Gina Papalia

Gina Papalia - Studio Owner, Second Generation Teacher & The Pilates Standard Teacher Trainer lives in New York City with her husband and two pre teens. Gina was introduced to Pilates at college while she was dancing at SUNY Purchase. She fell in love with Pilates and began her certification training in January of 1995, under Romana Kryzanowska, Bob Liekens and Carol Dodge Baker right after she graduated with a BFA in Fine Arts and Dance. Gina then moved to New York City and continued her dance training at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and danced most of her career with the Dance Theatre of Harlem while completing her Pilates training at Drago’s with Romana and at The Pilates Studio with Bob. After 4 years of working in the Pilates Community, Gina opened Grasshopper Pilates Nyc in 2000. Since the beginning, Gina has embraced each client individually and unconditionally, balancing a serious approach with a fun, friendly attitude. Gina's intention is to stay true to the Classical Pilates Method and teach the process logically to her students so they understand what they are doing and can apply it to anything in their daily life. She challenges each client, working on their weaknesses and imbalances while acknowledging their strengths and accomplishments. Gina continues her training by taking sessions bi-weekly with Cary Regan and Phoebe Higgins in NYC, working with peers in the Pilates community and attending workshops with others to broaden her knowledge of the Pilates Method and the body. Gina believes we should never stop learning. Gina is particularly knowledgeable about the anatomy, movement and the musculature of the human body. She enjoys sharing her knowledge with her clients to help them learn more about their bodies and to use it most efficiently and make Pilates a pleasurable learning experience that's simple, thorough and effective. Gina has studied anatomy with Irene Dowd for the last year and is currently becoming certified in Facia Minipulation (FM). Gina is PMA Certified, a teacher on Pilatesology, has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, in several issues of Pilates Style Magazine, the New York Times, Point, Self and Vogue. Gina’s very excited about her next adventure as a (TPS) The Pilates Standard Teacher Trainer. Having worked closely with Bob Liekens for 23 years she was hand picked by him to help lead the teacher training program he created over the last 25 years, for TPS in the United States. The first training will start in the Spring of 2020. She is every excited to work with together with the TPS Trainers to share their love and knowledge of Classical Pilates Method that was mentored and nurtured by Bob Liekens and Romana Kryzanowska.