Olga Tamara

It’s been 3 week days now since we shared a great time together at the Pilates Alliance Australasia Conference 2015. It’s over but certainly not forgotten, as emails continue to come in from presenters and motivated delegates. I’m please to say that registrations surpassed any other year to date and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

Eighteen months ago, my first emails were sent and negotiations began with presenters, the venue, equipment providers and sponsors. There is always so much work involved leading up to any event and this one was no exception. Sharan Simmons, a dear colleague of mine, worked closely with me on the conference. For many months, sticky notes adorned our computer screens – ‘budgets, presenters, working visas, sponsors, registration, website updates, sales, promotions, media release, volunteers, bags, workbooks, quotes, scanning’, and the list goes on!

Presenters

We were thrilled that the long flight to OZ didn’t deter the international presenters from taking part in our biennial event. Dr Joe Muscolino was the first to arrive at the airport and surprisingly showed little signs of get lag! The presenters delivered a selection of great workshops “ the Elusive Psoas”, “the Arch of Life”, “The complexities of the Shoulder “Corset” and more. Sean Gallagher was second in line arriving an hour later from Korea. Also as fresh as a daisy! I

PAA CONFERENCE 2015 Chris

must get tips from them. My Jetlag after doing a 22 hour flight seems to linger on for a week! Sean’s workshops were inspiring – his to most popular being “Wringing Out the Body”, History of Exercise and the non Pilates pre conference workshop – “Ball and Roller”.

Chris Robinson arrived 7am the next morning and when he finally checked in, he slept for what seemed to be an eternity! I thought we’d lost him for a moment there! None one had seen him for the 24hrs! Once he slept off his jetlag, Chris was in top form torturing many willing bodies with his “Hard Mat” and “Pilates For Athletes”.

Brooke Siler

Brooke arrived some hours later and didn’t get to check in until 9.30pm that night. Running on adrenalin, Brooke was a live wire until Simona, Joe and I gave the game away…. our bleary eyes were a dead giveaway! ! I must admit, I was feeling a bit jet lagged myself by then and I hadn’t even been on a plane!

Brooke’s workshops were a hit to say the least. The instructors loved her energy and passion. Her imagery and hands on are (as I’ve said on many occasions) second to none.

Our national presenters included the charismatic Dav Cohen, Deborah Thomas and Cynthia Lochard who flew in from teaching in Moscow the day before the conference. Jet lag did finally set in for Cynthia, but I’m happy to say not until after her presentation. The big sleep was to follow!

A number of faculty members of training courses were on site to keep delegates moving in mat, reformer and chair classes including yours truly. As an organizer you don’t get a change to present so hopefully I’ll be in a position to deliver workshops in future.

Simona Cipriani

Feedback

Feedback was positive with a few extra comments like:

“ I didn’t like the Sunday lunch box” (Well neither did I if the truth be known!)

“The theatre was too cold”, (hmmm, yes when you sat in a lecture for two hours it did get a bit chilly!),

People coming through in one of the rooms during the last workshop to start packing equipment was disruptive (YES! Horror! This will never happen again! It’s like enjoying a later dinner and the staff start to stack the chairs up around you! Yikes!)

PAA CONFERENCE 2015 Matclass

All in all the delegates had a great experience! Their comments included,

“I learnt so…. so much at the PAA Conference 2015!! B

Being relatively new to the Pilates world it was an amazing few days!!” Sarah Stenning

“Loved being tortured by the fabulous Chris Robinson the PAA Conference 2015 over the weekend learnt lots and walked away with plenty of sore muscles! “ Danielka Ehrlich

“My favorite conference quotes were, Brooke Siler: ‘Make sure precision isn’t stiff’ and (Brooke said Romana used to say): ‘We work with what we have in front of us. You are not a sum of your injuries but a sum of your successes’. And ‘connecting the weight of the head to the upper abs is everything!’ Thanks again for a truly inspirational few days in Sydney” Teya Duggleby

I had such an amazing time at the conference. I love this quote from Chris, ‘Weakness can only be detected through movement’ – get them moving! Jessica Tsui

 ‘The organisation was incredible and the caliber of the presenters so high. They were charismatic, passionate about Pilates and very generous with sharing their knowledge.  I learnt a lot and had a fabulous time. Katie Agnew

 Just loved being a part of the conference! One of the biggest ah ha moment for me was Chris Robinson just getting people to move… ‘you’re not always going to get perfect Pilates but people need to move and FLOW!’ Kirsti Vitala

We had an amazing weekend at the PAA conference in Sydney. We have aching bodies and inspired minds! The Body Refinery

All the presenters were incredibly knowledgeable, skilled, passionate, experienced but most importantly they were all generous with their time and with sharing everything they could to help us grow as teachers and representatives of our fantastic industry. Frances Cahill

Sean Gallagher

The presenters were also happy!

I would have to say that my experience at the PAA Pilates Conference 2015 in Sydney Australia this past October was one of the best presenter experiences I have had. Sean Gallagher

 All I could say to Olga Tamara after presenting at the 2015 PAA Conference was: ‘What a class act!’  Brooke Siler

 This has been the most amazing experience in my Pilates teaching world. Thank you all for making it so memorable! Simona Cipriani

The PAA 2015 conference was amongst one of the best organised events I’ve ever experienced. Cynthia Lochard 

Next conference 2017

Pilates conferences are there to share information and provide new experiences, with presenters from other parts of the world that many may not otherwise get to work with. Various schools of Pilates are represented at each conference and the next one will be no exception. While I will no longer sit on the board as Vice President of the PAA (I resign on the 20^th November. 5 years of volunteer time is enough for now!) I have been asked to consult on the next conference 2017.

I certainly hope we can welcome some more international delegates to join us in Australia for the next PAA conference. Stay for a while after the PAA conference, relax and this wonderful country down under!

Have a wonderful Xmas everyone!
Olga Tamara
Principal Trainer and Director – Authentic Pilates Education Australia