This Mat & Chat was hosted on on Instagram Live on Saturday, January 23rd, 2021. The chat followed a 25 minute mat workout.
Victoria: For those of you who don’t know, Simona is in Stamford, CT, which is not far from where I’m from in Darien. When I’m home, I’m going to have to come by and visit- and that will be very exciting for me. I think most of you probably know this, and you did say this in the beginning, but in case anyone tuned in late- Simona has a bit of an accent. You are Italian! You are from Italy, and you said at the beginning that you came over the U.S. when you were 20, 21?
Simona: Yeah! I was actually 20, and then a few months later I turned 21, and they brought me out to get a drink. I said: “What’s the big deal about going out for a drink?” I didn’t know that there was this culture of: “When you’re 21 you can drink.” I was drinking wine in Italy since I was 14. So, it was interesting.
Victoria: What brought you here? Did you come to New York?
Simona: I came to New York, yes. I was invited by a very wonderful family. I was living with them for about six months. I came because I also was in a scholarship at Julliard, so I was there taking classes and enjoying my life in New York City- my dream come true. Then I had to go back to Italy, so that was a little sad.
Victoria: Oh, you did? So you were only here six months, and then had to go back to Italy?
Simona: Yeah, and then I came back right away, because there was just something about New York City- I felt like I was actually home. Even if I didn’t speak a word of English when I came, I just felt that it was my home. I wanted to come back as fast as I could.
Victoria: So you came over for a 6-month program at Julliard- for dance?
Simona: It was for ballet, yes, correct. And then I was dancing with other companies. I actually got the scholarship with Julliard- they accepted me into the school- but unfortunately I didn’t realize how expensive it was. Obviously my family could not afford it, I could not afford it. I was dancing, trying to find jobs, auditioning every weekend, and then finally after a few years I decided to go back to school. I applied for Purchase College and that’s when my life really changed, not only because I was happy to go back to school and have a degree, but also because that’s when I really found Pilates.
Victoria: So many of my Mat & Chat guests have come through Purchase College! It’s so interesting! Of all the places where you would think this Pilates revolution, modern-day, I guess- it’s just so cool, really amazing. How long were you at Purchase?
Simona: I was there for 5 years. I went through college and got my BFA from there, and I also ran the studio for 2-3 years afterwards.
Victoria: Wow, cool!
Simona: Yeah, yeah. We had dancers, but we also had outside clients, we had equipment, we had everything there. Romana used to come to teach us mat classes which really was an incredible experience. After that I opened my own studio in Westchester County- I was there for over 15 years or so. Then I went back to Purchase, and then from Purchase to Stamford.
Victoria: Fairfield County!
Simona: Yeah! I’m also excited because we finally have the approval of the Certificate Program through Purchase College, so now we are there! So we are not just teaching dancers, but we are also offering our certificate program.
Victoria: Great! That’s so exciting, congratulations.
Simona: Thank you! This was many people’s dream, not just mine. Romana really wanted to help dancers, and have something concrete there. As you know Sean [Gallagher] had a studio and was a physical therapist there. He did a really good job by really starting the programs there. Everything else just fell apart afterwards, but I tried to maintaining that legacy for everybody. Now finally after 15 years, they’ve approved us.
Victoria: That’s so exciting, yay! It’s always good to have good news. That’s great, congratulations.
Simona: I have a wonderful teacher there, she’s basically moving forward with that and helps me there. There are so many things that are happening right now that are a product of many, many people’s work, and this is definitely one of those.
Victoria: That’s great. So we spoke earlier, but after that, I went back and read your full bio on your website. It got me kind of like: “Oooh!” I was at home, reading it out-loud to my fiancée, and he’s Italian- well American, but of Italian heritage- and he was like: “That’s so cool! I want to know what Pilates is like in Italy.” And I was like: “Well, she didn’t really do Pilates in Italy, I don’t think….” But maybe you did? Do you know what Pilates is like back home?
Simona: Um you know- I did Pilates here- so I learned it in the states. But then, when Romana and I and Sean had a business together, I brought Pilates to Italy, to Rome, with Romana. I mean, there was already Pilates out there, especially in Milan- there were many different studios that developed through the years, but Romana came to Rome with me for the first time. We did a certification program, and that’s when a lot of studios opened up in Rome afterwards. It was a very different experience, it was very different because I think the mentality is very different in Italy for everything. When you find something, you want to really protect it, and not really share it with a lot of people. You know, that is that kind of mentality. I’m Italian and I understand and know that kind of mentality, but I really wanted to actually have more of an American mentality. You know something good, and you want to share it.
Victoria: Are you from Rome?
Simona: I am from Rome, yes.
Victoria: Oh, okay, cool! So you went back to your hometown!
Simona: Oh yeah, absolutely. I haven’t been back for 3 years and I really miss it a lot. I miss my mom, and everyone.
Victoria: Oh, yeah, Rome is amazing! I’ve been to Rome, it’s beautiful. It’s so historic- I loved being there. I loved Italy. I could go back to Italy every year of my life and see a different part of Italy. It’s just so beautiful and expansive and diverse!
Simona: Let’s do that as soon as the pandemic is over.
Victoria: Yes, please! Take me to Rome! We’ll do some Pilates in Rome.
Simona: Absolutely, it would be my pleasure. I’ll give you a little tour.
Victoria: Amazing! Great, I’d love to see it all.
So your bio also said that Pilates had saved your life two times. First, let’s go into the second time, because you were in Italy when that happened- in Sardinia- so tell us the story of how Pilates saved your life in Italy.
Simona: So that one time, I was at the beach. It was in Sardinia, and it was absolutely a beautiful beach and had all these rocks which were going right into the deep sea. As a really happy Italian girl on the beach, I started jumping around and stepping on them, going deeper and deeper and closer to the water- deeper into the water, but I was on top of those rocks. And those rocks became from flat, to more pointed. By the time I recognized that I was getting in to real trouble, was really almost too late to come back. I couldn’t turn around to go backwards- I kept going forwards- it was almost like a deep drop into the sea. It wasn’t even that you could dive into the sea, it was a pointed rock. The only thing I remember- it was my brain taking over my body. I just somehow jumped over a very pointy rock, where only one foot fit, I jumped around, turned myself so that I could face the opposite side, and I slid down into the rock so that I could grab it with my hands. The only other option would have been to fall backwards or to fall into the rocks in the water. It was a little scary but I recognized everything afterwards. I did it without really programming it, you know what I mean? It was just automatic.
Afterwards, I was scratched in my leg, really bleeding- but I was saved. When I thought about it afterwards that night, I went over and over into my head- how did I do this? How did it happen? I really think it was the work I was doing. When the body is in control, and the body knows that it isn’t in a safe place, it reacts quickly. That’s why- you know when I was teaching you, and we did the: “Stop, balance”? That’s what I’m talking about. You can’t think.
Victoria: Right, like preparing yourself for those kinds of moments.
Simona: You can’t think because the thinking process of the nervous system is low, so it’s intuitive. You have to just do it without thinking. If you’re not practicing that quick reaction, you are not able to do it. You have to practice it. And how we practice it in Pilates and Contrology is just that- challenging your balance on the chair. What happens if you are losing your balance? How do you fall? Are you falling in a way that it’s optimized, so that you’re not breaking your bones? What it means to know that you are going to fall in one second- what’s that reactionary moment? That’s a part of Contrology. Joseph Pilates came from boxing. If you’re not ready, if you’re not reacting before your opponent, you’re dead, right? So that was amazing to me. It was like: “Oh my God, there’s a lot more to this work than I imagined.” Also I think being a dancer, I had pretty good balance. So I have to say- it was probably a combination of the two, but that was a very telling moment for me, for sure.
Victoria: And speaking of being a dancer, you said the first time Pilates saved your life was as you decided that you were phasing out of dance as a career- that it probably wasn’t going to be something that your body could keep up with anymore, right?
Simona: Well, it’s interesting, because when you have that mentality- when you’re a dancer- you know that you can always dance. It’s hard to say no, and to recognize that the body is getting older, even though I was only 35 or whatever. I could have danced a lot more. But for me, it was about knowing that dancing was not going to be my life forever, you know? When I graduated from college, I was already older compared to the kids that were there, right?
Victoria: Right, because you came here later.
Simona: Right, and I had almost the opposite life. Until I came here, I was already dancing and doing tours in Italy, and then I came here and went back to school. So I actually did the opposite of what people normally do, right? So I recognized that I danced and that there was not a lot more for me to do there. I also loved to teach, but I thought that teaching dance all the time was just not enough, was not going to give me enough. So Pilates really came into my life at a time that I really needed it, because I was getting really depressed as a dancer: “Oh my God, I thought I was going to do this all my life, I left my country for this!” Everything was about dancing. I was suicidal, literally! You know? I would have never acted on it, but in that sense, I can see how a lot of dancers get to that point when you come to that realization. Having Pilates to fall back into was really a savior for me.
Victoria: Yeah, totally, and you’re not alone in that career path and that trajectory. I’ve had so many dancers on Mat & Chat and similarly, the most recent one that comes to mind is Ashley Patten, who was certified through and taught for Power for many years. She said that similarly, her body just wasn’t- I mean, she was injured. You get these injuries as dancers because dancers have such perfectionist personalities, and like you said- you’ll keep pushing yourself.
Simona: Yes, pushing yourself to the limit.
Victoria: Yeah- you can keep doing it, so you will. But then you wake up one day, and- you know, that’s kind of the catch-22 as a dancer: you know your body so well. You know that you can push it, but then in the back of your mind, you’re also thinking: “Okay- I know I can, but should I? So that’s where that really comes into play.”
Simona: What’s the cost? What’s the cost?
Victoria: Totally. And Pilates is so- as we know, based on who Joe was teaching in Manhattan, and Romana and her studio- it was such a draw for dancers. I think it’s very normal for that transition to occur- from dance to Pilates. We all know this. So many instructors come from that background. It’s good because it’s still a workout that challenges the body and allows you to keep that mentality of: “Can I push myself but do it in a safer way?”
Simona: Absolutely.
Victoria: I don’t come from a dance background, but I can see the similarities between the two and why dancers wind up making that transition.
Simona: I can also tell you one more thing. Because Pilates- we do Contrology with our bodies. It’s a little different in the sense that you get the flow of the movement which is very similar to how dance moves. If it were a kind of Pilates where it was chopped up, like: “Stop. Do this exercise. Stop. Do this exercise. Stop- do it.” You know what I mean? But the way I got it from Romana was very flowy, so the transition between dancing and going into this routine was very comforting, you know? It was something that I already knew.
Victoria: Familiar.
Simona: Familiar, it made me feel comfortable, and then of course I fell in love with it only because for the first time in decades- I mean, I was a dancer! But I never really felt the powerhouse, the inner thighs, the connection through the spine- I never really felt it! You know? I was dancing and jumping around on my pointe shoes- crazy stuff, but the first time I really felt it- I remember the exercise: it was going up sideways on the electric chair. And for the first time, I felt my inner thighs, the connection with the spine and the abdominal area, and I was like: “What?! I never use those muscles!?”
Victoria: Right! And meanwhile, you had been doing so much in that wide turnout!
Simona: It was only squats! My legs were like so thick! That was it.
Victoria: Do you have a favorite memory with Romana?
Simona: One of my favorite memories of Romana was her coming to teach us the mat class at Purchase College. We had this beautiful room, and there were mats on the floor- do you remember Drago’s Gym?
Victoria: Well, I wasn’t around, but I know it of course.
Simona: Yeah, so you know Drago’s had the blue mats on the floor- the big ones, that took up the whole floor?
Victoria: Yeah, like gymnastics mats?
Simona: Yeah, exactly. So we had those, and there was just a little piece in the middle of the room where she would walk back and forth, and there were mats on the right, mats on the left. She would just walk back-and-forth between the room to teach us, but she was so funny! She was hilarious. She was making the mat- she really worked us out. We were just drenched at the end of the mat. But she had such great humor. She made fun of us, and she was happy, and I think she really loved to teach dancers- she really enjoyed it. So I have a really great memory of that.
I also have some recordings, because my English was still very poor, so I asked her: “Can I record this?” Because I didn’t even know what “navel” was. I didn’t know what “navel” was when I first started Pilates. They kept saying: “navel, navel” and I was like: “Who’s navel? What’s navel?” Imagine, at the beginning, I was really watching because my learning was limited with wording, and I remember Romana told me this: “You have to have your dictionary by your side, and every night you learn one word. Every night you look up one word.” So she allowed me to tape her, so I have her tapes teaching mat classes.
Victoria: That’s so cool. That’s so valuable!
Simona: Yeah! And the other wonderful experience was of course bringing her to Rome- she was in love with the city. We went out to dinner like we always do after every module or course. We went out, and Jerome [Weinberg] was assisting us, assisting Romana, and helping me with the course. So we went out to dinner- we had this beautiful meal in one of the restaurants, and there was someone playing guitar, a kind of tango music. Jerome and I just looked at one another and started going out in the middle of the restaurant and started to tango for Romana. She was laughing- she loved it! Absolutely loved it. I was hoping that she would come and dance with us, but she was too far back in the corner, she couldn’t move, but with those eyes- she was very happy. It was like performing for her.
Victoria: Yeah, totally. That sounds like an amazing experience.
Simona: I have so many memories of Romana. I also have the memories from Drago’s Gym and her being very upset. I remember those moments of her seeing something, and if she did not like it- you could tell. Her mood would change like this *snaps fingers*.
Victoria: I’ve heard about that side of her.
Simona: She really was an open book. I mean, you didn’t really have to be very intuitive about how Romana felt. Romana felt the way she looked. *laughs*
Victoria: That’s easy! I wish we all were that simple, but I think it’s a little bit more complicated. But that would be nice, to just know.
Simona: Yeah, and that’s being honest. And I think that’s a wonderful tribute to someone like that.
Speed Round:
Simona’s Speed Round
City or beach
Sweet or savory?
Cat or dog?
Adventure or comfort? A comfort-venture
Books or movies?
Nights in or nights out? Unless it’s dancing
Summer or winter?
Tea or coffee?
Early bird or night owl? Formerly a night owl
Pizza or pasta? Pizza in Rome, but otherwise pasta!
Europe or Asia?
Spring or fall?
Breakfast or dinner?