International Pilates College Certification Convention
International
Pilates College
A
Review of the 1-on-1 Pilates Education Program
By
Rodrigo Restrepo, Ph.D.
Having been a professor
for nearly forty years at a prestigious university, I was very pleased to review
Ivon Dahl's teaching methods in the International Pilates College education
program. I was very impressed by this work because Mr. Dahl successfully deals
with the challenge that every teacher must face: to find the best way to ``educate'',
that is, to bring out the potential of the student. He deals with the intellectual
approach to physical well being of the body with the power and the development
of the mind.
Like most university professors, professor Dahl recognizes and practices the
concept that good teaching is greatly enhanced through critical evaluation and
experiential understanding of the subject. For him, that research involved training
as a Pilates’ instructor, experience as a professional dancer and a successful
competitive bodybuilder. Mr. Dahl continued his formal education with many respectable
Universities throughout the United States and Europe. More recently, he has
examined and systematized the Physiology of the Pilates method.
Mr. Dahl recognizes that good learning can't be accomplished by simply memorizing
exercises and cues. Therefore, he encourages our future Pilates instructors
to also use an analytical approach; to treat each client as a unique individual
with their special needs and abilities. Thus, the development of each training
program as a critical opportunity to select the most suitable modification or
variation of each exercise for every client, and to teach clients to safely
perform exercises to their best ability, based on current health professional
standards.
This willingness to treat each student teacher as a unique individual is highly
valued in the careers of all university professors; and this analytic method,
backed by his experiential knowledge, may be the most important ingredients
in Mr. Dahl's success in his teaching future Pilates professionals. That may
well be his most important legacy, as he invites and instructs his students
to advance, step by step toward success.
Rodrigo Restrepo, Ph. D.
Professor Emeritus of Mathematics
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, Canada