Livia Maldonado
This week we chatted with Livia Maldonado, a recent graduate of TPC, Boulder’s Bridge Program. Livia teaches at Pilates Ancora, in Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain and says her training was a full family affair (having moved her husband and kids to Boulder!) and that she couldn’t have made it through without the help and support of her amazing husband, Quino.
Hi Livia, how are you today?
Hi Amanda, I am very good today thanks.
Where are you and what are you up to right now?
I am sitting in Ruthie’s kitchen by the window with a nice cup of tea, with my little daughter who is doing some drawings. Ruthie is from The Pilates Center and we exchange houses every now and then – right now Ruthie is in Spain teaching at my studio and I am here finishing my exams and enjoying Boulder with my family.
How did you find out about TPC?
I found out about The Pilates Center, Boulder from Colleen Glenn, also a Pilates teacher. After I trained with Peak Pilates in Malaga I decided to contact Colleen for advice on Pilates equipment and continuing education. Colleen suggested I come to The Pilates Center, Boulder and I did. That was 13 years ago! Colleen helped me to choose my equipment and took me to few Pilates studios in Boulder, I had a great time and went back to Spain very happy with the experience. Soon after I received my equipment, I opened my own studio and started working.
I was always doing workshops, training, taking classes at different studios in Malaga and travelling to London to take classes with Alan Herdman. I was very open to learning more. After three years and with my studio doing well I decided to return to The Pilates Center in Boulder because I felt I was missing something.
What was your reason for choosing to train with TPC?
This second time at The Pilates Center I discovered that I knew the exercises and the principles but I was not breathing properly, nor moving from the center. The worst thing I realised was that I could not see movement issues like Amy, Rachel and other TPC staff could. Realising this, I thought to myself “I want to teach as richly as they do.”
I couldn’t leave my husband, three little kids and my studio for three months to come to Boulder for the programme so I invited TPC Grads to come and work at my Studio, so my teachers and I could learn from them. I had some amazing teachers visit: Katie Bowes, Paula Kirkland, Susanne Staehr and Erika Leeds.
During these years I travelled to London and Paris for the lectures and did the TPC Masters Programme. But I still wanted more, so in June 2017 I applied and got into the Bridge Programme.
Why do you think TPC is the best option for people wanting to become Pilates teachers?
I think TPC has been training teachers for so many years, their method is great and they are always improving it. It is demanding and very serious. All the teachers I have met are very good and even though they are very good, they are still trying to improve. Also, being able to do many of the lectures and workshops online has made it possible for people like me who live abroad or outside of Boulder.
What was / is your favourite things about TPC’s teacher training programme?
What I like about TPC is that works a little like in the old days, the master and the apprentice. You learn from experience by teaching, observing teachers and training hard. But the master never puts you down; they try to help you be good at what you do. They try to make you feel good at the level of understanding that you have in that moment.
What do you think your experience at TPC has given you most?
My experience at TPC has being amazing, long and sometimes hard but I would not erase any minute of it. I have learned from the bad and the good moments and I have made great, life long friends.
Now I can see more of the body movements, I understand TPC teacher’s language better, I feel more confident and calmer and Pilates has definitely helped balance many things in my life.
If I had to choose a word to define TPC teachers, it would be HUMBLE. They do not think they are the best, they are always learning from each other and they really respect each other.
What would you say to someone who is considering training with TPC?
I strongly recommend the TPC teacher training programme, well I already have done to my friend Ana Pernas, who did the training and she is A TPC grad and Host Adviser too!