For an introduction to the Ron Fletcher style of Pilates, I paid a  visit to Pat Guyton Pilates, Inc, a studio in the Boulder, Colorado foothills that educates students and teachers in the Ron Fletcher Work. Guyton who is also Vice President of the Pilates Method Alliance, showed me around the studio, which she shares with  Jonathan Oldham Physical Therapy. After the quick tour, we got to work.

Unlike most sessions, this lesson started standing with some centering exercises. This is the Ron Fletcher preparation for placing the body in correct alignment when vertical, or as Guyton says, “Ron’s Standing and Centering Cues.” We began by lifting the toes to find the balance points of the feet. This small move helps distribute the weight of  the body evenly, divided between the right and the left leg and the front and back of the feet. I was told that Fletcher describes this as”feeling the tripods of the feet.” Once I was centered, Guyton demonstrated  a lunge sequence, moving sideways from right to left, and then moving front to back. The large mirrors in the studio allowed me to see and to correct my alignment.  I was surprised to see the lack of symmetry in my body when performing the same movement from right side to left side, but Guyton’s corrections helped me make my movements more consistent.

After the warm-up, Guyton introduced Towelwork. As we moved, I learned that Ron Fletcher  developed the Towelwork to provide increased awareness of shoulder girdle stabilization and symmetry of motion. (Towelwork is a licensed syllabus of The Ron Fletcher Program of Study.) Holding a slightly stretchy red braided towel, Guyton led me through a series of arm  movements. Shoulder moves can be problematic for me, but the towel actually helped me keep my parts in place. We progressed into more complex movement, combining the lunges from the beginning of the session with more difficult arm movement patterns done with the towel.  

After several minutes of this gentle, but aerobic sequence it was time for classical matwork. Guyton cued me to roll through my spine completely during the Roll-Up. (I sometimes forget that I have a “sticky” point, just as the lower spine leaves and reconnects with the  floor.) As my back left the mat, Guyton cued me to “press the spine to the floor without moving the bolts of the pelvis.”  As I rolled back to the mat, Guyton encouraged me to make a C-curve with my spine, but  keep my shoulders wide.

Guyton then sat me on one of the Balanced Body Clara Spine Correctors in the studio. Another Fletcher favorite, he learned the full syllabus of Spine Corrector work from Clara, and uses it often in his  own work. We performed classic matwork and unique Fletcher pieces such as the Philadelphia piece, Ron’s Strip Teaser and Pattern with Horseback. Throughout all the work, a feeling of dancing from the core remained.

As I exited the studio I stopped to inspect the Tower, or Guillotine, a piece of equipment I had never before seen. Fittingly, Joe Pilates called this fabled piece of equipment “Gym in a doorway” because it is so slender it can actually fit in an open doorway. When I paused to have a closer look, Guyton informed me that  Balanced Body sells the vertical machine, which was a favorite at the Ron Fletcher Studio in Los Angeles. Many of the moves seem designed more for the male body because of the immense upper body strength they require. Guyton, a former dancer and gymnastic coach who took classes from Kathy Grant and Bruce King before discovering Fletcher’s work, whipped and flipped around the device with grace, showing me the machine’s—and her—flexibility and strength.
 
Studio info:
Pat Guyton Pilates, Inc.
3825 Iris Ave., Suite 300
Boulder, CO 80301
303-449-7284
patguytonpilates.com