Are there any modern/contemporary dancers out there who teach or practice Pilates.....either matwork or on apparatus? I wonder if you all heard about the recent court ruling regarding the use of Pilates name, the fact that the judge ruled against the trademarking/exclusive use of the name, stating something like Pilates exercise is too generic to be classified as an exclusive technique, and as such, cannot be designated as a protected/specific form of training. I am poorly paraphrasing this, and refer anyone who's interested to the article in Dance Magazine, January, 2001. If anyone has any further info, please post it!!!?!?! What effect will this have on the Pilates system, training? <BR>The case was brought by Sean Gallagher, P.T. and Pilates trainer.

Hi Trina, I just came home from a Pilates class. <P>The studio I go to is run by Diane Miller, who brought the Pilates method to Canada. Someone phoned the studio this morning to ask Dianne what her certification was which was sort of funny because she trained with the six first generation Pilates teachers (Carola Trier, Ron Fletcher, Romana Kryzanowska, Eve Gentry, Bruce King, and Kathy Grant), well before teachers were receiving certification papers. Diane Miller still takes workshops with Ron Fletcher (who trained with Joseph Pilates after dancing in the Graham Company and on Broadway) and teaches workshops across Canada.<P>This ruling is important because Sean Gallagher is not even a second generation Pilates teacher, (ie. such as Barbara Huttner, Steve Giordano, Jillian Hessel, Fran Lehen, Deborah Lessen, Michele Larsson, Mary Kasakove, Brenda Anderson). I liken this case to the problem the Martha Graham Company is having with Ron Protas, except that Joseph Pilates *did not* pass the Pilates mantle, as it were, on to Gallagher; he simply did not have the foresight to trademark his own name. <P>It has also been said that Pilates had a "front room" and a "back room" for teacher training, not everyone was taught the method in its entirety. Pilates is an evolving form which is one of the reason why an attempt to enforce a trademark on the name in court was unsuccessful.<P>This link is to a webpage that gives a more detailed history of Pilates and the case, although I should note that it is authored by one of the Defendants:<BR> <A HREF="http://www.balancedbody.com/nameuse.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.balancedbody.com/nameuse.html</A>

If anyone is interested in just the 'dry' facts of the case:<P>Gallagher of Manhattan-based Pilates Studio,Inc. sued Current Concepts(now known as Balanced Body, Inc.), a Sacramento-based company and reputedly the world's largest manufacturer of Pilates equipment. Gallagher had registered Pilates as a trademark for his equipment and his teachers. <P>United States District Court Judge Miriam Cedarbaum ruled on 10/20/00 that Pilates is a generic term, such as "yoga" or "karate," and therefore cannot be used as a trademark. Judge Cedarbaum's ruling follows an 11-day trial last June at which the Court's decision was reserved, pending submission of briefs by the parties.<P>Specifically, Judge Cedarbaum stated, "After considering all the evidence, observing the demeanor of the witnesses, and considering the plausability and credibility of the testimony, I conclude that the defendants have proven by clear and convincing evidence that: 1) both of the marks at issue are generic; 2) if ever there was a PILATES equipment trademark, it had been abandoned long before plaintiff applied for its registration andits registration was obtained by plaintiff through fraud; and 3) the exercise institution service mark wsa invalidly assigned in gross."<P>In its 93-page opinion, the Court not only invalidated Gallagher's trademarks for Pilates services and equipment, but ruled that Gallagher's testimony was "evasive and lacked credibility," and also found Gallagher to have "deliberately attempted to mislead" the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by falsely claiming in sworn documents that he had manufactured Pilates equipment.<P>Finally, the Court rejected Gallagher's argument that only his teachers were qualified to teach the Pilates method, citing testimony by one of the plaintiff's own witnesses that there were many other qualified Pilates instructors throughout the U.S. Trial witnesses included Kathy Grant and Ron Fletcher. <P>Incidentally, I have discussed this case briefly with one of the attorneys at our firm and she commented that it is a pretty interesting ruling in that she had never heard of a person's name being considered "generic." She also confirmed that,indeed, a person's demeanor can certainly play an important role in a judge's ruling. We also found it notable that Pilates' still living (first generation) disciples never tried to <BR>obtain the trademark themselves and wonder if perhaps the burgeoning production of expensive machines and accessories in more recent years incited Mr. Gallagher to "cash in" in ways that others had opted not to. <BR>[This message has been edited by Christina (edited January 03, 2001).]<p>[This message has been edited by Christina (edited January 03, 2001).]

I think this was definitely a cash grab...<BR>And as for a "name" becoming public domain, what about Chechetti?

Reading through these posts, I think anything I might add would be redundant. Marie, Ron Fletcher is my teacher also. He now has a web page.<P><BR> <A HREF="http://www.ronfletcherwork.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.ronfletcherwork.com</A>

Can someone help me understand the practical repercussions of this ruling? Does this actually mean that someone can say they teach "Pilates" without being certified by any certifying body? This could be weird, if so?!

Trina, if "Pilates" has indeed been ruled a generic term, such as "yoga," the latter of which doesn't require certification, then my interpretation is that yes, anyone can hang a shingle. Moreover, even if an instructor says they are certified, there is no legal standard for this certification. Let the buyer beware. <P>

Trina, it's not so wierd. Anyone can teach dance without a certification. There is no national certification for dance here in the U.S. <P>Also, regarding certification. Anyone can certify anybody for any number of things. All you need to do is print out a piece of paper that says "I----certify soandso in ------." Like dance, you want to be aware of credentials. And credentials don't always guarantee excellence. Someone could have studied with "famous person whoever" but that won't make them a good teacher, but they have a better chance of it than not. Paper certification is meaningless in many art forms. Meaningful if you are a nurse, surveyor, or other government controlled job. There is no government board of certification in many things. I can see how this could be problematic in some areas, but I would prefer it not happen. And there never was a governmental board of certification for pilates either, before or after said lawsuit. Certification does not equal qualification. A case in point, (excuse me if I step on toes) I would prefer to study dance with someone with a background I'm familiar with and way of teaching that shows understanding of the subject over someone who showed me a certificate of having completed a "program."

Maggie, you are lucky to have Ron Fletcher as your teacher! Dianne has been bringing a lot of his work to her studio, I really like it, very flow. I learned a new "Climb A Tree" the other day that was a 'Fletcher', (and before I knew who devised it, I thought, 'did a dancer come up with this?' because of the high lift ).

Marie, did you do the "climb a tree" on the floor, or on the equipment with the box? That high lift, or release is integral to a lot of Ron's work, and you don't generally see it in most of the other methods. I'm glad you like this work, it is really exceptional.

On the box, although I do mat work as well. It took me years to be able to schedule time to even learn the mat work because I had no time in university to do anything but reformer workouts--I wish I had learned it sooner, it's such a good warm up.<BR>I'm going to take a good look at Ron's site, as I only had a brief moment to take in your stunning sculpture on the front page. Wow!

Addressed to our "experts" on Pilates. (I'm not one, although I've done some of the mat work). Is Pilates better than say yoga, at building core strength? I looked at a Pilates book and was startled at how many of the positions looked like yoga postures!! I wonder if Joseph Pilates was aware of yoga?

I wouldn't call myself an expert Trina, but from my personal experience I would say that although there are some similarities between yoga and pilates on the outside, they feel different to me on the inside. Pilates makes me feel like my body is "squared-up," and aligned, like everything is stacked in place, sort of like building blocks. Yoga is sort of the bigger picture of my body, Pilates is where I examine the little niggling things that need attention in order to bring it all together. I realize that sounds very esoteric and probably isn't very helpful, but I can't think of a more concrete way to address it right now--I'll have to give it more thought! <P>I'm pretty sure Joseph Pilates was aware of yoga, being as his studio was in New York City, but I have no idea if he intended to incorporate any of it in his teaching methods.<BR>

I just bought a pilates video and note that it is labled as a pilates video however it combines definate elements of yoga and dance. This does not mean that the instructor was trained by Pilates himself or even a 2nd generation instructor but its interesting to note all the crossover going on..since someone mentioned yoga and pilates sharing similarities. This video definately merged the two.

I like to say that yoga, pilates, and dance share the similarities of good movement, hence making them look similar.