Welcome to Episode 66 of the Movement Logic podcast! This episode is Part 3 of our Dismantling Long and Lean series. In this episode, Sarah and Laurel discuss the origins of Pilates, Barre, and yoga, and the connections between each movement method’s origins and the concept of a Pilates body, a Barre body, and a yoga body.

In this episode you will learn:

• The Pilates origin story, including its clear cut relationship to ballet and the ‘dancer body’
• The problematic origin of the dancer body in the 1960s in New York and its influence on Pilates and barre
• The Barre origin story and the Lotte Berk Method
• How Lotte Berk’s approach was sanitized for future iterations
• Whether the teacher and the teachings can be separated
• Laurel and Sarah’s experiences with the yoga body in their teacher trainings
• Some essential differences between the yoga body and the Pilates or Barre body
• What we can all do going forward to dismantle this patriarchal dominance over womens’ bodies

And more!

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Reference Links:

Maintenance Phase: Pilates episode

1962 Sports Illustrated article

The Predatory Genius: what do we do when great artists are also moral monsters

Pilates Anytime: What is a Pilates body?

Lotte Berk Website

GX United: The down and dirty history of barre fitness

NY Times: From Shimmying to Standing on Your Head

The Cut: The Secret Sexual History of the Barre Workout

Dance Magazine: The Cult of Thin