Pilates a Major Benefit for Cirque Performers!

Workouts in Synch with Life at Cirque du Soleil

Physical therapist Vanessa Gurie emphasizing strength, nutrition and the body-balancing approach of Pilates. Also a physical therapist, head coach Michael Ocampo is a certified Pilates and yoga instructor.

In the St. Petersburg Times, Ocampo is quoted as saying “With the Pilates approach we try to almost recenter people, because otherwise acrobats can quickly become unbalanced from side to side, from front to back, because almost everything that we do is one sided or unidirectional.”

“Pilates tries to address the imbalances that are going to start to form in your body because you’re only twisting one way,” he said.

Gurie said, “… injuries become less and less when Pilates is incorporated into their training regimen, then it becomes attractive, then everybody wants to do it.”

To Read the full article go to TampaBay.com

Tags: acrobats, cirque du soleil

This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 9:56 AM and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Siri Dharma Galliano

Great Great article. I got to train the show "O" and LA REVE" in Las Vegas. IT was challenging to give the group
a mat class because I had people from Mongolia,Russia,Poland,Argentina,Canada, etc and language was a problem.
They are required to be at work three hours before the performance and they use yoga or dance or Pilates as a
required warm-up and would come to class with their shoulders packed in ice and say, "Oh, I'll just work through it."

One gorgeous swimmer in the show"O", after I gave the 18 side-leg series said,"You know, this is nothing for
a syncronized swimmer." Fortunately, the Teasers came next!!!!!!

I love the Cirque and have seen thirteen of their shows, some like Mystere or Varakei, eight times, as my partner,
who is retired from the Great Moscow circus and now is in Russia training 100 teachers with Jay Grimes, has become a Pilates teacher and knows all the Russians in every show.

I always thought they would make great Pilates teachers because of their background in acrobatics and
gymnastics, what Joe Pilates based his work on, not yoga or ballet. Some we have trained to become
Pilates teachers, some, whose contract have expired, are coming to Big Bear to perform for us.

Siri Dharma Galliano