The Archival Pilates Twist (Ted Shawn and Romana Kryzanowska)

Joe documented these two versions of the Twist in separate films of Ted Shawn doing the Twist With The Bar Down, and Romana Kryzanowska doing the Twist With The Bar Up. Both versions of the archival Twist shown in this video are the closest to the classical Twists I learned from Romana.

The only difference between these archival versions of the Twist and the classical Twists I learned from Romana is that Romana always had us get into and out of the Twist exercise without letting the spring move. Keeping the carriage closed as the feet step on and off requires a great deal of strength in the supporting shoulder (hand on the Shoulder Block) and upper back. Without connecting the muscles around the shoulder joint to the back muscles, this exercise would be dangerous, so keeping the spring closed to start and finish the exercise was one of Romana's safety measures. It serves as a good barometer of a student's strength.