We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brenna Brockert a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brenna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

The dance community is its own little world. And if you are apart of the dance community you know exactly what I am talking about. As things change over the years, so do the trends in the dance world. Now of days, kids are mastering certain tricks at age 5 that I wasn’t even introduced to till I was a teenager. There is a lot more presser on younger dancers than there ever was when I was growing up. I’ve been dancing for around 25 years and I would say I have had a fairly successful career with dance, but if I was growing up in this generation of dance I don’t think I would have stuck with it.

There isn’t enough hours in the day for kids to keep up with the amount of training they feel they need to be doing. There is no longer time to give our bodies rest, because if I am taking time off to rest, the dancer next to me is putting in more work and becoming better than me…… However, this is not true! Our bodies are begging us for a break! For a chance to rest and absorb what we have been training it to do.

The biggest trend I see in todays dance world is Pilates. And considering I am a Pilates teacher, that makes me apart of this trend. When I was growing up dancing I had heard of Pilates, but never in the dance world. It was a cool workout that the moms did, or a thing that older dancers did when they moved to LA or New York. It wasn’t something I could find around my childhood dance studio. Now every dance studio offers “Pilates” or what they call “Pilates” and if they don’t offer if, they are recommend their dancers go and take it.
So dance moms sign their dancer up for “Pilates” so that their child can keep up with everyone else around them. But the problem is they aren’t doing their research on what Pilates is, or what it should be.

Pilates is its own thing. It is not a stretch class, it is not a yoga class, it is not a dance class. By definition, Pilates is “a system of exercises using special apparatus, designed to improve physical strength, flexibility, and posture, and enhance mental awareness.”

When I became a Pilates instructor I went through a whole lot of schooling, learning the Fletcher Pilates syllabus & curriculum. It was just like going to college. It wasn’t an online course that I completed in two days that then said I could go teach pilates. This was a 4 year journey for me to fully understand and grasp what it was I was learning about they body.
With my dance background, I am able to explain it to dancers in a way that makes sense to them, but I am not a good Pilates instructor because I am a dancer. I am a good Pilates instructor because I had the best Pilates education with the best Pilates mentors.

People are just trying to keep up with this trend of Pilates in the dance world, so everyone is becoming a “pilates teacher”. But knowing how to teach a really good stretch class isn’t teaching Pilates. I think stretch classes are so so so necessary for the dance community. But we need to call them what they are: A Stretch Class. Not a Pilates Class.

When I get clients/dancers coming to me saying they want to improve their flexibility or their trick, that is great! However, I am not going to teach you a stretch class. I am going to look at your joints and see where your body lacks range of motion. Maybe you don’t need to actually keep stretching to achieve your goal. Maybe what you actually need is strength in your posture and alignment to have the proper range of motion so that you can do your trick to your highest potential. I also want to make sure that you are keeping your body safe when you are doing your tricks and not putting yourself at risk of injury. You should never leave a Pilates session feeling worse than when you walked in.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Brenna Brockert and I am the owner of “Pilates to Pirouettes.” I grew up in Arizona and started dancing at age 3. I was a competitive dancer all the way up until when I graduated high school. After high school I attended The University of Arizona where I received my BFA in Dance.

During my sophomore year of college I was on stage doing a lift with my partner with my back cracked and my legs went numb. I fractured my L4 and L5 vertebrae and it was pinching my sciatic nerve. I went through months of Physical Therapy but nothing seemed to help the pain in my back when I was dancing. That was until I discovered Pilates. The University of Arizona Dance Program offered Fletcher Pilates classes to us on campus as part of our regular schedule. The days that I would start my morning off with pilates I had little to no pain. They days that I would sleep through Pilates I would not be able to walk by the end of the day.
I knew then that Pilates would be something that was always part of my life.

During my senior year of college, I received a scholarship to go through the Fletcher Pilates Training Program. This was just as much work as my actual college degree was. I always joke that I double majored even though I only received one degree haha
The Fletcher Pilates program is top notch. I spent several years completing their Foundational and Professional Program. There truly is no program like theirs.

After graduating I went on to dance for the NBA Phx Suns and did a few other professional dance jobs here and there. But nothing filled my cup like teaching did.

After going through my spinal injury, and learning that it was preventable, I knew I wanted to help younger dancers avoid future injuries.

That was when I opened Pilates to Pirouettes. I now focus mostly on helping dancers strengthen muscles they didn’t even know they needed to help avoid injuries they may be prone to.
I do work with all ages and all body types, but I specialize in working with dancers.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

When I first started going through my Pilates training, I was doing it with the intention of having a second income source while I pursued my dance career. It is no secret that the dance industry is tough and you don’t make a lot of money while doing it. So I always new I would need a second job to stay afloat.

I remember in the beginning, my Pilates mentor told me “Most of our pilates instructors end up making more teaching than they do dancing”. And in my head I was like “Yay right, not me. I am going to be a dancer with a side hustle of pilates”. Lol! Jokes on me, here I am pursuing all things Pilates with a side hustle of dance haha

In the beginning I was teaching maybe 5 Pilates privates a week and renting space out of a Pilates studio. As more people start to hear about Pilates to Pirouettes I realized I needed to take a step back from dancing to make more time to be able to teach Pilates Privates. And the weird thing was I wasn’t even sad about having to switch my business priority. I enjoyed teaching and I was good at it. So as my business grew, so did my confidence knowing that I made the right choice to teach more.

About 3 years after starting to teach Pilates, I was ready for my own space and to create a true home for Pilates To Pirouettes.
I now spend most of my days in my cozy little studio teaching Pilates. At night I take my injury prevention training into dance studios and help them understand the importance of taking care of their bodies while they are young.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients has been Instagram and word of mouth. When I first started I feel like everyone was finding me on instagram. However, as my schedule gets busier, I find it a lot harder to be on instagram these days. Now most people find me through word of mouth or referrals. I am super thankful to have clients that speak so highly of me and recommend me to all their friends. It is what keeps my business going. Connecting with my clients is one of my favorite parts of having a small business. I am able to build relationships that are meaningful and genuine. To me, this job is so much more than helping my clients achieve their goals. I want them to leaving feeling just as good on the inside as they do on the outside.

Contact Info:

• Website: pilatestopirouettes.com
• Instagram: @Pilates_To_Pirouettes

Image Credits
Media By Madison Viktoria Alette Photo Artisan Agency