Eve Gentry was one of the original students and teachers of Joseph Pilates and is considered one of the important “Pilates Elders.” Originally trained as a modern dancer, she performed with major dance companies in New York before turning toward Pilates after dealing with chronic knee and back pain. She taught at Joseph Pilates’ New York studio from the late 1930s until 1968 and became known for adapting the method to real human bodies rather than teaching exercises mechanically.  

Gentry helped bridge Pilates with therapeutic movement education, incorporating ideas from movement analysis, breath work, and eventually influences from Feldenkrais and somatic education. She is especially remembered for emphasizing principles, awareness, and functional movement rather than rigid choreography. Her famous idea that “Pilates is a concept, not just exercises” strongly influenced contemporary Pilates education.  

After moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1968, Eve Gentry opened her own studio and continued teaching until late in her life. In 1991, she co-founded the Institute for the Pilates Method—later renamed the PhysicalMind Institute—alongside Joan Breibart and Michele Larsson.  

Joan Breibart is an influential Pilates educator, entrepreneur, and inventor who helped bring Pilates into mainstream fitness and professional teacher training during the 1990s. Although she was not one of Joseph Pilates’ original students, she studied Pilates in New York during the 1960s and later partnered with Eve Gentry to formalize one of the first organized Pilates certification systems in the United States.  

Breibart’s major contribution was educational and entrepreneurial. Through the PhysicalMind Institute, she developed training manuals, videos, certification programs, and innovative Pilates equipment including the Mini-Reformer®, MVe® Chair, and Tye4® systems. She helped expand Pilates beyond dancers and elite performers into rehabilitation, wellness, and general fitness populations.  

Together, Eve Gentry and Joan Breibart played a major role in shaping what is now often called “Contemporary Pilates”—an adaptive, principle-based approach that integrates biomechanics, rehabilitation, and functional movement rather than strictly preserving Joseph Pilates’ original sequences exactly as taught.