Sonjé Mayo was born in South Africa in 1945. At barely four years old, she went to her first classical ballet class and never looked back!
After certifying as a physical therapist at the University of Cape Town, her career as a ballerina took her to London, England, and then to the USA where she studied jazz dance initially with Luigi and then contemporary dance at the Martha Graham School in NYC. It was Martha Graham who persuaded Sonjé to start ‘Contrology’ with Joseph Pilates and she was instantly impressed by Joe. “I had questions and Joe had the answers to help me be the best ballerina I could be.”
Joe’s inspiring Pilates sessions during 1965, 1966 and 1967 proved to have a profound influence on Sonje’s future.
During the four years in NYC, Sonjé gained experience in a variety of dance styles on many TV shows, commercials and in theatre productions. Although ballet was always her first love, Sonjé set her sights on becoming a contemporary dancer mainly because of the interesting and challenging choreography that was emerging in the 60’s and 70’s. She danced with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company and this experience in particular inspired her to return to South Africa and impart her knowledge.
On her return to South Africa in 1972, Sonjé started her quest to pioneer modern dance in her country. She set her sights on training the talented indigenous population, and Joe’s Mat workout was the introdution to every dance class. She formed the first multi-racial modern dance company in the history of South Africa, JAZZART, which is still in existence in Cape Town.
She has won many choreographic awards in South Africa, including the coveted Vita Award twice. Her international awards include the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, the Isola de Capri in Italy and the Concours de Dance in Paris, France.
Sonjé represented South Africa at many international dance festivals worldwide, including the International Dance Festival in Stuttgart , Germany, and the Commonwealth Arts Festival in Victoria Island, Canada. Her unique style of blending contemporary dance with African dynamics, became her trademark. During the 70’s and 80’s Sonjé’s protest choreography brought the plight of Apartheid to the audiences in and out of South Africa.
Amongst her many achievements in SA, she introduced contemporary dance at the Johannesburg Art School, the most prominent school for the performing arts. She also pioneered the first ever Diploma Course in Dance at the Pretoria Technikon.
Sonjé returned to the USA in 1995 and settled in Nashville where her husband, a radiologist, was offered a post at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She taught and choreographed for the Tennessee Dance Theatre and the Nashville Ballet company and started her own dance company, Évolution Dance. Her collaboration with top musicians in ‘Music City’ was met with great acclaim.
In 2002 Sonjé retired from the dance world and inevitably wanted to return to Pilates on a full time basis. Her first few lessons were with Romana Kryzanowska who remembered Sonje “as the gal who spoke German to Joe.” Sonje obtained the Mat certification with Bob Liekens of Power Pilates in NYC in 2003. In 2004 she commenced her equipment certification with Romana’s protege, Clare Dunphy, who at that time was the Master Trainer and creator of Peak Pilates. In October 2007 she obtained the Peak Pilates Peak Comprehensive Certification.
Sonjé runs her own studio, The Pilates Atelier, in Nashville, where she has been teaching for 22 years.
As a physical therapist and an experienced teacher and dancer of 55 years, Sonjé has become known for her rehabilitative expertise as a Pilates instructor. Dancers and athletes with injuries are recommended to her by the medical fraternity and other Pilates teachers in Nashville.
Sonjé’s new interest is the Schroth method for treating Scoliosis. As a PT she has been certified in the Schroth Best Practice Method by Dr Marc Moramarco and Dr Weiss from Gensingen, Germany, who is the grandson of Katharina Schroth, the pioneer of the famous Schroth method.
In April 2016, Sonje completed the Advanced Schroth Best Practice course with Dr Moramarco in Woburn, MA.
Sonje features extensively on Pilatesology.com which has put her skills on the Pilates world stage. She teaches many workshops internationally and in the USA.
Her international workshops include London (UK), Berlin, Poznan (Poland), Zurich, Seoul and Busan (South Korea), Tokyo, Johannesburg (South Africa), Rio de Janeiro and Mauritius.
Her virtual instruction extends to the four corners of the world.