Nicola Conraths-Lange was born "feet first" and always wanted to dance. She sees herself as a global nomad, following her parents first to Geneva (Switzerland) and then to Rome (Italy) where she grew up.
Dance and movement have always been a part of her life, since she took her first ballet lesson at the age of five. From then on, there was no way back: she attended the Rome Ballet School and then moved to London, aged nineteen, to begin her professional training at the London Studio Centre.
After a few years of performing with several dance companies and independent projects she suffered a severe lower back injury which brought her career to an abrupt stop. She spent one year "on the floor" without being able to sit or stand and was devastated at the lost of her lifelong passion: dancing.
Still limping and fearful of a future life as an invalid and with no formal education, she embarked in an exciting venture as an event manager. She toured through Europe with rock groups such as the Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Janet Jackson and Phil Collins, utilizing her languages and organizational skills.
After meeting her future husband Jens she took a leap and moved to the United States were she avidly pursued a Bachelor and Masters Degree in communication. At the same time Pilates came into her life, and amazed at the impact it had on her still hurting body, she decided to certify as a STOTT Pilates instructor on mat, reformer and Cadillac, chair and barrels as well as the new BOSU. Niki is an instructor teacher for Carolyne Anthony's Center for Women's Fitness, specializing in prenatal and postpartum rehabilitation programs and is featured in several videos of the center.
Niki specializes in the communication aspect of movement related instruction. Her company, Logokinesis: Minds in Movement, offers workshops, counseling and teaching advice for teachers in Europe and the United States. Her first book "Survival Skills for Pilates Teachers: Thriving in the Mind-Body Fitness World" is centered on aspects of healthy teaching. She regularly presents at national and international Pilates and Dance Medicine conferences and published in both academic and non-academic journals.
Her second book, "Your Pilates Studio. A workbook for teachers and entrepreneurs" is in the making. Future plans include completing her PhD in Performing Arts Studies at Brunel University, West London. She currently lives and teaches in Ann Arbor, Michigan and is an adjunct Professor for Dance and Pilates at Wayne State University.
Jens Lange is an automotive professional who works for Freudenberg NOK. He met Niki when she was an event manager. During their first conversations, she did not talk about dance or movement, so he thought for quite some time that he was dating a very ambitious woman who had made up her mind to "make it" in the corporate world. A year later, Pilates entered her life, rehabilitated her body, and awakened her buried passion for dance. From then on, dance and Pilates became part of his life.
Jens helped Niki launch her first Pilates studio in Hamburg, negotiating with equipment manufacturers, shipping companies, and tax experts, and (bless him!) booking sessions with every single studio in the city to "check out the competition." He took meticulous notes about each instructor, the environment, the equipment and the way he was treated.
Five years down the line, he sold the Hamburg studio, revamped and designed two additional spaces, and dismantled and regrouped various pieces of equipment about a dozen times. He is the executive director of Logokinesis Publishing Company and co-writes and markets Niki's books. He organized and laid out two manuals for the Center for Women's Fitness. Jens has a talent for movement photography, is a computer wizard, and is a genius with numbers. In other words, he was born to marry a Pilates teacher: and if he were not doing any of this, he would be perfectly happy restoring wooden boats.
