Lectures on Tap - "A History of Pilates: Pr*son, Freedom, Control"

📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email

🧠 Lecture: "A History of Pilates: Pr*son, Freedom, Control"

🎤 Speaker: Dr. Bahiyyah Muhammad

Join us for a powerful evening as Dr. Bahiyyah Muhammad uncovers the carceral origins of Pilates, tracing its path from internment camps to today’s high-end studios. Beginning with Joseph Pilates’ “Contrology,” she will explore core principles like breath, precision, control, and whole-body integration—and connect them to the lived realities of incarcerated people today.

Through archival photos, historical documents, and contemporary images, this talk will vividly illuminate how a “Pr*son workout” became a symbol of luxury wellness. Together, we will wrestle with urgent questions: Can Pilates behind bars be rehabilitative without reinforcing punishment? What does it mean to practice ethically while honoring this complex history in our own communities?

Participants will also experience brief, accessible chair-based breathing and posture explorations, demonstrating how Pilates can live anywhere—from Pr*son cells to bar stools—as a tool for reflection, regulation, and dialogue.

Dr. Muhammad is a Professor at Howard University, a criminologist, and a Pilates instructor whose award-winning, experiential teaching centers Black history, social justice, and exercise equity.

Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌

Agenda

6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key.

6:55 PM – Host introduction

7:00 PM – Lecture begins

7:45 PM – Audience Q&A

8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round

8:30 PM – Wrap up.