Rooted in the original Method, shaped by the people who practice it, and dedicated to passing it forward.
Pilates is more than a workout. It's a complete system designed to change the way you move, feel, and live.
At Core, we teach the original Method in its entirety. Intelligent, individualized training that goes far beyond the Reformer.
In 2002, Michelle Fama opened Core Pilates NYC with a friend, a big idea, and a wildly optimistic understanding of what it took to build a business in New York City.
Then again, she'd never been particularly interested in the conventional route.
A journalist, designer, educator, and lifelong wanderer, Michelle had already collected a few lives before Pilates became her business. And she brought every one of them to Core.
An NYU journalism degree took her far beyond New York. Reporting and teaching in sub-Saharan Africa. Writing travel guides in Asia. Managing magazines in Indonesia. Living abroad and following curiosity wherever it led. Eventually, London, where she studied interior design and architecture at the prestigious Inchbald School of Design. A perfectly logical career trajectory, if you don't think about it too hard.
Pilates was the through line. She discovered it while attending undergrad at NYU, fell hard for the Method, and later went on to train with the one and only Romana and then, with Bob Liekens at Power Pilates.
When she opened Core, she wanted the whole experience to matter. The teaching. The space. The people. The feeling you got walking through the door. Good design and good Pilates, it turns out, have quite a lot in common. Nothing arbitrary. Everything intentional.
Then came the thing that would change everything: teacher training.
Michelle built Core's signature curriculum with a simple conviction: great teachers aren't manufactured over a weekend. They're developed. Challenged. Mentored. Given the tools to think for themselves.
What began in a little studio on University Place grew into an international education program, with affiliates from Chicago to Hong Kong, Los Angeles to New Zealand, and graduates building their own Pilates communities around the world.
More than two decades in, she's still curious. Still building. Still convinced there's a better way to do things.
And still not particularly interested in doing them the conventional way.
Since 2002, Core has been educating, mentoring, and launching Pilates teachers who have gone on to shape studios and communities around the world.
The CPNYC curriculum evolves with the profession while staying grounded in the principles that have stood the test of time. Multiple pathways into teaching, rigorous training, real-world experience, and unrivaled mentorship prepare our graduates to make their mark.
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