Pilates at Core Collective

Hopped into Core Collective at Anson Road to check out how well it has maintained its equipment since it opened. The whole point is to evaluate if it’s feasible to continue pilates classes with K, my usual (and frankly, favorite) instructor at this new venue, which is thankfully extremely accessible to me. The other outfit at Dempsey Road is gorgeous, but I'd like a venue along the train line and nearer to a train station.

Core Collective is a co-working space furnished with sports studios and clinics, specially designed for freelance instructors, physiotherapists and chiropractors. It's simply another model of offering brick and mortar solutions to small businesses.

Core Collective organizes the daily group exercise schedule and puts out the information for its members. There're plenty of varied offerings and group classes with sane timings, and different packages with tiered pricing. Those aren't applicable to me at this point since I'm taking private classes. K rents studio space, and charges her clients her usual rates. I needn't pay any joining fee or monthly fees because I'm not a member of Core Collective. I like it—no payment to the studio, and everything is paid direct to the instructor. Why not.

K has just gotten back after a long trip to the US for further pilates training. This first personalized pilates session after a month felt wonderful. I have to admit that the focus on hip flexion and spinal mobility at gyrotonic has a huge effect on perfecting the form for pilates exercises, say, roll-ups and understanding how to properly tuck the hip into its socket. Gyrotonic and pilates address rather different movements and they do complement each other.