penelope barrow
Penelope Wyer Barrow has over 30 years of teaching experience and 25 years of teacher training experience, most notably as an assistant to Romana Kryzanowksa in the development of the first certified national training center in the Southeast. Her instructors teach all over the metropolitan Atlanta area, as well as throughout the state of Georgia, the Carolinas, Nevada, Oregon, California, New York and Florida. Her strength as a teacher trainer lies in her ability to closely mentor each student, offering a hands-on approach throughout the entire certification process.
Penelope began her Pilates studies during her dance career in New York City over thirty years ago. Although she taught throughout her years of performing modern and classical ballet, Penelope decided to pursue a formal certification through the Pilates Studio in New York City to work with world renowned Pilates master teacher Romana Kryzanowska and her staff at Drago including Sari Mejia Santo, Bob Liekins and Juanita Lopez. Immediately following her certification, she was chosen by the Pilates Studio to direct the first national certifying program in the southeast at the Atlanta Ballet in Atlanta where she assisted Romana, Sari and Juanita with all seminars and apprenticing.
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As the first certified instructor in the state of Georgia, Penelope launched Atlanta as a top Pilates destination. In 1999, she opened Body Central, in Atlanta, where she trained and directed a staff of over 20 Pilates instructors. At Body Central, she began her own certification program in 2002 to train teachers traditionally as she was trained in New York. In 2004, Penelope joined the staff of Urban Body Fitness where she avidly helped with the creation of Urban Body Studios, a 17,500 square foot, state of the art Pilates and Yoga Studio the following spring. Penelope served as the Director of the Pilates Program for Urban Body Studios and once again began a classical training teacher training program to provide classical Pilates instruction for the Atlanta area. In 2011, Penelope helped launch, direct and teach at the first Atlanta Classical Pilates Conference with Brooke Siler, Chris Robinson, Dorothee VandeWalle, Peter Fiasca, Mejo Wiggins and Dana Sante.
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In the fall of 2011, Penelope and her husband, certified instructor Hunter Barrow, left Atlanta to found PURE in Asheville, NC. As an authentic Pilates studio, a certified teacher training and continuing education center, Pure brought nationally acclaimed instructors to the southeast, hosting continuing education workshops with nationally acclaimed instructors, Kathi Ross-Nash, Chris Robinson, Mari Winsor, MeJo Wiggin and Brooke Siler.
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Currently, Penelope is teaching private clients in both Greenville, SC and Chapel Hill, NC while guest teaching throughout the Southeast as a teacher trainer. She has written her own 300 page teacher training manual, and is now at work on a book for teachers on classical matwork and the art of the transition. Her work has been featured in The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Atlanta magazine, Upscale magazine, Fox Networks (both local and national) and CNN’s Healthwatch, and has been quoted in Time Magazine, among others. She specializes in core training for athletes and has instructed members of the NBA, NFL, the Olympic Rhythmic team, the Olympic Basketball team, and the Atlanta Ballet, as well as competitive runners, triathletes, golfers, cyclists and divers, most notably NFL Hall of Fame football player, Shannon Sharpe and Olympic Dream Team basketball player, Steve Smith. In addition to athletes, Penelope is sought after in the Atlanta and Asheville area for actors to maintain strength and flexibility while on location.