Providence Pilates Center

Business Overview

Open House!!!

Join us for our
Cumberland & Providence
Pilates Studio’s Open House!

Cumberland on September 24th - schedule your free class.

Providence on October 1st - schedule your free class.

Open House classes are from
9am to 1pm

Providence Pilates strives to empower the community to connect mind and body and to be their best healthy strong selves.

We deliver this through Classical Pilates, a form of fitness for all ages, body types, and fitness levels. Our workouts are tailored to fit each individual’s needs and goals. We focus on strength, stamina, stability, and stretch.

It all started with Joseph Pilates...

What does it mean when you hear the term Classical Pilates vs. Contemporary Pilates?

Those who follow ‘Classical Pilates’ try their best to teach the Pilates Method as close to the style and routine as Joseph Pilates taught. While it is true that Joseph Pilates taught many years ago and has since passed, we have black and white photos, film clips, and his students that we can reference as a way to obtain our information. His most famous disciple, the woman who he chose to carry on his legacy, Romana Kryzanowska, stayed relatively true to his teaching methods and passed on his teachings to her own students. In 1998 she created the first Teacher Manual so that future generations would have actual documentation of the work. That said, there are some exercises that Romana adapted or even created that we often consider Classical, but with the caveat that it was from Romana and not Joe. Most of the Teacher Trainers that are currently teaching the Classical Method of pilates have been students of Romana, or students of one of her students (first generation or second generation).

In regards to apparatus, there are significant dimensions that are used in the manufacturing of equipment that make it Classical or Contemporary. Classical apparatus stays true to the apparatus that Joseph Pilates used, however, Contemporary apparatus tends to be slightly bigger and different in dimensions and, the apparatus often allows for a lot more change. For example, Contemporary apparatus have more springs, different angles of bars, eye hooks, more gears for different heights of people, etc. A Classical reformer is pretty set on 4 springs all of the same tension, up or down for foot bar only, 3 or 4 gears, and not many changing parts (ropes, risers, etc).

Here at Providence Pilates, the majority of our Instructors are training in the Classical Power Pilates method.