Debate is raging over at yespilates.com about the issue of ‘Pilates Day’ celebrations for 2009. As of today there are 27 comments. It goes a little like this…
Elizabeth Anderson (Exec Director) says “We do not seek to make Pilates Day an exclusive Pilates Method Alliance (PMA) celebration. Our Pilates Day program is intended to be inclusive and unifying for our international Pilates community. It is open to all who wish to participate. The only requirement for participation in hosting a Pilates Day event is that the host is a PMA member, and membership is open to all who wish to join.“
Melissa Turnock thinks, “So effectively it seems that to be allowed to participate in Pilates Day activities in May, we have to pay your organisation by becoming a member?” Read on and see if you agree with Elizabeth that Pilates Day is unifying and inclusive, or maybe Lolitas’ postion is more agreeable to you. Unfortunately, the debate has turned as one commenter said into ‘mud slinging’ and that doesn’t really help anyones’ cause or maintain the professional nature of what we are trying to achieve. Kind of lowers the tone of the debate really.
Before you start reading, can I point out that the PMA associations’ Goal 1 found on their website is as follows,
Our goals are:
To unite the Pilates community.
Press Release: Lolita San Miguel Takes a Stance
Pilates Day – Not the PMA’s
MARCH 13, 2009 – Lolita San Miguel, Pilates PMA Elder and one of two persons officially certified by Joseph and Clara Pilates to teach The Method, today expressed her disappointment with the position taken by the Pilates Method Alliance (PMA) to make “Pilates Day,” which is to be held on May 2, an exclusive PMA celebration.
“Joe does not belong to the PMA alone, he belongs to the world,” Ms San Miguel said. “I fought alongside many others to take Pilates out of the hands of a few people who said they owned the Pilates name and everything connected with Pilates, and we were successful. I will continue to oppose any attempt to make Pilates the exclusive property of anybody or any organization”.
“The PMA should be praised for its continued efforts to establish high standards of quality in the teaching of Pilates and in the certification of Pilates instructors. Obviously its success depends on its openness and willingness to attract as many Pilates professionals as possible and convince them that the PMA’s mission is absolutely necessary for the good of the Pilates industry. Its collateral operational efforts carry great merit. Nevertheless, trumpeting ‘Pilates Day’ as the exclusive trademarked property of the PMA is the wrong way of going about it and furthermore impossible to enforce.”
“I dream of a ‘Pilates Day,” she continued, “where millions around the world will perform The Hundred in stadiums, studios, gyms, plazas, etc., resulting in many new converts”.
“I hope my respected friends and colleagues of the PMA Board of Directors will reconsider this alienating decision and make it an open invitation instead”. Ms San Miguel is one of the first PMA members.
Elizabeth Anderson said:
PMA’s Pilates Day 2009
As the Executive Director of the Pilates Method Alliance (PMA), I want to thank Lolita for her endorsement of the PMA’s efforts to establish high standards of quality in the teaching of Pilates and in the certification of Pilates instructors. I agree with her that the PMA’s mission is absolutely necessary for the good of the Pilates industry. Lolita has always been an ardent supporter of the PMA, and we hold her in the highest regard both as a person and as a First Generation Pilates teacher. I am sorry that she does not agree with the way our Pilates Day program is conceived.
There are a few important points I’d like to stress:
• Pilates Day is a creation of the PMA. The PMA conceived it, branded it and invested in marketing and administering it over the years. Otherwise it would not exist.
• The PMA is a not-for-profit organization. As such, no one receives personal financial gain from the Pilates Day trademark.
• The PMA was founded at the conclusion of, and in response to, the trademark battle over the word ‘Pilates’. It was founded as a grassroots alliance by a group of people who believed strongly that Pilates should be deemed a generic term, should not be privately owned, and should be available to all. We are in complete alignment with Lolita on this point.
• The PMA does not seek to own the word Pilates, and does not attempt to make Pilates its exclusive property. Our Pilates Day program assists our members in making Pilates available to more and more of the general public through organized promotional events. We do not seek to make Pilates Day an exclusive PMA celebration. We seek to assist PMA members in making it a day of celebration and participation for as many people as possible.
• The administering and promoting of Pilates Day costs money. PMA staff members create email blasts, update and maintain the website and spend a large amount of time on the telephone and on line with members, helping them to organize their events and to sort out innumerable issues with their insurance which is of profound benefit to them. The financial support we receive from membership dues is what funds this work.
• Our Pilates Day program is intended to be inclusive and unifying for our international Pilates community. It is open to all who wish to participate. The only requirement for participation in hosting a Pilates Day event is that the host is a PMA member, and membership is open to all who wish to join. PMA members are given access to an extensive Pilates Day Kit, which includes ready-made downloadable promotional artwork and logos, samples budgets, press releases and production time lines, among other things that help to brand and promote their event. Pilates Day hosts also benefit from a multi-faceted promotional program administered by the PMA, bringing attention to the events being held on May 2, 2009. The production of these Pilates Day materials and the creation and maintenance of the http://www.pilatesday.com website are funded by PMA member dues. All of this is in the service of helping Pilates Day hosts create events for the public at large, to increase participation and raise the profile of Pilates, and we hope that people all over the world will practice Pilates just as Lolita describes.
Anyone who is not a PMA member is of course free to celebrate the life and work of Joseph Pilates at any time and in any way they choose and we encourage them to do so! However, in order for the PMA to provide the particular services described above, we do need the participation of those we’re serving, in the form of membership dues.
Respectfully,
Elizabeth Anderson
Executive Director
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