Jennifer Kries, native New Yorker, dancer, choreographer, Pilates Method Innovator, Master Instructor, orator and fitness celebrity has enjoyed the benefits of Pilates for over fifteen years. Having studied with three of Joseph Pilates original disciples, Eve Gentry, Romana Kryzanowska and Ron Fletcher and with her background as professional dancer and yoga devotee, she brings a rich and diverse perspective to her work.

She first discovered its timeless principles at age 14 in a Mat class given by Pilates disciple, Eve Gentry. After suffering a hip injury years later while on tour in London, and remembering its rehabilitative principles, she found a Pilates Annex at London's Pineapple Dance Center and miraculously, after just one month of intensive classes was back in rehearsal. She then enrolled in a three month teacher training program, whereupon she received her English Pilates Method Degree.

Jennifer's U.S. training began with a Pilates Studio Certification Program led by Romana Kryzanowska and continued with study under Ron Fletcher in Los Angeles. The synergy of her Pilates background, her intensive study of anatomy with renowned exercise physiologist and movement scientist, Irene Dowd, coupled with her own study of Yoga, (including Hatha, Iyengar, Kundalini and Ashtanga) and her added focus on back strengthening techniques, led Jennifer to develop an updated modality called Jennifer Kries/The Method, a new generation of mind-body exercise.

She is responsible for starting the Pilates Program for Towne Sports International's New York Sports Clubs and World Gym, New York. After pioneering the institution of Pilates in gym facitlites in 1990, her idea caught on like wild fire and in 1999, her mat class was voted one of America's Top Ten Group Classes by Shape Magazine and has since been introduced to a wide range of public and private fitness facilities across the United States and the world.

Owing to the immense popularity of her seven award-winning fitness videos entitled "The Method" Series, the video company created a forum to feature Jennifer's Method Workout. She has created, choreographed and starred in 52 episodes of FOX/ Fit TV's Alternative Health and Fitness Series, The Method Show which airs regularly nationwide.

Ms. Kries has achieved international acclaim as Method spokesperson and was recently presented with Fitness Magazine's most prestigious award: 1999's Best Mind-Body Video. Since her video series' hrefease, Ms. Kries has appeared as a featured guest on numerous television broadcasts (the nationally televised "Recipe for Health", Regis and Kathy Lee and Rosie O'Donnell), radio programs in New York and Los Angeles, on the cover of Total Health Magazine, August, 1999 and has appeared as guest speaker at renowned health institutions and spa facilities worldwide. She is the Artistic Director and Founder of Contemporary Dance Theatre New York and the Founder of the Balanced Body Center at New York's World Gym where she educates both teachers and the public in sports rehabilitation and strength training.

Click the next page link for Cheri's conversation with Jennifer.

Jennifer Kries Interview

Cheri Sicard: First of all, I have to say I am a big fan. I have been doing your tapes for about a month and a half and I can visibly see a difference! One of the things I really like about the tapes is that you combine yoga, dance, ballet and Pilates. I'm finding a lot of people are not familiar with Pilates, so would you explain a little bit about what the philosophy is and what Pilates exercise entails?

Jennifer Kries: Sure. Pilates is a fusion of eastern yoga principles, which enhance suppleness and flexibility and western strength training, which involves self-imposed isometric resistance. What it does is create an extraordinarily high degree of abdominal strength, and strength in the corset muscles of the body - the muscles of the sides and back. It creates a very strong core foundation for the rest of the body so that the limbs move symmetrically around this strong center. It improves posture, it works on rehabilitating the body after various and sundry injuries. It can even correct scoliosis almost entirely, depending upon the person's age. It's very dramatic what Pilates exercises can do.

Cheri Sicard: That's impressive. One of my questions was going to be, where does the Pilates end and the Yoga and dance begin, but I guess it's all intertwined?

Jennifer Kries: In the method synthesis? I would like to say that it's 3/4 Pilates, and the remainder is ballet and yoga, although that's not always true, it depends on the specific tape. That's the beauty of the combination of the three elements is that you can emphasize yoga at a certain point, then emphasize Pilates on another day. As far the "the Method" itself is concerned, it would be hard to break it down into categories. But I will say that the majority of the exercises are comprised of Pilates.

Cheri Sicard: Your new workout tapes each contain two or three shorter workouts of about 20 minutes each. Are these shorter workouts designed to be done together or separately? What do you recommend?

Jennifer Kries: Because they are divided into these short stints, I really recommend doing each workout on its own. Of course, if you're feeling more ambitious on a certain day, of course you can do more than just one. The new tapes are different from my original Method Precision Toning tape, which was a 15 minutes warm up, which could be done on its own, and then the entire mat class series, which is 45 minutes. But we had a lot of requests from viewers - folks who used the original tapes - either working mothers or people who have 9-5 jobs who wanted to get their workout in before work. That's really why we designed the shorter programs, so they were very convenient for people like that.

Cheri Sicard: Your were mentioning that Pilates is good for rehabilitation, for people with injuries. I know it's low impact and, if you're doing it correctly, you're strengthening the back. Is there anyone who Pilates would not be recommended for?

Jennifer Kries: No, Absolutely not. I would say that if someone is very senior - elderly and fragile - if they osteoporosis or osteoarthritis, then of course they would have to approach it with caution, but the fact of the matter is that The Method is suitable for people of all fitness levels. The beauty of it is that you work according to your level of fitness and your level of strength and ability. Then you increase the challenge as you develop greater strength. It's safe for pre and post natal training, it's wonderful for people who are invested in rehabbing, for whatever reason - if they've come back from a serious injury of some kind. And of course, it's also highly effective as injury prevention, for athletes and the weekend warrior types. It affords them the ability to maintain a level of fitness that helps them to resist injury.

Cheri Sicard: That's a good point. You also mention on the tape that Pilates is anti-aging, and I think staying fit is on of the best ways to prevent the effects of aging, all the way around.

Jennifer Kries: Oh yeah! I'll talk to you about that for a minute - the craze surrounding age defiance. If more people would turn to exercise, more often than not, they would find a greater difference and a more significant change in their bodies and how they feel. I think the reason The Method is so beneficial is because every exercise you do asks that you defy gravity. It asks that you lift away from your center. And at the same time that you do that, you're strengthening you center and lengthening your muscles. One of the things that I like to teach people, in the Method tapes and also in my training classes, is this principle of opposition, which creates long, beautiful, dancer-like muscles. Again, it asks that someone utilizes his or her body in equal and opposite directions, and that's a very foreign principle to most people. It is very transformational when applied properly.

Cheri Sicard: Which tape or tapes would you recommend for beginners?

Jennifer Kries: The tape I would recommend people start with is Precision Pilates. And also the 3 Dimensional Toning is a nice tape to start with. The Perfect Mix is one that I would introduce a little bit later. This new series is really the comprehensive we've come up with yet, and that's really what I'm recommending to people.

Cheri Sicard: I think the new series is wonderful. Some of the exercises are quite challenging though. Especially some of the advanced core conditioning moves like the Pilates "teasers." What are some tips for beginners who are trying to work up to having the strength to perform these exercises?

Jennifer Kries: What I would recommend is having people do whatever exercises they feel capable of, and then adding on. I think that's the safest approach and the most beneficial.

Cheri Sicard: Jennifer, tell us a little bit about your background and how you first got interested in Pilates.

Jennifer Kries: I'm a professional dancer. I actually started doing Pilates a long time ago - longer than a lot of the fitness gurus who have decided to become Pilates experts overnight I started doing Pilates at 13, I'm 32 now. We used to do Pilates as prevented medicine. There were core strengthening classes that we did at the New York City Ballet. I was introduced to it when I was very, very young and I discovered its benefits then. I could turn faster, I could jump higher, I had more stamina, greater balance. Dance is very competitive, especially at the professional level, so it really gave me an edge that was very exciting. At the age and up till about 18, you really feel omnipotent, you really feel like you don't need any help - that's the kind of feeling you have as a young person. So I kind of gave it up for a while, and continued to dance. And then I injured myself very seriously in London while I was on tour. I tore important muscles in my leg, muscles which help you to walk. They told me that I wouldn't dance for at least 4 or 5 months, and that I would be on the sidelines. I was very upset. Than I found a Pilates annex in London and they actually had me dancing within a month! I thought to myself, this stuff is really amazing. I had never gone to it for rehab before. While I convalescing, I took a teacher training program in London. That's what really started my love for it, on the teaching end. I wanted to share it with other people. So I, along with many, many dancer, have done Pilates for years. Teaching it is something entirely different from just doing it. It's very transformational and very exciting to see people become their best selves.

Cheri Sicard: You currently teach in New York City?

Jennifer Kries: Yes, I actually teach teachers at this point. I have a staff of ten here in New York who work with the public, from all different kinds of professions - doctors, actors, models, teacher, film people, magazine people, you name it. I'm actually opening up a national training center in Miami Beach, Florida this fall, which will be lots of fun.

Cheri Sicard: This is for the public as well, or only teachers?

Jennifer Kries: It's for the public as well, although it's primarily teacher training, as we get many requests for teacher training, both here in the United States and also abroad. So it will be a very nice vacation destination for people, and at he same time provide them the space to learn what they have to. It's going to be a holistic center. Another exciting thing that's happened is I've just completed a book, which Warner is publishing this January.

Cheri Sicard: And the book is on Pilates as well?

Jennifer Kries: It's not just on Pilates, it's a take on my work that I've done and it's called Jennifer Kries's The Method Workout.

Cheri Sicard: We look forward to it. I have to ask, because is everyone is interested in what the experts do, what do you personally do now to stay in shape. What is your regular workout routine?

Jennifer Kries: (Laughing) What do I do? Well, I dance, I'm still dancing professionally, so I take class at least every other day. In between, I do my Pilates workouts and yoga, so I really do what I teach. I also do a bit of weight training, which I advocate. And I'm a real outdoors type, so I love to cycle, I love hiking. I'm not a running advocate because of the impact, but I think walking is great. But in general, I actually practice what I teach.

Cheri Sicard: How important is diet and fitness to you?

Jennifer Kries: I think nutrition is very, very important. I actually subscribe to an eastern philosophy as it relates to food. I eat very sensibly and I food combine, so I make sure I have all my food groups represented. The majority of what I eat consists of fruits and vegetables with smaller doses of protein. But to be perfectly honest, I think diet is very individual. But I will say that, for the purpose of what you're asking, that I think that diet is the greatest preventative measure you can engage in, along with proper exercise and rest.

Cheri Sicard: Do you cook, do you have any favorite recipes you can share with us?

Jennifer Kries: I do cook and I think that's another element which is very important, because when you prepare your own food, I think your own energy is invested in what you have eaten. In the Chinese philosophy,. It's very important that you prepare your own food, that you take the time to...obviously clean your utensils properly and to enjoy the food while you're preparing it. That's part of the pleasure of eating it.

Cheri Sicard: So do you have any recipes to share with us?

Jennifer Kries: (laughing) I personally do not have any recipes. My mother, on the other hand, could furnish you with an entire list of recipes. I happen to love stir-frys and I eat all kinds of different beautiful salads. I have a garden, actually, in the country, so everything that I eat I generally make from the fruit and vegetables that I pick from the land. It's really great to have an organic garden like that.

Cheri Sicard: Can we look forward to more workout tapes coming in the future?

Jennifer Kries: Yes. Actually we're working on a television show at this point that's going to be an alternative health and fitness show - something that really doesn't exist at this point. It will be very much like The Method Show that the Health Network had on about a year and a half ago, that did very well. That's in the works, we're trying to produce that now. We will have experts on diet and nutrition, people who are invested in the martial arts, eastern arts, dance, you name it, really everything. It's going to be a very eclectic program. We're looking forward to that. It's not set yet, but will be soon.

Cheri Sicard: We'll be looking for that too. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today Jennifer.

Jennifer Kries: My pleasure and I look forward to keeping in touch with you and your readers.

Check out Jennifer Kries's books, DVDs and products at Amazon.com.