Toronto Pilates Scene
I don’t know about you all, but when I travel I enjoy visiting pilates studios in these new cities. My husband had a work trip in Toronto so I decided to tag along and explore the city through various boutique studios. My rule was that I had to be able to walk there and second, be in a different neighborhood than the previous visited studio.
I love this way of travel because one, it keeps me in rhythm with my workout routine back home and two, because I get a sneak peak into the pilates culture of the current city.
Here are the 3 main things I learned from the Toronto Pilates Scene:
The pilates goers of Toronto are way more diverse than those I see in my Denver studios. Not just diversity in race, but age and gender. The community felt more inclusive and less “it” girl vibe, which I loved. This of course can be attributed to just the lack of diversity in Denver, but also shows the inclusivity of a culture that is targeted for a specific girl in the U.S. I loved seeing a few men in every class I took!
The instructors in 3 out of 4 of the studios I visited didn’t wear workout clothes or a set, but rather a nice outfit like a dress or skirt. I assume it’s to lean on the practice of cueing rather than physically demonstrating. I noticed these classes were very anatomy technical with precise wording to lean on the expertise of the teacher. This added a layer of classical pilates to the modern moves and design of these studios.
Every studio had a very different design approach and feel overall. The first studio felt like an art studio with actual pieces of art and delicate reformer spacing as if the entire class was an installation. The second studio was crammed tight with a smaller class feel that was in a former school room- there was a chalkboard and everything. The third studio was a dark room and candlelit class- no phones allowed for mirror selfies. They even had distorted mirrors so that you weren’t looking around, This studio offered mat and reformer in the candlelight.
