Carola Trier - her biography

“The importance of the role of Carola Trier in her contribution to the continuation of the Pilates Method should not be overlooked. Yet, in today’s Pilates world, very little is known about her Pilates work and even less about the woman and her life.

Reiner decided to explore how her work and her studio became the education facility for a generation of famous Pilates Teachers and discovered the fascinating history of a complex woman. Many people who knew Carola and studied with her, learned new information about her life and came to understand her in a new way through Reiner’s research. His paper was an amazing look at the life of Carola and the foundation of this book.

Reiner is a determined researcher and biographer. His work is thoroughly documented through letters, interviews and public records and contains a wealth of information for every reader. But more than that, Reiner is a storyteller. This book brings Carola Trier to life and portrays the complete scope of an extraordinary woman.”

“Here we find a very different type of Pilates book to the manuals written by Reiner Grootenhuis so far: he tells us the story of Carola Trier, the female pioneer of Pilates studios as we know them today. You immediately notice how much love for detail and for the history of Pilates has gone into this book. Told on the basis of original letters and notes, you will find yourself hurting, yearning and rejoicing along with Carola. What a woman, what a life! Naturally, Reiner has researched this book just as thoroughly as his training manuals and presents it in the usual excellent quality. On top of that, after her moving story there is a photo overview of Carola Trier’s mats and Reformer exercises in the appendix. A true enrichment to the book repertoire of any Pilates fan!”

“Reiner Grootenhuis has compiled a wealth of hitherto unpublished material and interviews to bring us the fascinating story of one of the real pioneers of the Pilates method, Carola Trier, who remains an inspiration to Pilates teachers around the world.

Carola was Joseph Pilates’ first ever student in 1950’s New York and then established the first ever commercially successful Pilates studios. No Pilates aficionado could fail to rejoice in reading this story in Carola’s own words.

But Reiner’s book is much more than this. It recounts the extraordinary life of a woman born in 1913 into a wealthy and well-educated Frankfurt Jewish family, but who fled the beginnings of the Nazi regime in her early twenties for the unconventional life of a cabaret dancer in Paris. Having been imprisoned in the terrible conditions of a wartime French internment camp, she escaped and eventually arrived penniless in New York.

She later studied under Joseph and Clara Pilates, founded her own studio and lived to the age of 87 as a legend of the Pilates world.

A huge ‘bravo’ to Reiner for telling this moving and inspiring tale of a brave, talented but also temperamental woman who was ahead of her time and whose legacy was to have trained many of today’s most celebrated Pilates teachers. ”

“I loved Reiner’s Carola Trier book. It brings to light the facinating life story of a great pilates teacher. She wanted to share her story by herself but didn’t quite make it in her lifetime. Reiner has found her notes, respected them and filled the gaps in between so we can all get the picture. The book includes beautiful pictures of Carola on the mat and reformer.
I recommend this book for every person that is interested in finding out more of the roots and history of the method!”

“My friend Reiner Grootenhuis has succeed again, through this book he shares with us the life of a highly celebrated woman. One more step for a better understanding of the Method.
Carola Trier “The first women ever to open a Pilates studio” is a wealth of informations. Thank you Reiner for sharing this woman wonderful journey with us. And for your incessant effort.”

“Ever since I watched Jillian Hessel’s DVD, “Carola Shares,” many years ago, I have wished I had known Carola Trier. In that video I fell in love with Carola. She was tough, flirtatious, petite but strong, passionate, and of course she was masterful in her teaching of Pilates. Yes, Carola was a masterful first generation Pilates teacher, but she was so much more.
In Reiner’s book we read Carola’s story, which is at the heart of the 20th Century. Born into an haute bourgeoise Jewish family in 1913, Carola came of age when Nazism was on the rise in Germany. She survived through perseverance, resourcefulness, talent, and luck. Reiner shares Carola’s notes for an autobiography she never completed, and among those notes she describes her realisation the day she left the camp in France, “I don’t want to die…. I wanted to go on.”
Carola did go on. She performed in France, Monaco, and then in the United States. In 1948, following performance related injuries, she found Joe Pilates on the advice of a surgeon in New York. Pilates taught her to awaken a more “animal” use of her muscles. To Carola, this more animal use of her muscles did not preclude the use of her intellect. On the contrary. In Reiner’s book, I learned that Carola studied massage therapy, and that her surgeon later allowed her to attend the surgeries of her clients, especially the dancers she was to help rehabilitate. We are also reminded of Carola’s book, “Exercise, What It Is and What It Does,” which she wrote for children.
Pilates aficionados will appreciate that Reiner includes photos of Carola doing Joe’s Mat and Reformer routines. Thanks to Reiner, I feel I have gotten to know her a little bit better, and I am grateful to both of them. ”

“A story of the biography of Carola Trier, based on original letters, notes and interviews which keeps you reading on and on! There was so much information I didn’t know about, which is not surprising at all knowing how detailed Reiner’s manuals are. The refined photos of Carola doing the Matwork and Reformer are so precious. This is a must-read especially to Pilates professionals along with Carola’s book “EXERCISE - What it is, What it does”. Reiner, thank you so much for writing this book. You are a true Pilates historian”

“There is a species of animal known as the Pilates Nerd (also a line of cute Pilates clothing). This animal lives, breathes and dreams Pilates, chats about Pilates 24/7 with fellow Nerds (Nerds often have tribes), and tries to engage his significant other in Pilates discussions, whether or not significant other is interested (mine is usually not). Pilates Nerds get excited when a new piece of Pilates history is unveiled - a book, a letter, a photo or just any new information. Reiner Grootenhuis belongs to this Nerd species and I am a proud member as well. I greeted the news that Reiner had published a book about Carola Trier, the first woman to ever open a Pilates studio, with giddy excitement that typically characterizes Nerds. While I knew quite a bit about Romana Kryzanowska, the most well-known of Joe’s teachers, and a little about Kathy Grant and Ron Fletcher, Carola Trier was a mystery. I knew that Carola had operated her own studio while Joe was still alive, with his blessing. Both Romana and Kathy Grant had taught at the studio. I also knew that Carola had written a children’s exercise book (I have a copy 😉). But that was pretty much the sum total of my Carola knowledge. I relished the opportunity to learn more about this unique woman, and I was not disappointed. In addition to her contributions to the Pilates world that should not be understated, Carola lived a fascinating life, overcoming overwhelming odds to survive and thrive during a period that was fraught with difficulty.

Before I dive into a description of the book itself, a bit about its author. I knew Reiner from his Pilates Contrology forum, the first and largest Pilates facebook forum, with almost 12,000 members. Reiner teaches and runs a certification program in his studio, Pilates Powers, in Germany, He has authored several Pilates manuals – armchair, Cadillac and reformer (the reformer manuals have not yet been translated into English). Reiner is also a regular contributor to Pilates Intel, a online Pilates magazine, serves on the Board of the International Pilates Heritage Congress and is a Weng Chun Kung Fu teacher.

Back to the book. One of the wonderful things about it is that much of the information within comes directly from Carola herself. In researching the book, Reiner delved into the Carola S. Trier Collection from the Leo Baeck Institute in New York, a huge repository of materials pertaining to the Jewish communities of Central Europe. The collection spans a timeline of five centuries and contains a wealth of information about Carola and her family, prominent Jews of German origin. Within the Carola Trier Collection are correspondence, periodical clippings, photographs (more on those later) and….. Carola’s manuscript, which appears to have been the beginning of her own autobiography. Some of this was handwritten; Reiner painstakingly deciphered the sometimes barely legible handwritten portions. When he was unable to read a word, Reiner included a question mark rather than guessing at the content. I bring this up because it speaks to Reiner’s ability to remain objective about his subject rather than coloring the biography with his own interpretations. When a biographer loses his objectivity and his admiration (or disdain) becomes overly apparent in the pages of his book, readers rightly question the veracity of the information within. Lack of objectivity was an unfortunate flaw of a recent book I read that covered some similar matter.

The material that was written by Carola herself primarily describes her youth, from her intellectual, bourgeois upbringing in Germany to her years struggling as an artist in Paris. This was just before World War II and the climate was already difficult and dangerous for a young female artist in Europe, even more so for a Jewish one. Carola recounts how the pursuit of her dream to become an established dancer led her to the vaudeville theaters in France, where she made a name for herself as a contortionist acrobat on roller skates. She then describes her time in the internment camp in Gurs, in the South of France, where she was imprisoned as an enemy alien and as a Jew, before escaping and later leaving for America where her family had already emigrated.

After Carola’s arrival in the United States, she began performing again until a knee injury led to her to Joseph Pilates. Convinced of the brilliance of his method, Carola opened her own studio with Joe’s blessing and remained close with Joe. She was faithful to Joe’s teachings, although she ran her studio very differently, and her lessons were also structured rather differently. The description of Carola’s life after arriving in America relies heavily on interviews given by Carola’s nephew and her students, such as Jillian Hessel and Deborah Lessen. These testimonies provide an insight into Carola’s determination, fiery temperament and exacting nature. In a biography, testimonies of friends and family and contemporaries are invaluable resources that go a long way toward painting a picture of the subject; third person hearsay should, however, never be substituted as fact, and Reiner is careful to avoid that trap. He provides sources for each piece of information within the book, providing the reader a balanced perspective from which to reach his own conclusions. This is particularly important within the Pilates world, whose history is rife with opinions, conjecture and myth that are readily accepted and perpetuated even when false.

The end of the book is certain to delight Pilates Nerds. It contains photos of Carola executing her mat and reformer routine. The photos are similar to the archival photos of Joe, but with some differences in the order and names of the exercises, including an exercise that I had never seen. Close examination of the photos also reveals some differences in the equipment compared to the ones in the Joe photos and compared to modern equipment (although Carola’s equipment was built by Joe). I won’t spoil the fun for you Nerds out there by revealing anything further. You will have to discover them for yourselves.

The Carola Trier biography does a wonderful job shedding light upon the life of a woman whose journey was equally as compelling as that of her teacher, Joseph Pilates. Her biography is interesting not only because of her contributions to the Pilates world, but also in its own right. It is the tale of a woman who overcame overwhelming odds (her sex, religion, nationality, career choice and imprisonment!) to achieve prosperity and to make her own mark on history. Pilates Nerds worldwide will enjoy this inside look at the life of Carola Trier.”

“Hi Reiner,
I’ve just finished your book on Carola. Kudos on your research and back story on her pre-Pilates life. I was a client of hers from 1967- 1970 (I started at age 15 and was one of her youngest). It brought back many memories for which I must thank you.
Robin”

“I have tried to find something new and clever to say, but every review already written has been so concise and on point that really the only thing left to say, which has already also been touched on, is that this book belongs in every Pilates teacher’s library. Here’s so much of our history. The cool thing about Reiner is he doesn’t add how he thinks or feels this or that happened, each pic, phrase, comment is so thoroughly documented, you get ‘the feel’ of being there and hearing how it all went down 1st hand, you ‘feel’ how Carola was, strong, a survivor, at times not always the nicest, maybe a bit like Joe in that respect. And also you get that her tenacity and her drive to just keep pushing on to get what and where she wanted was pretty remarkable for a Jewish woman in those days. The pics are pretty great and worth the cost right there. Check out all the great teachers who worked with her, Kathy Grant, Lolita San Miguel, Jillian Hessel, Deborah Lessen, Romana to name a few. It’s a pretty great read. Thanks, Reiner for all of the research you did to make sure the accuracy is undisputable . ”