This is my blog, which is comprised of my own articles and teachings in physical culture, developed over a lifetime of involvement in dance, Pilates, and yoga. “Kontrology” is the name I give my personal practice, based on Contrology, the method created by Joesph Pilates, but incorporating my training in dance and yoga. My name begins with “K”, and so, I created the Kontrology “brand”.
Joseph Pilates was a German gymnast, boxer, and circus performer. He developed his method during World War I in internment camps in England, refining it to rehabilitate injured soldiers using bed springs (the precursors to his apparatus). He later moved to New York City in the 1920s, where his method became popular with dancers. His foundation was Western anatomy, biomechanics, and German “Körperkultur” (body culture).
“Contrology” is the original name that Joseph Pilates gave to the system of exercises he developed in the early 20th century, which is known today simply as Pilates.
T. Krishnamacharya, often called the “Father of Modern Yoga,” was an Indian scholar and healer. Beginning in the 1920s in Mysore, India, he revived Hatha Yoga, adapting ancient texts and techniques to suit modern bodies. His teachings gave rise to the most prominent styles of modern yoga practiced today through his students: B.K.S. Iyengar (Iyengar Yoga), K. Pattabhi Jois (Ashtanga Yoga), and T.K.V. Desikachar (Viniyoga).
Joseph Pilates and legendary choreographer George Balanchine shared a close, symbiotic relationship in New York City, where they were neighbors and collaborators in building what would become modern Pilates and strengthening the dancers of the New York City Ballet (NYCB)
Kontrology 