The Presenters

Alycea Ungaro

WORKSHOP

Teaching for Stamina: Efficiency, Demand, and Time.

Real Pilates owner, published authority on fitness and wellness and a pioneer of the Pilates method, Alycea Ungaro brought some of the very first mat Pilates classes to New York City. Her signature work and expert products have been growing and shaping the industry for decades.

Alycea expanded her popular Pilates classes into a fitness media empire. Her first multimedia project was the innovative Portable Pilates™, an easy-to-use at-home mat workout. Best selling titles followed including; Pilates: Body in Motion, published in 2002, The Pilates Promise published in 2004, and The Pilates Practice Companion, Alycea’s most comprehensive book yet, released in bookstores in January 2011. In addition to serving on the advisory board of Fitness Magazine, Alycea also travels widely as a guest teacher hosting retreats at world-famous locations such as Amangani in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She has trained scores of celebrities including Madonna, Uma Thurman, Kyra Sedgwick, Claire Danes, and Molly Sims. Together with long-time client Christy Turlington, Alycea collaborated on a “Pilates Booty” for Puma. The booty was aptly named “The Alycea.”

Alycea was early to the digital game by partnering with Mobile Mind, Inc. to launch a cell phone version of Portable Pilates™. This go-anywhere mini-workout, was designed to broaden Pilates accessibility. Her 15 Minute Everyday Pilates book and DVD has also been converted into a series of Vooks (video books) that are available for iPhones and iPads as well as the Amazon Kindle and the Android platform. The New York Times has hailed these Pilates Apps as the best on the market. She also created the patented Real Alignment Mat for the home exerciser. In 2012 Alycea launched the now popular SpringTone® class in her New York studios.  SpringTone® is now licensed internationally to studios and trainers. 2013 saw the launch of Synthesis, Alycea’s Mentor Project which was designed to merge Pilates technique and business strategies into a  unique learning platform for an exclusive group of studio owners. The Synthesis Mentor program runs annually. The largest addition to the Real Pilates roster of offerings is the comprehensive teacher training program where Alycea and her stellar team are grooming the next generation of Pilates teachers. The RPTT program is conducted worldwide with host studios in countries across the globe. When she isn’t training or teaching at one of the three New York City Real Pilates studios, she spends her time in NYC or upstate New York with her family.

In addition to her Pilates expertise, Ungaro is a licensed physical therapist having graduated from New York University’s prestigious program.  She holds a Masters degree in Applied Clinical Nutrition as well as a certification in Peri-natal exercise.  Her qualifications make her uniquely qualified to work with all levels of disability and with clients during any phase of their pregnancy.

WORKSHOP

Your Silet Partner: connecting with the apparatus

In 2005, while (somewhat miserably) pursuing a PhD in Chicago, Kristen Davis booked a lesson at the Pilates studio across the street from her apartment. It was love at first Hundred. By 2007, she’d started her comprehensive teacher training with Balanced Body Pilates. In 2009, she’d said good-bye to academia to teach Pilates full time. Since then, Kristen has studied extensively in the lineages of three of Mr. Pilates’s students: Eve Gentry through Core Dynamics Pilates and with second-generation instructor Debora Kolwey, Romana Kryzanowzka through Real Pilates Teacher Training and with second-generation instructor Alycea Ungaro, and Kathy Grant through Cara Reeser’s Kathy Grant Heritage Training and with second-generation instructor Blossom Leilani Crawford. Kristen’s education is unique in that it has given her the skills and depth of knowledge to apply the work of three Pilates elders to clients of all ages and experience levels. Because Pilates is an unregulated industry, she believes it is critical to understand where and from whom exercise modifications and variations come, as well as when and why to teach them. Her work is playful, precise, and patient, and she enjoys working with clients who are returning to fitness after surgery or injury. She believes Pilates is a lifelong pursuit suitable for all bodies, and in any given week she works with clients with scoliosis, osteoporosis, joint replacements, spinal stenosis, chronic pain, and autoimmune conditions. She is particularly passionate about helping older populations maintain strength and fitness with dignity. In 2021, Kristen and her business partner, Susan Bange, opened The Pilates Lab, St Louis’s first fully classical Pilates studio and host studio for Real Pilates Teacher Training. The Pilates Lab is a trusted host and partner of Alycea Ungaro and Real Pilates NYC, and together Kristen and Susan oversee and mentor the future generation of Classical Pilates teachers.

WORKSHOP

aUXILIARY APPARATUS REVIEW

Originally from Chicago, Juan Estrada has been a certified Classical Pilates Instructor for 25 years now. He was introduced to Pilates while a professional dancer in Chicago and counts as his mentors, Bob Liekens, Susan Moran, and Alycea Ungaro. Currently he is a Master Instructor and a Lead Trainer at Alycea Ungaro’s Real Pilates NYC Studios in TriBeCa and UES Studios. Juan also provides Real Pilates Teacher Training and Continuing Education Workshops in the US and Internationally. Juan has presented Workouts and Workshops at the Pilates Method Alliance, & is a co-founder of Pilates Friends United and founder/owner of jFIT. Juan is also an ambassador for Gratz Industries, an Instructor on Pilatesology. Additionally Juan offers National Pilates Certification Program (NPCP) continuing education courses.

For info/bookings on Juan’s Instructor Live and Virtual Classes and Workshops: www.myJFITtraining.com 

WORKSHOP

mAUNAL LABOR: Developing effective touch in pilates

Phoebe Fennell is a classical Pilates trainer with 20 years of experience - from pre- and post-natal clients to serious athletes to singers and performers of every kind. She began her Pilates journey in 2004 when she was an opera singer. After completing her Mat certification at Power Pilates, she taught voice and Pilates at Lafayette College (Easton, PA) until 2009, while continuing her own learning with the Ron Fletcher Program of Study. She moved to Berlin, Germany in 2010, completed the comprehensive studio training in Hamburg at The Pilates Standard, where she also acted as simultaneous translator for Bob Liekens, Jay Grimes, Moses Urbano, Chris Robinson, and others. She also studied under the tutelage of Juliana Afram, author of Vom Wochenbett bis zum Workout, and translated her works for international English-language sports/fitness/wellness websites and articles, specializing in diastasis and pelvic floor rehab. She was a docent on the staff of the Lotte Lehmann Akademie, a German summer program for young opera singers for 10 years, teaching both classical voice and classical Pilates. She bridged into the world-class Real Pilates comprehensive education in 2017. She taught at Senso Studio in Berlin for almost 8 years - both as a Pilates trainer and as an approved teacher trainer - before moving back to New York to teach at Real Pilates. She is now a member of the Lead Trainer team for the Real Pilates Teacher Training program.In 2025, Phoebe received her NPCP certification for Pilates equipment maintenance, and in2026, became the in-house equipment tech for Real Pilates NYC. She is the owner of Pilates GearHeads, providing installation, repair, maintenance, and TLC for all of your classical Pilates equipment.

Phoebe lives on Long Island with her two children and Jakethedog.