Leigh Vallejo

Leigh was introduced to Pilates during her ballet and contemporary dance training in London in 1990 and took to it ‘like a duck to water’. It proved a perfect balance of dance like movement, control, precision and a creativity that appealed to her Taurean ‘perfectionist’ nature, and there began a life long journey with her own and other peoples’ bodies.

She trained with Trevor Blount in Kensington in 1993 and owes a lot of her observational skills to her fascinating apprenticeship with him.

Leigh continued to teach with Trevor in his studio as well as other venues and building up her own private client base until 1999. In 2000 after the birth of her second child she moved back home to Cornwall and began teaching classes in Penzance, founding “Pilates in the City” in Truro in 2003. She continued to commute to London once weekly to work with private clients until 2005 when she focused solely on the studio in Truro.

Being recognised as a Pilates teacher trainer through the Pilates Foundation Leigh trained her husband Ramon and together they have developed “Pilates in the City” into the leading Pilates studio in the south west.

As her reputation grew through ‘word of mouth’ and referrals from the professionals (Osteopaths, Chiropractors etc) Leigh has built up a dedicated client base throughout the peninsula that has followed her to Redruth where the “Pilates at Park Villa” studio is now based.

Leigh is renowned for her unique approach to teaching, which has evolved over the years. Having trained as a Shiatsu practitioner with the Devon school of Shiatsu in 1995 this has given her an added depth and awareness of the energies of the body which she uses in her observations and tactile cueing.

Working on her own body and teaching through two pregnancies gave her an insight into work with the deep core and pelvic floor making her teaching methods unique and along with clear communications and visualisations enable the client to integrate the work to a deep level that affects not just their body in the class but filters into their everyday life.