Avant Chamber Ballet is honored to bring Romana’s Pilates International Training to our dancers.

We offer a full certification program that covers all the exercises, both on the mat and the original equipment used by Joseph Pilates. Romana’s Pilates instructor training program is highly valued in the industry as it is known for its depth and quality of education. During the program, you will learn the technique, principles, and skills of the pure Pilates method so you can teach it in an effective and safe way and offer your clients the highest-quality experience.

The program is almost a year-long commitment to accomplish your observation hours, seminars, and test out at the three different levels of systems (basic, intermediate, advanced). Your daily work will be supervised at Avant Chamber Ballet by level 4 teacher trainer Katie Puder. Amanda Owens will teach and test the Basic Seminar. Amanda is a level 3 teacher trainer as well as the owner of Park Cities Pilates Center in Dallas, where you will attend seminars and do your testing. Master teachers will visit Dallas to teach your Intermediate and Advanced Seminars, as well as administer the tests.

Requirements for entering the program: Prior to starting the program, you must commit to the mandatory schedule at Avant Chamber Ballet 8-10 am Monday-Friday, starting in September. Additional hours for practice teaching will be available on weekends, afternoons, and during breaks during your dancing day. Consistent hours in the studio are key to your ability to learn and properly teach Pilates. Only through hands-on practice will you deeply understand how different bodies need different modifications/exercises. You must also be diligent with your study, personal practice, and teaching practice to complete the program in one year on the schedule as it is planned.

To start the program, you must be at a strong intermediate level transitioning into advanced with your own Pilates practice. This is needed on all pieces of equipment - reformer, mat, Cadillac, chairs, and barrels. You must have an interview, along with your initial assessment into the program, before the Basic Seminar in September 2025. Dancers who do not have experience with Romana’s Pilates will be required to attend the summer intensive at ACB.

Upon certification, you must complete at least one Continuing Education Program (CPE) per year in order to keep your skills current with Romana’s Pilates International. These are hosted in Dallas as well as major cities around the world.

AN EFFECTIVE AND SAFE METHOD OF EXERCISE FOR MORE THAN 80 YEARS

Pilates has proven itself for more than 80 years as an effective and safe method of exercise when taught and applied correctly. It has been the workout of choice for dancers, gymnasts, and fitness enthusiasts for decades. In recent years, the word Pilates has worked itself into the mainstream, the direct result of an intellectual property lawsuit in which a US federal court ruled the term “Pilates” generic and free for unrestricted use. Search engine results are now in the millions as numerous organizations have entered the market to capitalize on the latest fitness trend and individuals across the globe look to benefit from Joe’s unique approach to health and fitness. As a result, consumers now face extensive and conflicting information about what Pilates is, how it works and what credentials they should seek in an instructor.

Joe was a genius well beyond his time; he didn’t just develop a brilliant approach to fitness that includes over 500 exercises; he also engineered all the equipment, specifications and tuning required to teach them properly. There is no debate that his original approach can work wonders when applied by a qualified instructor who understands how to develop and tailor a Romana’s Pilates workout specific to your body and capabilities. When applied correctly, it will make you look, feel, and move better!

After Joe and Clara Pilates passed away, Romana Kryzanowska inherited their New York City studio and preserved the Pilates’ legacy by traveling the world for six decades to educate the next generation of Pilates instructors. Kryzanowska’s daughter, Sari Mejia Santo, who also had the opportunity to train directly with Pilates, taught at her mother’s side for more than three decades. Romana’s Pilates owner Daria Pace, who is also Sari’s daughter, would later join her mother and grandmother in teaching the Pilates method.

Romana’s Pilates instructor trainers are handpicked, guided, and directly mentored by Level I Instructors Sari Mejia Santo, Juanita Lopez and Cynthia Lochard. Such individuals were selected to participate solely on Romana Kryzanowska, Sari, Juanita, and Cynthia’s long-term observations of their experience, dedication, and prowess as Pilates instructors. These efforts were undertaken in order to offer you the highest quality instructors in the industry and to prepare instructors for a lifetime of learning or teaching Pilates the way Pilates was intended.

Additionally, Romana’s Pilates uses a proprietary instructor leveling system to identify instructors with the appropriate level of skill and commitment to work as a member of our network. Romana’s Pilates instructors teach the exercises and philosophies of Joseph and Clara Pilates as handed down to their world-renowned protégé, Romana Kryzanowska, and later her daughter, Sari Mejia Santo.

ROMANA KRYZANOWSKA

True Protégé of Joseph Pilates

Romana was introduced to Joseph Pilates in 1941, when her mentor George Balanchine introduced her because of an ankle injury. She quickly found the amazing benefit, noticing not only the improvement in her ankle, but the overall improvement of her dancing. Her love and commitment was evident early and she continued her commitment to Joseph and Clare Pilates until July 1944, when she got married and went to live in Peru until 1958.

During her time in Peru she did not stop teaching. She kept in touch with “Uncle Joe” and Clara throughout her time there and visited them in NYC. Uncle Joe actually made baby leg springs for her son Paul Mejia. She continued to teach her son and daughter in Peru to help them also become strong and flexible. When she moved back to NYC, Joe said to them that they were his “Pilates babies.”

She continued to work closely and extensively with him learning the method until his death in 1968. Romana continued to work with Clara for another 11 years and upon her death in 1979, it became the natural transition for Romana to keep the studio and the method going.

Romana is unquestionably the Protégé of Joe Pilates and has been acknowledged by the most famous instructors as being their teacher, mentor and steward for the true Pilates method. Over the course of her lifetime she has traveled extensively inspiring new instructors around the world, and across Europe, Central/ South America, North America, Asia and Australia. At 90 she passed away on August 30, 2013 . Her legacy will continue for generations to come through her protégé’s, some of whom you will work with during your certification.

Offering you the highest quality, most proven Pilates instruction in the industry.

• Using a structured, holistic approach that covers all the key pieces of Pilates equipment! ​

• Training centers available in more than 15 countries

• 40+ instructor training facilities worldwide

Schedule:

Summer: preparation followed by assessment

September: Basic Seminar - test in early November

November: Intermediate Seminar

January/February: Advanced Seminar

June: Final Test