Romana's Birthday
Romana Kryzanowska was a legendary teacher of the Pilates Method and she played a huge role in the perpetuation of Jo’s original work. Today (30 June) we celebrate her birthday and her massive contribution to the Pilates Method we know and love.
Did you know that from 1995 till her retirement, Romana visited Australia every year to assist her protege Cynthia Lochard in training instructors?
I met Romana through Cynthia, who was my first Pilates teacher. Cynthia had opened a Pilates studio in a tiny room off the original Bangara Dance Company studio in Leichhardt, Sydney, and Romana had come to teach a workshop for her old student!
Photo credit: (above left) Cynthia Lochard, Pictured with Romana Kryzanowska in her Sydney studio and (above) many years later, at a conference in Europe. Cynthia runs the Australasian Romana’s Pilates training program and carries on Romana’s legacy from her studio in Surry Hills in Sydney, Australia.
I have never forgotten that first encounter on a hot summer’s day in 1995!! Romana was a little lady with big energy that exploded out of that sweltering little tin-roofed room! She made us work and sweat and laugh, in equal quantities!
Romana trusted what Joe and Clara had taught her, and she made it her life work to pass it on to the next generation. I was lucky enough to spend time training with her in both Australia and New York, and to this day, she continues to inspire me! When I watched her work with people, I wanted to be like her – to possess her eagle vision, compassion, wit, and no excuses optimism.
Her flamboyance and charm were legendary, but I always remember how hard she worked and how humble and generous she was with her knowledge and energy. Romana taught you Pilates, but she also taught you to live and love more joyfully!
Chris Lavelle
PAA Vice President
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