Ready to become a Pilates instructor in St. Louis? Central Studio, an affiliate of Core Dynamics Pilates, offers a comprehensive 2-part training program designed to help you grow your skills through personalized instruction and mentorship. Whether you're looking to advance your practice or start a career in Pilates, our program provides expert guidance every step of the way.
Pilates Teacher Training Programs at Central Studio
To register for this course you will need to fill out an application. You can also contact the Core Dynamics office directly either by email: info@coredynamicspilates.com or by phone: (505) 919-9593.
ABOUT CORE DYNAMICS
Created by Michele Larsson in 1996 (to continue the development of The Pilates Method by First Generation Teacher Eve Gentry) the Core Dynamics Pilates Teacher Training Program places its focus on developing students to embody The Pilates Method, to understand human movement and to teach The Pilates Method correctly to a wide variety of clientele. Our approach is holistic and comprehensive as opposed to just teaching exercises or leading classes.
Core Dynamics offers a specialized ’boutique’ program rooted in historical Pilates, and updated with current safety, efficacy and bio-mechanic developments in human movement.
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5, 10-hour Intensives.
Intensive contact hours 50
Observation hours 40
Personal practice hours 75
Assistant/practice teaching hours 50The teacher training program begins with CORE 101. This introductory Pilates training program training is appropriate for those interested in deepening and expanding their own Pilates practice or for beginning a path to become a Pilates teacher. This program consists of 5 intensives. The first two are conducted online through self study and private sessions so students can join the program based upon their schedule. Both of these initial two intensives include direct study hours with the program director Kevin Bowen. and includes required hours of personal practice, observation and student teaching. Video resources are provided as tools to log observation, and self-practice hours. These resources are available on demand so you can adjust the Program to suit your availability. Hours can also be directly logged at one of our Core Dynamics mentoring studios.
Upon successful completion of the CORE 101 Program and a passing score on both the practical and written test students will receive a certificate which qualifies them to teach the CORE 101 fundamentals, Beginner Intermediate Mat classes and Beginner Reformer classes. -
History, Pilates philosophy & principles, introduction to teaching movement. Intro to special populations. 10 hours +
Private tutorials 3 hours – scheduled individually via Zoom.
All online. -
Beginner/Intermediate Pilates Mat exercises, intro to group teaching skills & understanding human learning. 10 hours +
Private tutorials 3 hours – scheduled individually via Zoom.
All online. -
Beginner + Reformer exercises, intermediate group exercise teaching skills, planning Reformer classes. 10 hours
Private tutorials scheduled individually via Zoom depending on student.
10 hours ‘LIVE’ in a training studio and virtual. -
Intro to the Cadillac, Wunda Chair & Auxiliary equipment as well as 5 Level I exercises on each of these equipment categories. 10 hours
10 hours ‘LIVE’ in a training studio.
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Group (Mat and Reformer) and one on one teaching labs. Adjustments and modifications. 10 hours ‘LIVE’
Ongoing throughout CORE 101:
•Weekly office hours set up in calendy online that all students can schedule to address needs and answer questions.
•Scheduled weekly student tutorials ‘LIVE’ online -
Intensive I: Fundamentals+ cost is $625.00 and includes all materials.
Additional intensives are $450.00 per intensive.
Pilates Teacher Program Training
Central Studio in St. Louis offers Pilates teacher training through the CORE 101 Series and CORE Comprehensive Program, perfect for anyone aspiring to become a certified Pilates instructor. The CORE 101 Series, led online by renowned Pilates educator Kevin A. Bowen, provides a strong foundation, while the remaining segments are taught by experienced Central Studio instructors in St. Louis. These programs cover all the essentials, including costs, estimated hours, and hands-on practice, equipping you with the skills and knowledge to thrive as a Pilates instructor.
CORE 101
CORE Comprehensive
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6, 2-day intensives + additional hours for a total of 300 course hours (100 per Intensive).
The next and final step in our Pilates teacher training is the CORE Comprehensive Program or COMP. This portion covers a full syllabus of Pilates exercises on the Mat and all of the equipment.
As a student you will:
• Learn the concept behind the Pilates system of exercises• Learn the historical Pilates exercise repertoire
• Gain a foundation in seeing and correcting posture faults and movement limitations in your clients
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Covers Exercises on Mat, Reformer, Trap Table, Wunda Chair, Spine Corrector, Ladder Barrel, Magic Circle, Ped-o-Pul, client assessment, introduction to program design.
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Covers Intermediate to Advanced exercises on Mat, Reformer, Trap Table, Wunda Chair, Spine Corrector, Ladder Barrel, Magic Circle, Ped-o-Pul, understanding the body in movement terms, honing teaching skills, advanced program design.
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Covers Advanced level exercises on Reformer, Trap Table, Wunda Chair, Spine Corrector, Ladder Barrel, Magic Circle, Ped-o-Pul, pre-cautions and contraindications for Pilates programming, client reassessment skills, Pilates professional practices, Core Dynamics advanced teaching skills. Integration and Development of Core Dynamics Pilates teaching technique. Hands-on teaching labs with clients.
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COMP I A & B – $550.00 each intensive
COMP II A & B– $550.00 each intensive
COMP III A & B – $550.00 each intensive
Additional fees:
Online class subscription: (coming soon)
Final theoretical and practical Test Out – $250.00
Materials fees: $175.00 (Core Dynamics Manual, The Anatomy of Movement (book), muscle and bone charts.
JOSEPH PILATES
In 1912, he moved to England to join his brother and the two of them performed as acrobats and pugilists. During World War I, Joseph – as a German national was placed in an internment camp. It is there that he truly started to develop his Mat work exercises. Because of his prior background, he was brought to the Isle of Man where he worked with the injured soldiers returning from the war. Joe felt that in order to heal properly that the body needed to continue to move. Consequently, he began physically moving and exercising the injured soldiers in their hospital bed. He grew physically tired of doing this work and consequently began utilizing springs from the hospital beds and other props. This original thought process involving ‘springs’ eventually grew into what is now known as the Cadillac or Trapeze Table.
After his time in England and in the internment camp, he returned to Germany to work with the German police force. By 1926, Pilates started his journey to New York City where he met his common-law wife, Clara while en route. Together, they opened their first exercise studio at 939 8th Ave. Over the years the Pilates Studio attracted quite a diverse clientele of the ‘Who’s Who’ in NYC society, Dance Entertainment circles. Joseph Pilates passed away at the age of 87 in 1967 leaving behind a legend that would change the fitness industry in many significant ways in the years to come, his method of “Contrology” became quickly embraced and was years ahead of its time.
Over the course of more than 85 years, Pilates has continued to grow and thrive and change the face of fitness not only in the US but the rest of the world. Pilates truly was the first US exercise export. No matter where it is being taught now in the world the Pilates method’s roots are traced directly back to the US.
EVE GENTRY
Eve was born Henrietta Greenhood in San Bernardino, CA on August 20, 1909. In 1917 she began to study ballet, folk and ballroom dance and in 1928 she moved to San Francisco and began studying modern dance. It was in 1936 that she moved to NYC where she began a dance career with the Hanya Holm Company.
She choreographed her most famous dance piece Tenant of the Street in 1938. She married her childhood friend and beau Bruce Gentry in 1944 and chose the professional name – Eve Gentry.
In 1940 Eve and 3 other teachers founded the Dance Notation Bureau. She was in fact the first American dancer to teach Laban notation in the US. Eve directed her own dance company from 1944 – 1968. She was also a charter faculty member for the High School for the Performing Arts and the New York University School of the Arts. Most significant in this context is that she served as teacher and associate with Joseph Pilates in NYC from 1942 – 1968. During this time Eve had a radical mastectomy in 1955 and knew that the only person she could turn to for help was Joseph Pilates. So much muscle had been removed she could not lift her arms. With Joe’s help and guidance she was able to return to dance in one years time.
She relocated to Santa Fe, NM in 1968 and established a dance studio as well as a Pilates studio with the equipment that Joe had given her prior to her departure from NYC. Eve worked with the Santa Fe opera and choreographed and danced in Stravinsky’s La Rossignol in 1969 and 70 and at the age of 63 danced in the world premiere of Villa Lobos – Yerma choreographed by Jose Limon.
Throughout her more than 50 year career Eve was a dancer, teacher, coach and choreographer for countless stage, film and television projects. In 1979 Bennington College honored her with the ‘Pioneer of Modern Dance’ award and in 1989 was chosen by the State of New Mexico as a ‘Santa Fe Living Treasure’.
Eve died on June 17, 1994 at the age of 84. Although she trained only 3 individuals to teach the Pilates method in her lifetime, her contribution to the preservation and development of the Pilates method remains to this day remarkable.
MICHELE LARSSON
Michele is a former dancer and choreographer who trained at the Julliard School of Music. Michele received a BA in Holistic Health from Antioch University. She began teaching movement in 1965, instructing dance for the NY Public Schools in 1965. Through the years she has taught Labanotation, modern, jazz, ballet and choreography in professional studios and universities. She began teaching Pilates Mat work and post-injury classes in 1979.
In 1982 after 12 years of study with Eve Gentry, Larsson began teacher training under her guidance. She spent many months working with Ms. Gentry. Larsson worked as an associate teacher with Eve Gentry for nine years prior to the founding of the Institute for the Pilates method with Eve and Joan Briebart in 1991. While she was with the Institute she was the Director of Training and developed curricula and materials for Pilates Teacher Training.
Building on her past experience, Larsson established Core Dynamics Inc. in 1996 as a teacher training organization and studio in Santa Fe, NM. The program expanded to 6 locations throughout the US. Larsson decided to put the Teacher Training Program on hiatus for a few years as she studied and further developed her own continuing education and advanced studies workshops and delivered those workshops throughout the US and Internationally.
