Romana Kryzanowski was born in Detriot in 1923 and began studying ballet as a young child. In her late teens, while studying at George Balanchine’s School of American Ballet, Romana suffered an ankle injury and Balanchine himself brought her to see Joseph Pilates. After her first visit, she started to frequently work with
Joe and soon became his apprentice. In 1944, Romana moved to Peru with her husband, Pablo Mejie, and they had two children. In Peru, Romana continued dancing and teaching Pilates to her friends and neighbors. In 1970, after Romana returned from Peru, she became the director of Joe and Clara’s studio on 8th avenue. When Joe passed away in 1967, Romana ran the studio with Clara, and after Clara passed away a few years later, Romana took on the studio as her full responsibility. Romana’s daughter Sari often helped her mother during this time. Romana successfully carried on the original Pilates method here in NYC and around the world.
