Many more famous clients were quick to refer their friends to Brooke, and before long word of mouth had spread to the press about this extraordinary fitness method being embraced by models and celebrities. It was a matter of months before Brooke’s business grew too large to continue in her living room. So, in 1997, she created and opened re:AB, which grew to become one of New York City’s most successful studio for authentic Pilates.
Hi, my name is Tavis Bohlinger and I’m the new European Correspondent for Gratz Pilates. Inthe coming months, I will be conducting interviews with some of the biggest names in ClassicalPilates in the UK and Europe.
In this first interview, I had the rare opportunity to sit down with Brooke Siler (before the quarantine!). She is one of the most renowned second-generation teachers to come out of Dragos in NYC. Brooke is full of vitality and insider information on the history of Pilates. That knowledge, and her candid personality, made for a stimulating conversation that we’ll be publishing in a few segments, of which this is the first.
Please leave comments below, and let us know what other teachers you want interviewed and questions you want asked!
So how did you come back to Pilates?
I created my home studio. When I first moved here, I went through a rebellious phase where I didn’t talk about Pilates, I didn’t even want anyone to know my name. But I started letting it creep in a little bit, because at my kids’ school the teachers asked me to come and teach a Pilates class. So to your side you see this board with all of these quotes of Joe and pictures of Joe. I was going in and once a week, doing mat classes with them.
I would bring this board in so they would understand who they were emulating, who they were studying, what he had said. Teaching, however, wasn't enough for me. After doing classes for the school teachers I realized that I actually needed Pilates back in my own body, so I set up the little studio in my house. Initially, I just brought a couple of pieces into the room. I took two of everything, sort of like a little Noah's Ark. So now I have friends who come, with no money exchanged. I need to work out, and I'm more motivated to work out when I have someone to work out with.