How Dance Led Me to a Love of Pilates

Movement has always been a part of me. Deep in my bones there is something crying out to be expressed by extending my arms, lifting my head, spinning around, or leaping toward the sky. I know that’s not everyone’s experience, but I believe movement unlocks something within all of us. There’s a freedom in it that can’t quite be found any other way.

When I started dance training at age 7, I was an awkward, lanky, stiff child with a steel trap of a memory for choreography. While almost every aspect of my being has transformed since that time, there is something that still remains: a love of dance. I’ve become more flexible and coordinated, my body has grown and birthed four children, and that steel trap is more like a vague recollection, but I still revel in the sense of connection with my body. When I need something to ground me and bring me back to reality, movement fills the gap and reminds me of who I am.

It was a natural transition that led me into Pilates as my days of dancing from sunrise to sunset faded. Here was an outlet for my desire to feel grounded in my body, to be safe in my movement, and to teach others how to do the same. My passion for Pilates grew as my opportunities to dance receded. I now understood my body mechanics in a new way and could not only identify my strengths and weaknesses, but I had tools to improve upon them. I find myself wondering how much pain and injury I could have avoided if I had practiced Pilates during my years in dance.

I’m so grateful to have found Pilates when I did. Now I find great delight whenever I have a chance to express myself through dance because I know I have trained my body and mind to move safely. What a gift it is to move, to be free, to breathe, and to find joy in the process.

-Sarah, Pilates Instructor

Sarah Roberts, DPT PT, Whole Pilates Instructor: Sarah is a board certified physical therapist licensed in both Kansas and Missouri. Sarah’s first exposure to Pilates was during her dance training as a teenager. As her interest in studying the human body grew, so did her desire to combine her experiences in physical therapy, Pilates, and dance to maximize the movement experience. Sarah has brought this vision to clients in outpatient orthopedics, acute care, and inpatient rehab settings and is now thrilled to be expanding her clientele to the Pilates based practice at Whole Pilates Studio.