New in the trusted Gaia Tutor series: a concise manual on Pilates matwork for any aspiring teacher or serious practitioner.

Alan Herdman, a former dancer and teacher at the London School of Contemporary Dance, is a world-renowned Pilates expert. In the late 1960s he was invited to New York to learn the Joseph Pilates Method. There he worked intensively with Carola Trier and Bob Fitzgerald, instructors trained by Pilates himself. Although he was well regarded among New York's dance fraternity, Joseph Pilates was at that time unknown in the UK, and Alan returned in 1970 to set up Britain's first Pilates studio. Among his clients were actors, dancers and singers, but soon doctors and physiotherapists recommended Pilates to patients struggling with chronic injuries. Alan now lectures on Pilates around the world and runs his own studios in London. His books include The Pilates Directory, Pilates: A Busy Person's Guide, Pilates for Men, Pilates Plus and Pilates: Creating the Body You Want.