Introducing the founder of Top End Pilates Expo
Hi, I’m Katie Crane, founder of Top End Pilates Expo, and here is the story of how this all became…
In 2005, living in the United States, I discovered Pilates out of a desperate need to overcome. A long relationship with debilitating chronic back pain, Pilates literally saved me. It got me out of pain and set me free to live an adventurous life — wrangling horses in Montana, surfing, mountain biking, swimming. Pilates gave me my body back.
Where it began…
I completed my training in QLD, Australia, there weren’t many options back then and I literally lived and breathed my study for 12 months while waiting tables at night to afford the opportunity. We moved to Darwin in 2006, and opened the Northern Territory's first Pilates studio. Twenty years on, that studio is thriving. Alongside it, I've built a nationally recognised teacher training school, earned four Pilates diplomas, logged tens of thousands of hours teaching and mentoring, presented at the biannual Pilates Association of Australia conference, and hosted the internationally known The Pilates Lounge podcast. I'm certified in BASI Pilates, have educated for Body Organics Pilates, and have studied Polestar and PITC Pilates, all internationally respected and industry-led certifications. I travel globally to keep learning, because I hold firmly to this belief: we are never the master of Pilates. We are always a student of the work.
…to how the Expo was born.
The Top End Pilates Expo was born from two decades of being deeply embedded in the profession, from watching Pilates grow in popularity while also watching its roots sometimes get lost in the noise. Things change, always. But the true work of a Pilates student is to return to the source — to honour the tradition, to understand the work in its entirety, to stay connected to the family tree of Pilates and the lineage that brought us here. And at the same time, to hold space for the person who is only just discovering it for the first time, who hasn't yet been introduced to the full apparatus, who is right at the beginning of what might become a lifelong relationship with this work.
That's what this expo is for.
I have had a strong, deep, and extraordinarily fulfilling career as the Northern Territory's Pilates leader. Now I want people to stand on my shoulders. I want to create community, hold space, and continue to lead the way — not by staying at the front, but by lifting others up alongside me.
The Top End Pilates Expo is my love letter to this profession, and my invitation to you — wherever you are in your Pilates journey — to be part of what comes next.