Nicola Elliott
Tucked behind the red-brick splendour of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, the heartbeat of the Royal Ballet doesn’t just thump to the sound of Tchaikovsky—it pulses through a Pilates studio run for nearly three decades by a woman who knows precisely how to keep a dancer from falling to pieces.
For over 29 years, Jane Paris has been the quiet force behind the physical resilience of the Royal Ballet. Not centre stage, not spotlighted in curtain calls—but crucial nonetheless.
As the studio’s Pilates and Conditioning Coach, Paris has been sculpting strength, correcting alignment, and warding off injury with the precision of a surgeon and the insight of someone who’s been there herself.
“Pilates is critical not only for injury recovery but also for prevention, ensuring dancers spend as much time as possible training and performing,” she says, coolly summarising what the orthopaedic ward of any hospital already knows.
The Royal Ballet’s demands aren’t casual. This isn’t your weekend Zumba class. Ballet, at this level, is a full-throttle physical pursuit, requiring extraordinary flexibility, core strength, and the sort of stamina that would make a triathlete sweat.
The price of excellence? Stress fractures, strained tendons, and overused everything. But that’s where Paris steps in—with Reformers, Cadillacs, and a clear-eyed understanding of what it takes to stay on your toes.
At the Royal Opera House studio, Jane uses Reformer Pilates to reinforce the very foundations of the dancer’s body: strength, balance, alignment, and control.
It’s not just about fixing what’s broken—it’s about fortifying what’s not. “Many dancers visit the studio multiple times per week, whether for injury rehabilitation or ongoing conditioning,” she explains. “Each session is tailored specifically to the needs of the individual dancer, ensuring their unique physical demands are met.”
And these aren’t just tales of mild soreness soothed by a few stretches. “Pilates has helped many dancers return to the stage, often after career-threatening injuries,” Paris says.
These are comeback stories written in tendons and time. Her studio, armed to the teeth with Balanced Body® equipment, is where those stories are forged.
Balanced Body, a global heavyweight in Pilates gear, has been with Jane since her days running a studio in Edinburgh. “The quality of their products, exceptional customer service and continuous innovation in Pilates equipment and education are unmatched,” she says.
Reformers, Cadillacs, CoreAligns, chairs, barrels—you name it, it’s there, meeting the exacting demands of elite performers. The Clinical Reformer and Cadillac are especially crucial in rehabilitation, their engineering precise enough to serve both recovery and refinement.
Ken Endelman, Founder and CEO of Balanced Body, backs her up: “Jane demonstrates how premium Pilates equipment can support not just everyday fitness, but also the extreme physical requirements of professional athletes.”
And in a poetic nod to history, Endelman reminds us: “When Joseph Pilates brought his method to the U.S. in the 1960s, his studio shared an address with the New York City Ballet. It wasn’t long before he was training many of its dancers. It’s remarkable that decades later, professional dancers continue to benefit from his innovative approach.”
So while the audience applauds the Royal Ballet’s elegance, few realise the iron will—and quiet genius—behind the curtain, in the Pilates studio. Jane Paris doesn’t pirouette, but she might be the reason others still can.
To learn more about Balanced Body and the equipment that keeps the world’s finest dancers dancing, visit Balanced Body.
