image description
Pilates practitioner Tanya Grillon has moved her Lenox studio to Great Barrington to expand her offerings.
image description
Grillon opened Echelon Pilates in the Flying Church on April 1, within two weeks of looking at the space.

Great Barrington Studio Owner Has Passion for Pilates

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story

Tanya Grillon offers private, semi-private and small group classes. Her reformer Pilates classes are intimate with one to two people.
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Tanya Grillon is spreading the benefits of Pilates, which focuses on strength, flexibility, muscle control and posture. 
 
The former ballet dancer opened Echelon Pilates last week at 198 Main St., offering different types of workshops in Pilates, posture and barre classes. She had operated Studio 90 Pilates in Lenox, before deciding to pursue this more full time.
 
"When my children were grown I started doing this more full time and just really fell into the passion for Pilates because I know it can benefit so many people in so many ways," she said. "So that's why I decided to make this my full time career."
 
She said she immediately fell in love with the space in the rehabilitated "Flying Church" and opened there within two weeks. She wants to make a comfortable space for her clients and a welcoming one for parents who may have to bring their kids. 
 
"I really wanted it to be a space where people came in and felt immediately at home," Grillon said.
 
A lot of her client base has followed her from Lenox in addition to her new patrons from Great Barrington. She is still teaching twice a week at Bousquet Sport in Pittsfield.
 
Grillon, who danced with the Albany Berkshire Ballet for 12 years, and co-teacher Jessamy Brosan offer "gentle morning" Pilates, classic flow mat classes, fusion workouts that combine Pilates with yoga or strength training, and ballet and core classes. There's also a high intensity workout on the barre and posture classes to restore mobility. 
 
Her clients range in age from 17 to 90 with classes offered for children as well. Fees range from a private class on the reformer for $100 to small group mat classes for $30.
 
"It's kind of a mental and physical all in one," she said of Pilates. "It de-stresses the body completely, opens up the body, it helps the circulation.
 
"It also stimulates brain cells, which a lot of people don't know that aspect of it, and builds a really strong core at the same time strengthening the back, lengthening the muscles, improving the posture which we all need today."
 
She hopes to do some workshops to the community to discuss not only the benefits of Pilates, but how its creator is tied to the Berkshires. 
 
Grillon said many people don't know that Joseph Pilates was a teacher at Jacob's Pillow back in the 1930s.
 
"I look at Joseph Pilates as sort of the Einstein of fitness," she said. "Back in the '40s, no one was doing what he was doing and he was so driven and passionate about it that he actually wanted to turn Jacob's Pillow into a health farm back in the '40s and '50s . No one was doing that sort of thing."
 
Her goal for her studio is to show people the benefits of Pilates.
 
"To educate as many people as possible in the Berkshire County community about the benefits of Pilates and how it’s accessible for everyone," she said.
 
She is also passionate about doing what she loves as her career.
 
"My inspiration is just indulging in a career that I am 100 percent passionate about and I am very fortunate I get to do what I love every day of my life."

Sign up for a class through her website. Echelon is open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m.to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 to 2. Grillon teaches at Bousquet Sport on Wednesdays and Fridays. 


Tags: business changes,   exercise,   pilates,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Pryor & Peacock's Whimsical Furniture Environmentally Friendly

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
 

The company uses digital printing to create the upholstery fabric, saving water and saving vintage furniture from ending up in landfills.

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — A unique furniture store has popped up on Elm Street this month.

Mom-and-daughter store Pryor & Peacock is hosting the pop-up storefront from Aug. 13 to Aug. 25 at 6 Elm. The New Marlborough business is co-founded by Rosalina Wright and Luca Shapiro, who is also the creative director. 

Their online shop was created in 2024 but they wanted people to see the pieces in person, so they're renting the space for a limited time before a long-term tenant moves in.

The store sources prints to create unique fabrics and reimagines vintage and antique furniture acquired at auctions, local shops, and online.

"We source prints from all over the world that date from the late 1600s up through mid-20th century, and Luca turns those prints into fabric by manipulating them, scanning them, oftentimes has to add or subtract things, and then we manufacture the fabric using only digital printing, which is very environmentally friendly, unlike traditional textile printing," Wright said.

Upholstering the furniture can take weeks of work. Shapiro looks for the perfect design for each piece and, if need be, uses Adobe Photoshop to extend the art work to fit or enhance the print.

"One of the most difficult parts comes in marrying the fabric to a piece of furniture because we only use antique and vintage frames also to be earth friendly, and they're also more beautiful and durable than new furniture," Wright said. "So the image has to go with the furniture, so that takes a lot of work."

One of Pryor & Peacock's missions is to be environmentally friendly. Digital printing doesn't use the same amount of water as traditional textile productions do nor does it contaminate water with ink according to their website.

Not only are they saving water, but they are saving furniture from going into the landfill while also using more durable furniture that doesn't break as easily as current pieces. They started their business to create something unique and to help the environment together.

"It's creating something nobody else is doing. People can't continue to buy throwaway furniture. Six percent of American landfills is furniture, and digital printing not only opens up the possibility of being able to put unique images on a piece of furniture, but it also is, as I said, environmentally friendly. So, for us, the excitement is to take an old East Lake settee that somebody's going to store in their barn and forget about, and make it something completely new and surprising," Wright said.

They hope their furniture helps bring a pop of fun to someone's home.

"We think our furniture is very whimsical and surprising, and most furniture today is oatmeal colored couches and gray neutral chairs, and it's boring," she said.

The two named their business after their mothers' maiden names to honor them and believe the name reflects their pieces.

Shapiro works in interior design outside of the business and the two liked working together and thought it would be great to start a business together. Shapiro says they can work well together and that her and her mother, Wright, has flipped houses before and have the same eye for design.

"So it's very easy for us to work together. When we see something, generally we agree on whether it works or doesn't work on a piece. We agree on the color schemes and that sort of thing. So it's very fun and fulfilling to work together," Shapiro said. 

View Full Story

More South Berkshire Stories