General News
24 August, 2026
Studio on global stage
CASSOWARY Coast Pilates at Wongaling Beach has been thrust onto the world stage, taking out runner up for boutique studio of the year 2026 in The Pilates Journal’s prestigious international awards, placing the Mission Beach studio alongside some of the world’s best, including this year’s winner, a leading New York reformer studio.
Director Jody Spicer, who founded the boutique studio three years ago, said the recognition felt surreal.
“To receive global acknowledgement is incredible. We are a small coastal studio, but we pour our hearts into what we do. This award tells us our passion and purpose are making an impact far beyond the Cassowary Coast,” she said.
Cassowary Coast Pilates has grown steadily since opening, building a loyal client base through its encouraging, clinical approach to movement.
Ms Spicer has trained multiple instructors in her teaching method, helping clients achieve results such as reduced knee, back and shoulder pain, improved pelvic floor control, better balance and increased overall strength.
She said she opened the six-bed reformer studio to offer locals a unique style of movement. Alongside studio manager Briley Curnoe, she has created a welcoming space for all bodies, ages and abilities.
“We want people to walk in and feel safe, supported and excited to move,” Ms Curnoe said. “Our clients show up day after day, because they know we’re here to help them grow.”
The studio maintains a strong partnership with Cassowary Coast Physiotherapy, with instructors receiving ongoing development from exercise physiologists and physiotherapists led by director Rob Harris.
This ensures clients recovering from injury, returning post-pregnancy, rehabilitating after surgery, or simply seeking a new workout style feel guided and protected throughout their classes.
While reformers can appear intimidating, Ms Spicer said the studio’s introduction offer of $40 for an intro class and four form classes over 14 days helped newcomers learn the machine and movements in a supportive environment.
Originally designed for rehabilitation, reformers use a carriage-and-spring system which allows clients to tailor their workouts, moving within a comfortable range or pushing beyond their limits.
Classes focus on strengthening supportive muscle groups, improving core strength and pelvic floor control, reducing back pain, as well as increasing balance and stability.
The studio also offers mat pilates, which runs three times a week, which is a similar minimal impact workout that targets the same movement patterns, but requires more control as clients work without supportive equipment on the floor.
Reformer group classes run six days per week, and the studio also offers private 1:1 sessions, pregnancy support, private group bookings, as well as hydro and aqua pilates led by physiotherapists at Mission Beach Aquatic Centre.
For the two women, the international accolade is more than an award, it is validation.
“It shows that a small regional studio can stand proudly on the world stage,” Ms Spicer said.
Read More: Cassowary Coast