Loading...
Creator
Trier, Carola S.
Call number
(S) *MGZMD 266
Physical description
7.32 linear feet (15 boxes)
Preferred Citation

Carola Trier papers, (S) *MGZMD 266. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library.

Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Carola Strauss Trier (1913-2000) was a dancer, acrobat, and roller-skating contortionist who worked closely with Joseph Pilates to develop and popularize the Pilates Method. Her papers, which date from 1932 to 2000, document her early life, her career as a performer and as a Pilates instructor. The collection includes photographs, correspondence, studio records, research files, clippings, files pertaining to a children's book she wrote, performance programs, immigration documents, and artifacts.

Biographical/historical information

Carola Strauss Trier was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1913. Her parents were Beatrice Rosenberg, an American citizen, and Eduard Strauss, a German chemist and philosopher. She had an interest in dance from a young age, attending the Laban School in the 1920s.

By the 1930s, Trier was performing as a dancer around Europe. In 1938, her parents immigrated to the United States, while Trier stayed in France, frequently performing with Marcel Neydorf, until 1940, when she was sent to the Gurs concentration camp in France. Trier was released from Gurs in 1942, and with the help of her parents and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, she immigrated to the United States as a refugee later that year. She settled in New York City, where her parents lived, and married Edgar Trier. She supported herself as a dancer, acrobat, and roller-skating contortionist throughout the remainder of the 1940s.

A knee injury ended hTrier's performance career in 1950. In the course of seeking treatment, she met Dr. Henry Jordan of Lenox Hill Hospital, who introduced her to Joseph Pilates. Jordan and Pilates became mentors to Trier, as she studied and worked with both of them throughout the 1950s. Trier assisted Dr. Jordan with research and patient rehabilitation at Lenox Hill Hospital. During this period, she also studied under Joseph Pilates, becoming an expert in his Pilates Method of exercise and strength-training. In 1960, with support from Joseph and Clara Pilates, she opened one of the first Pilates studios. Her studio, located at 200 West 58th Street, developed new techniques and helped popularize the Pilates Method with an influential clientele, many of whom were dancers, actresses and actors. Some of Trier's students went on to become prominent Pilates instructors themselves.

In 1982, Trier authored a book for children entitled Exercise, What it is, What it Does, which introduced and emphasized the benefit and enjoyment of exercising both alone and with friends. Trier was an active teacher, lecturer, and practitioner until the late 1980s, serving as a coach for choreographer Gloria Contreras until 1985. Carola Trier died in New York City on October 28, 2000 at the age of 87.

Scope and arrangement

The Carola Trier papers document Trier's personal and professional life as a performer and Pilates instructor through photographs, correspondence, studio records, writing files, clippings, reference material, and artifacts.

The bulk of the photographs in the collection depict Trier performing specific Pilates poses and sequences, sometimes using Pilates Reformer equipment, alone and with others, in a studio and outdoors. Some of these photographs were taken or staged by Joseph Pilates. Later photographs depict Trier's students performing Pilates routines in her studio. Photograph files relating to Clara and Joseph Pilates include candid snapshots of them on vacation with Carola and her husband Edgar Trier; studio portraits; and Christmas greeting portraits of Joseph and Clara. A file of photographs relating to France-Amérique, a magazine about French exiles in the United States, is also present.

Correspondence ranges from routine business matters to warm notes from Joseph and Clara Pilates, Gloria Contreras, Helen Gurley Brown, and Dr. Henry Jordan, among others.

Studio records include an alphabetical index of students, notes for hiring studio staff, and documents relating to Trier's retirement from the studio in 1986.

Files relating to Exercise, What it is, What it Does include exercise diagrams, manuscripts, galley proofs, and a published version of the book. Other writings files include notes for books and drafts of articles.

Clippings files from 1939 through the 1940s hold announcements of Trier's performances in France and across the United States. Many of these contain photographs or illustrations of Trier in costume and on skates. Later clippings relate to Trier's studio and clients.

Anatomical notes and medical reference books are included among the reference files.

Artifacts include small brass plates for the Universal Reformer apparatus and a pair of roller skates.

Arrangement

Materials are arranged in three categories: Personal; Performing Career; and Pilates.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by the Estate of Carola Trier, 2001.

Processing information

Compiled by Janine Veazue, 2011; Additions integrated by Heather Halliday, 2016.

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Conditions Governing Use

The author/creator retains copyright of materials. For information on obtaining permission to publish, contact the Dance Division at dance@nypl.org.