About Rael Isacowitz

Primary Teacher Training: BASI Pilates®

Rael Isacowitz ~ Founder and Director of Body Arts and Science International Pilates (BASI Pilates®).

Passion and technique are only two of the characteristics that have made Rael one of the modern-day Pilates icons. Others are his natural aptitude for teaching and his restless intelligence. Pilates, for Rael, is as much a cerebral as a physical activity. Doing it is not enough; he needs to know the how and the why – and figure out ways to do it better.

Rael is an innovator; a born thinker and creator. That pioneering quality has left an indelible mark on the universal practice of Pilates, ranging from the BASI® Block System, a unique method of categorizing Pilates exercises devised by Rael, to the game-changing Avalon® line of equipment.

Born in South Africa and educated in Israel and England, Rael has a Bachelor of Education degree and teaching credentials from Israel's prestigious Wingate Institute, and a Master of Arts degree in Dance from the University of Surrey, England.

His early Pilates teachers included Alan Herdman, and several of the first-generation Pilates teachers who are commonly known as the Elders. To Kathy Grant, Ron Fletcher, Romana Kryzanowska, Eve Gentry and Lolita San Miguel, Rael owes a debt of gratitude for the inspiration and friendship that have guided his career.

Through Rael’s unstinting efforts, BASI Pilates®, as it is commonly known, has developed into one of the foremost Pilates education organizations in the world. It is currently represented in 20 countries and over 100 locations and has a select faculty of over 30 highly-qualified teachers.

Rael has authored the definitive book on Pilates (Pilates, Human Kinetics) with a second, Pilates Anatomy, to be released in 2011. He has published a series of Movement Analysis Workbooks on all the Pilates apparatus, produced DVDs and created Pilates Interactive™, a groundbreaking online Pilates resource. He is a regular contributor to industry publications and a highly sought-after teacher and lecturer at Pilates forums around the world.


Rael balances his Pilates life with windsurfing, snowboarding and as a devoted dad to Elan and husband to Adelle.