clear and succinct with the ideas, with the setups, with what the movements are. There was nobody clearer than Bob. He created this foundation for me that then I felt like I was on stable footing to be able to play with. What I love about the classical technique is the parameters. Those parameters- I find myself much more creative when I’m within parameters, rather than somebody saying: “Ok, go teach movement.” I don’t know what to do with that- I feel lost. Give me three parameters, a box to stay in, I can find my creativity within that. Bob was a master at that. He was so detail-oriented about the system and the classical approach, but wildly creative within that. And that is an extremely talented teacher that can find their creative personality within that system.
Victoria: We’ve had discussions like this before, and of course now that I’m trying to think about who I had it with, I’m blanking- but I’ll go back and find it because I did have a quote that I posted from one of my former Mat & Chat guests, and this kind of goes back to the classical versus the modern approach- well, modern- that’s not the right word. I don’t like using the word contemporary anymore. I’m kind of over the division. It’s either Pilates or it’s other things Pilates people do. But you know, we had this discussion- someone said for them, literally having a system does allow that growth and that exploration. If you have a system, you’re able to apply the swan from the ladder barrel, to the chair, to the long box, to the mat. It really gives you those opportunities, whereas when it’s wide open, you lose that focus, and when you don’t have that focus, it’s harder to hone in on the creativity. It’s funny, right? It seems almost counterintuitive, but it’s true. If I had that quote in front of me, I would read it, because it nailed exactly what you just said.
In regards to Bob and clarity in teaching, I know you have a teacher training program at Beacon (and at many other studios), but I sometimes find that the apprentices always – and I made the same mistake as an apprentice- you’re so wordy when you’re an apprentice! How many different ways can you try and describe to someone how to lift his or her head, right? There might be a big lead-up to what you tell them, then you explain it again in case they don’t get it. A few years down the line, you just say: “Lift your head.” There are so many extra words that we put in to the system and then it sometimes just messes up you and the client. Taking it all back to: “What’s the simplest way for me to get this across to the client in front of me?” is always the simplest way. Always.
Juliet: 100% agreed, for sure. And that was Bob’s gift.
Victoria: He seemed like an amazing, amazing man, and a lot of people attribute their success with the Pilates system to him. Sadly I never got to meet or work with Bob, but I’ve had many people on the Mat & Chat from the Power Pilates Bob era, and he just seemed like a really amazing person.
Juliet: He was, and he was incredibly generous and kind. He had a soul that was just sweeter than sweet.
Victoria: I would be remiss not to bring up Susan- though she is still with us- *laughs* but what did you take from Susan, her connection with Bob, and her role in the program?
Juliet: She was so creative and so smart. But what I love that Susan did specifically, and a lot of people may have not even known where these even came from- but she had a lot of drills that she would do in the mat program, where she would have you do one repetition of every exercise, and teach it that way to fire in to the order. She would have you do a silent drill and you would have a partner and you two would just go through the exercises as a meditation. She would have these verbal drills, these vocal drills. IT was so creative, it wasn’t just: “Memorize this order!” She had all of these creative approaches to how she could get across the information.
Victoria: I think that’s important. Something that we emphasize also in our teacher training program, is there are 4 different types of learning, right? Visual, tactile, verbal, etc. People learn in many different ways. You might talk to a client in front of you and they just stare at you, but if you put them in the position, they will understand it. Or, you might have to describe it- the auditory cues- so from what I think you’re saying, to have a mentor who involves every single usage of those really helps to get that teaching across in a deep way.
Juliet: Yes, absolutely.
Victoria: Okay, so Susan and Bob-amazing people. I loved my time with Susan when I had her on my Mat & Chat, and her time with Power was very important there. “Susan was the key on how to teach, which allowed all students how to find their own voice within the parameters” someone just commented.
Juliet: That’s my friend Allison Landry. She was with us during that time.
Victoria: You know I ask people if they have questions for you to message them to me, and she commented: “Ask her how she became such a good teacher!” So you sort of just answered- Susan and Bob.
Juliet: Yeah, you know Susan and Bob informed so much, but there was this core group of us, and we were all teaching together and we were all supportive of one another. So I could just kind of look around the room and say: “Wow, look at what Allison’s doing, look at what Dana’s doing, and Jen, and Carrie, and Erin”- there were so many great people around at that time, and we were all supporting each other, and we would all take classes with one another- and I think that’s really important too. Bob was the foundation, and I needed that really clear, firm foundation. Once I established that foundation, for me to see like: “Oh, how’s her approach different from his approach?” and be informed by many people’s different personalities. I think that’s how you find your own personality, is knowing it’s okay if I don’t sound exactly the same.
Victoria: Yes, and also- in the past year, we’ve had all of this access to instructors that we didn’t necessarily have access to before. The whole online thing wasn’t as major, it wasn’t as common, as normal. Now I find that with access to so many different instructors- whether it’s through Mat & Chat or my desire to take instruction from people around the world, you just become so much of a better instructor. You’re listening to their cuing, their ideas, their approach, and it just really helps to make you more well-rounded.
Juliet: I agree with that, as long as you have a firm foundation. It can get muddled if you are too influenced by too many things in the beginning. But once you your foundation is set, absolutely- go! Take from as many people as you can.
Victoria: @Pilatesgirlnyc just said: “I loved Susan’s drills. I remember them from that mat training that was in the Equinox. I was terrified my first day, and then super energized and excited every day afterward”
Juliet: *laughs* I think that was everyone’s feeling as well- a little bit terrified. It was exciting to kind of get through it and feel like it was accessible. They really gave you the tools to feel like you could be successful teaching the technique.
Victoria: Right. Which is so important.
So I also want to talk about Beacon Pilates and Allsport. You started Beacon- you said before that you went up there with your husband and were like: “There’s no Pilates studio here! We can afford to live in this awesome town! Let’s just do it!” What year was that?
Juliet: That was in 2006.
Victoria: Ok, 2006. What has that journey been like for you? 15 years later.
Juliet: It’s been pretty much a fairytale. I opened my business- not without struggles, of course- but I feel like I found the town I’m supposed to be in.
Victoria: Good! Oh my God, that’s such a good feeling.
Juliet: I adore my clients. I feel like any of them I would want to go sit, and chat, and hang out with. I feel a deep connection to my clients and I really appreciate each and ever one of them.
Victoria: @Pilatay posted a little image today that you could send as a Valentine to clients and it says: “Roses are red, violets are blue, I love what I do because of clients like you” or something like that. I thought it was so sweet and so true- I really do think that clients are more- well, what you do all day is teach these clients! So hopefully you’re lucky enough to really appreciate and love your clients as much as they love you back. I feel very fortunate in the same way, I work with some really amazing people, and that makes all the difference. Like you said, it’s like a dream!
Juliet: It is. It’s amazing to have a job that you love that you feel like you’re making a difference for people. It’s a great feeling.
Victoria: I think about that sometimes. You know, I’m a Pilates instructor and this is what I do full-time, and I love it. I don’t feel like I’m anywhere close to being done – there’s so much more coming, and I don’t even know what it is yet. As far as Pilates, this is just the beginning, right? I have so many friends and whatever they do, I wonder: “What would it be like to just do a job because you know it pays the bills?” I feel so fortunate that this isn’t how I view my job. Obviously it does do that, but it’s so much more to me. I know that there a lot of people who love what they do who don’t teach Pilates, but it is so unique to find something where I feel so fulfilled all-around.
Juliet: Yup. Couldn’t agree more. My daughter asks me every other month: “Mom, how did you find what you love so much?” I just had to trust my instinct at every step of the way that this was the right decision. Whatever it was: “The massage school is 6 blocks away- okay, I should go there!” “This town doesn’t have studio- okay! I should go there.”
Victoria: You have to trust your instinct. Alana Reynolds said: “Beacon Pilates is what makes Beacon a great place to live. She was a pioneer on Main Street and contributed a lot to the success of the rebirth of Beacon.” That’s so nice to hear!
Juliet: Thanks Alana!
Victoria: I’m sure that everybody at Beacon and the studio at Allsport agrees.
Juliet’s Speed Round
City or beach
Sweet or savory?
Cat or dog?
Adventure or comfort?
Books or movies? Half and half
Nights in or nights out?
Summer or winter?
Tea or coffee?
Early bird or night owl?
Pizza or pasta?
Europe or Asia? Wants to travel to Europe, loves Asian food!
Spring or fall?
Breakfast or dinner?