If you’ve been a varsity ice hockey player at the University of Calgary, and then a professional jazz dancer on a cruise ship calling at Casablanca, Gibraltar, and ports in the Caribbean, and a devoted skier and tennis player your entire life, what’s your future career path?
For Canadian David Loewen, who founded Pilates on Main in Gardiner in 2007, there was never any question—he would spend his life in motion. He was drawn to the world of performance, but also realized, early on, that he enjoyed the rewards of working with others on improving their balance, posture, and strength.
Enter Melissa Bierstock, an American/Canadian dancer from Rhinebeck, NY, also passionate about fitness training, who would become his wife. Together they opened a pilates studio in Toronto, where they lived for fourteen years.
And from Toronto to Gardiner? Melissa’s desire to return to her family and friends brought them and their daughter Emma (soon joined by their son Eli) to the Hudson Valley. In search of a perfect location with suitable space for a pilates studio, David chose Gardiner. ‘I liked the size and spirit of the place,’ he says. ‘It’s a community that values health and is mindful of the environment. I also enjoy the fact that my studio is in the heart of town.’ (Located on the second floor at 127 Main Street, next to the Village Market).
Pilates on Main offers solo and group classes on mats and several types of machines, and those of us who attend his sessions benefit both from David’s personal attention and the open, light-filled space. And, of course, you leave much better attuned to your own physical well-being.
David and Melissa are active in the Catskill Ballet Theater, as Melissa has been since her childhood. This year, both David and his daughter Emma danced in Tchiakovsky’s ‘Nutcracker Suite’ at Christmas. Emma, age 11, performed the role of Clara, exactly as her mother had when she was the same age. Her father was The Rat King.
David and Melissa have recently opened a joint studio —Mainly Pilates—in Kingston, where they make their home. Contact www.pilatesonmain.com or pilatesonmain@gmail.com.