Pilates of Plantation, a classical Pilates studio and teacher training center, has opened at 823A South University Drive in The Fountains, the shopping center next to Kohl's and Helena's Coffee. The city marked the opening with a ribbon cutting on Sept. 30, and the woman behind it is a Plantation resident who has spent 21 years teaching, a career that started with professional football players.

A hometown teacher with a pro sports start

According to Mayor Nick Sortal's Oct. 7 city newsletter, studio owner Tanya Clark lives in Plantation and began her teaching career working with pro football players before her client list grew alongside the popularity of Pilates. The studio's own biography fills in the rest: she came to Pilates as a performer, moved from student to teacher to teacher educator, and now lives in the city with her husband and two sons. The studio calls itself POP for short.

That background shows up in how the place is built. Much of the Pilates on offer in Broward County comes in fast, music-driven reformer classes. POP goes a different direction, teaching what is usually called classical or authentic Pilates, the original system Joseph Pilates developed, taught with close attention to each person's body.

The equipment is the story

Walk into most boutique studios and you will see a row of identical reformers. The studio says its floor is equipped mainly with Gratz apparatus, made by the company it describes as the first manufacturer of classical Pilates equipment, built to Joseph Pilates' original designs, along with select pieces from Contrology. Beyond the reformer, that means the Cadillac, chairs, barrels and smaller pieces that most chain studios never stock.

The class menu is built around that full set. Mat classes are open to all levels and use props. Apparatus classes move between the reformer, tower and chair, with one level aimed at beginners learning fundamentals and another at intermediate and experienced clients who want a flowing, core-focused workout. An advanced class is reserved for experienced clients and teachers who are cleared by the studio first. There is also Mat Fusion, a creative toning and stretching class, and Return to Life, a gentler class designed for people 60 and older.

How to start

Because classical apparatus takes some learning, the studio steers newcomers toward private sessions first. Its welcome special is three private sessions for $210, and a second bundle adds three group classes for $300 total. The pricing page also lists a 10 percent discount for high school students and teachers, college students, active duty military and veterans, and first responders, with proof of eligibility. Group classes are booked online, while private and semi-private sessions are arranged directly with the studio at 954-692-7213.

Cancellation rules are worth knowing before you book: group classes need 12 hours' notice and private sessions need 24, and late cancellations forfeit the session.

A training center, not just a studio

The bigger surprise for a strip-center storefront on University Drive is that POP also trains instructors. Its Classical Pilates Education program is a 600-hour teacher course aligned with the Pilates Method Alliance's international training standards. Students learn to teach privates and groups on the full range of classical apparatus, from mat and reformer to the Cadillac, tower, high chair, Wunda Chair and barrels, through weekend trainings, monthly meetings, observation hours and tests, finishing with a certificate that prepares them to sit for the Pilates Method Alliance exam.

The studio is also bringing nationally known educators to Plantation. Its workshops page features New York teacher Kira Lamb, a Pilates consultant to the WNBA's New York Liberty, and announces that MeJo Wiggin will bring her advanced continuing education course, The Classical Syllabus, to the studio in November 2027. Clark and fellow teacher Keisha Whitfield are also leading a studio retreat at Harbour Village Beach Club in Bonaire on Nov. 20 to 22, according to the studio's homepage.

The teachers

The rest of the teaching roster reads like a cross-section of how people find Pilates. One instructor trained in dance at Miami's New World School of the Arts and came to Pilates through aerial arts. Another is a former veterinary nurse who started after surgery on a physical therapist's suggestion. Another trained with Clark in the studio's own program. The common thread is classical training and small, attentive classes.

What it means for you

If you live in central Plantation and have been curious about Pilates but put off by high-energy chain classes, there is now a classical studio a short drive down University Drive, run by a neighbor with two decades of teaching behind her. Start with the three-session welcome package, learn the equipment properly, and you will have access to the kind of instruction people usually travel to Miami or New York to find.