GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Tanya Grillon is spreading the benefits of Pilates, which focuses on strength, flexibility, muscle control and posture. 

 

The former ballet dancer opened Echelon Pilates last week at 198 Main St., offering different types of workshops in Pilates, posture and barre classes. She had operated Studio 90 Pilates in Lenox, before deciding to pursue this more full time.

 

"When my children were grown I started doing this more full time and just really fell into the passion for Pilates because I know it can benefit so many people in so many ways," she said. "So that's why I decided to make this my full time career."

 

She said she immediately fell in love with the space in the rehabilitated "Flying Church" and opened there within two weeks. She wants to make a comfortable space for her clients and a welcoming one for parents who may have to bring their kids. 

 

"I really wanted it to be a space where people came in and felt immediately at home," Grillon said.

 

A lot of her client base has followed her from Lenox in addition to her new patrons from Great Barrington. She is still teaching twice a week at Bousquet Sport in Pittsfield.

 

Grillon, who danced with the Albany Berkshire Ballet for 12 years, and co-teacher Jessamy Brosan offer "gentle morning" Pilates, classic flow mat classes, fusion workouts that combine Pilates with yoga or strength training, and ballet and core classes. There's also a high intensity workout on the barre and posture classes to restore mobility. 

 

Her clients range in age from 17 to 90 with classes offered for children as well. Fees range from a private class on the reformer for $100 to small group mat classes for $30.

 

"It's kind of a mental and physical all in one," she said of Pilates. "It de-stresses the body completely, opens up the body, it helps the circulation.

 

"It also stimulates brain cells, which a lot of people don't know that aspect of it, and builds a really strong core at the same time strengthening the back, lengthening the muscles, improving the posture which we all need today."

 

She hopes to do some workshops to the community to discuss not only the benefits of Pilates, but how its creator is tied to the Berkshires. 

 

Grillon said many people don't know that Joseph Pilates was a teacher at Jacob's Pillow back in the 1930s.

 

"I look at Joseph Pilates as sort of the Einstein of fitness," she said. "Back in the '40s, no one was doing what he was doing and he was so driven and passionate about it that he actually wanted to turn Jacob's Pillow into a health farm back in the '40s and '50s . No one was doing that sort of thing."

 

Her goal for her studio is to show people the benefits of Pilates.

 

"To educate as many people as possible in the Berkshire County community about the benefits of Pilates and how it’s accessible for everyone," she said.

 

She is also passionate about doing what she loves as her career.

 

"My inspiration is just indulging in a career that I am 100 percent passionate about and I am very fortunate I get to do what I love every day of my life."