Romana Kryzanowska was an American Pilates instructor who started as a student of Joseph Pilates and his wife Clara at their studio on Eighth Avenue in New New York
Background
Romana Kryzanowska was born in Farmington, Michigan on June 30, 1923. Her father, Roman was an accomplished artist in Detroit, in the 1920s. Her mother, Sari went on to continue painting and displaying her own artwork after Roman died in 1929.
Education
Romana studied ballet as a child.
Career
After the death of Joseph Pilates in 1968, Clara Pilates continued the studio for a few more years, and in 1970 Romana Kryzanowska became the director of what was by that time called "The Pilates Studio." She was the only child of Roman Kryzanowsky and Sari Pickett Kryzanowsky. Some of his artwork is in storage at the Detroit Institute of Arts. At age 17, while studying at George Balanchine’s School of American Ballet, she suffered an ankle injury, and was taken by Balanchine to Joseph Pilates to see if exercise rather than an operation would resolve the problem.
The exercises were a success, and she continued to study with Pilates.
"Before I knew it", she said, "I was named a helper, which meant I didn’t have to pay anymore." The couple moved to Peru, where she danced and taught the Pilates technique. Her two children, Paul and Sari, were born in Peru.
Returning to the United States in 1958, she began working again with Joseph and Clara Pilates at their studio in New York City. She also taught ballet.
Views
Quotations:
"Before I knew it".