Penny Latey is a Pilates instructor who runs one of the foremost
Pilates studios on the North Shore of Sydney. Praticing out of St.
Leonards, Penny has a long history with The Pilates Method, having
both taught and studied in it for over 20 years. She has also taught
instructors the Method for more than 10 years. In addition to running
her successful studio, Penny also lectures in the Pilates Method at
the University of Technology in Sydney, and runs workshops and seminars
on the Method on a regular basis.
Penny's history with Pilates began in the late 70's, in London. She
had been attending dance lessons at the London Contemporary Dance Center
and the School of Contemporary Dance, otherwise known as The Place. A
variety of injuries sustained during her earlier career as a
classical ballet dancer led her to seek a method of rehabilitation therapy, to
help her recover from her injuries and maintain her fitness. Alan
Herdman, who ran The Place, also ran a Pilates Studio in the
basement. Dancers at The Place, as it turned out, used it's basement, and The
Pilates Method, to work through injuries and improve technique. Penny
continued to pratice and study Pilates from here, and moved on from
her career as a dancer in the early 1980s. She continued practicing
Pilates in Notting Hill Gate under the guidance of Dreas Reyneke. It was the
Method, as taught by Dreas, that led Penny to her decision to teach
Pilates herself.
Penny developed her own style of teaching the Method after insights
gained into exercise from practicing the Method during her pregnancy.
She from here resolved to take courses in physiology, anatomy and
massage - to better aid her understanding of the body as a whole, and
to find ways to further tailor her unique way of teaching Pilates.
In 1988 Penny moved to Australia and, after some health problems,
began teaching Pilates. The first classes were taught at a local yoga
centre, and were quickly followed by more advanced classes taught at a
professional ballet school. After many years of hard work, and a few
changes of location, Penny found the ideal setting for her work in
her current studio in St. Leonards, where she teaches her unique method
today.