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 is a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher.
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.