Sean Gallagher Biography

Sean Gallagher

Sean Gallagher developed the first comprehensive professional Pilates certification and teacher of teachers training program and published the first training manual on the Authentic Pilates method. Sean is in demand and travels worldwide to deliver continuing education workshops including Pilates and the lymph system, Pilates Archives, The Pilates standing exercise program, Pilates and muscle balance, Pilates and the spine, as well as many other body areas. He also teaches the history of exercise and physical therapy.

He is the owner of The New York Pilates Studio® which is the continuation of Joe Pilates’ original studio. Using the extensive Pilates archives, he developed the first professional Pilates teacher training certification, now used around the world and considered the gold standard that all other training protocols are based on. Sean was also instrumental in integrating Authentic Pilates into physical therapy since 1990.

Sean Gallagher is a master physical therapist and has been treating and working with performing artists since he graduated from Physical Therapy school.  He has worked with Ballet and Modern Dance Companies, touring shows and as founder and director of Performing Arts Physical Therapy, Sean Gallagher and his staff have provided physical therapy care at over 110 Broadway shows.

Apart from Pilates, Sean specialises in focal dystonia, dance physical therapy, clinical nutrition, macrobiotics, Feldenkrais, dynatronics, yoga, performing arts medicine, traditional osteopathy, manual therapy, Thai massage, acupuncture/acupressure, trigger point therapy, myofascial release and cranial sacral therapy. He is also a lecturer and author.

Sean continues to further his understanding of the body through training in many other forms of therapy, with the goal of providing the performer with the best care. Sean Gallagher was a modern dancer for 10 years, he is a licensed physical therapist in 6 states and has been a leading practitioner in dance physical therapy for over 25 years.

Sean Gallagher is also a Feldenkrais practitioner and has studied yoga with B.K.S. Iyengar in India and acupuncture in Korea and Vietnam (receiving acupuncture certification), as well as in the United States. He has also studied massage in Thailand and the Philippines. He started and developed physical therapy programs at The Juilliard School, S.U.N.Y Purchase, The Miller Institute for Performing Artists, The Pennsylvania Ballet as well as being the first PT to work with modern dance companies (Paul Taylor, David Parsons and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago) and Broadway shows. Sean was the founder and first president of the performing arts special interest group of the orthopedic section of the American Physical Therapy Association.

With over 35 years of dance and physical therapy and Authentic Pilates experience Sean Gallagher has developed the most comprehensive injury prevention and self care program available to performers today. He has completed a Master in Clinical Nutrition at BridgeportUniversity and is training in macrobiotic counseling at the Kushi Institute in Becket Massachusetts. He has completed work towards his doctorate in physical therapy as well over three years of courses at The Canadian College of Osteopathy. Sean Gallagher is an adjunct professor for anatomy and Pilates at the NewSchoolUniversity. At Marymount Manhattan he teaches somatics for the dance science program and has been the gross anatomy professor at NYU’s doctoral physical therapy program. He is a New York State certified Emergency Medical Technician – EMT and volunteers in his local ambulance service.

Sean Gallagher will be presenting a selection of amazing workshops, including his comprehensive ‘Pilates Archives’ at the PAA conference 2015.