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Second Generation of Joseph Pilates
Inside the Powerhouse
A Kathy Grant Lineage Immersion with Sarita Allen
10-13.09.26 • Poznań • Poland
JoinWorkshop in an intimate group – only 19 places available
Katya Smirnova
Katya Smirnova
Katya Smirnova is an international Pilates teacher and educator who has been actively engaged in the development, education, and promotion of the method worldwide for over two decades. Her work stems from a deep respect for the classical foundations of Pilates and direct contact with first-generation teachers.
She trained with distinguished representatives of the Pilates community, including Lolita San Miguel and Mary Bowen, direct students of Joseph Pilates. She complemented this experience with collaboration and practice under the guidance of renowned contemporary educators such as Michael King, Malcolm Muirhead, and Nuala Coombs. She also completed the full certification program at the Institute Pilates London, integrating various schools of thought into a coherent, conscious approach to working with the body.
She is the founder and director of International Pilates University Fitness4You, an international educational platform she has been developing since 2010. Within this initiative, she created an extensive Pilates teacher training system encompassing training programs, mentoring, and the development of instructor competencies in many countries across Europe and Asia.
Her activities include Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, the Baltic states, Bulgaria, Georgia, Germany, Switzerland, Scotland, and Poland, where she actively supports the development of local Pilates communities. Katya serves as Lolita San Miguel’s representative in Europe, being one of the key individuals responsible for the development and implementation of the Lolita’s Legacy / Pilates Master Mentor Program in this part of the world. She supports the teacher education process through mentoring, conducting training sessions, and participating in certification processes. She accompanies Lolita during workshops, examinations, and mentorship programs, co-creating a space for knowledge transfer consistent with the classical lineage of the method.
She is also a co-creator of educational materials, including the Lolita Legacy Mat DVD, which forms part of the training program for Pilates teachers. Her work encompasses not only teaching but also creating educational content, translations, and developing methodological materials, making her an important link in the transmission of knowledge between generations of teachers.
In her work, Katya actively builds the Pilates community—she is the organizer of international events such as the International Pilates Festival Fitness4You, a participant and speaker at numerous industry conventions and forums in Europe. She is also the initiator and publisher of one of the first educational magazines dedicated to the Pilates method in her region, Pilates4you.
A special place in her work is occupied by care for the method’s heritage. In 2016, together with her husband, after months of searching, she located the burial site of Joseph Pilates and Clara Pilates at Ferncliff Cemetery.
This event became a symbolic return to the source and was honored with an international gathering of the Pilates community, organized by Lolita San Miguel. Today, it represents an important element in building awareness of the method’s history among teachers worldwide.
Katya currently lives and works in Canada, where she runs a Pilates studio and continues her educational activities at an international level. Her approach focuses on developing deep movement awareness, quality of execution, and understanding of the body based on the classical foundations of the Pilates method.
Her work serves as a bridge between the heritage of the first generation of teachers and the contemporary Pilates world—connecting tradition, education, and development into a coherent, conscious practice.