Classical Pilates
Somaspace is a Classical Pilates studio in West Austin as well as a teacher training center for Alycea Ungaro's Real Pilates® program in New York. Our instructors are certified through the unbroken lineage of Romana Kryzanowska, protégée of Joseph Pilates, and they train in an environment of continual education.
Every client feels the difference.
The Complete System
Joseph Pilates developed his method in the 1920s, calling it Contrology. He designed it as an integrated whole: not just reformer, and not a collection of exercises, but a complete system in which each movement builds on the last, and every session builds on the one before. His protégée, Romana Kryzanowska, preserved and passed on that system exactly as he intended.
Somaspace teaches that system. Our instructors are certified through two programs in Romana's lineage: Romana's Pilates and Alycea Ungaro's Real Pilates® in New York. Every session follows the full Classical repertoire: levels-based, deliberate, and sequenced with intention.
We don't reinvent it. We study it more deeply.
As Joseph Pilates promised his clients: "In 10 sessions you'll feel the difference, in 20 you'll see the difference, and in 30 you'll have a new body." We recommend three sessions per week — the schedule he prescribed — because the method works best when it's practiced with consistency.
Classical Pilates vs. Contemporary Pilates
This is one of the questions we hear most often, and it matters more than people expect.
Both approaches build strength, coordination, and mind–body awareness. The difference is in philosophy and structure.
Classical Pilates follows the original repertoire as Joseph Pilates designed it and Romana Kryzanowska preserved it. It is not a loose collection of exercises. Rather, it's a levels-based system in which precision, progression, and the integrity of each sequence are non-negotiable. Our teachers train for years within this structure, and because they study the same repertoire deeply rather than constantly reinventing it, they continue to uncover its logic, precision, and power.
Contemporary Pilates takes an interpretive approach, often blending traditional Pilates exercises with fitness training, physical therapy, or other modalities, such as Barre, yoga, boxing, and others. This can be creative and enjoyable. But it’s a different thing.
At Somaspace, sessions are Classical. Always. We encourage anyone exploring Pilates to try both and notice the difference.
What to expect
Classical Pilates is a full-body strength and conditioning practice built around spring-based apparatus and mat work. Exercises are taught with consistent emphasis on the powerhouse (the deep musculature of the gluteals, hips, pelvic floor, and lower back) as the source of all movement.
The method is appropriate for every body and every level of fitness. It rehabilitates chronic pain, corrects postural imbalances, conditions the out-of-shape body, and provides a rigorous cross-training practice for athletes. The same repertoire that challenges a professional dancer will meet a complete beginner where they are because Classical Pilates is designed to adapt to the body in front of the instructor, not the other way around.
Sessions at Somaspace are private, semi-private, or small group. The apparatus we use is Gratz, the original manufacturer, built to the same specifications as Joseph Pilates' New York studio.
This is not a detail for purists. The equipment responds differently, and that difference is something you feel.
Classical is different. Feel it!
New clients can begin with three private sessions: an introduction to the method and to how your body works within it.