Sisters Rachel Taylor Segel and Amy Taylor Alpers were born in Youngstown, Ohio. Both began classical ballet in their childhood, studied dance in college, danced professionally and later taught ballet.

Rachel received a B.F.A. from the University of Colorado, and B.A. in Dance from Loretto Heights College in Denver, CO. She danced professionally with the David Taylor Dance Theatre, and Brent Mason and Company. In addition, she taught ballet and was director of the dance department at the Arvada Center for the Performing Arts. In 1987, Rachel moved to New York City and began teaching ballet at The Alvin Ailey School.

Amy attended The Juilliard School for Dance, danced with the Garden State Ballet in New Jersey, and received a B.A. in Dance and a M.A. in Dance History from New York University. In addition, Amy taught ballet at various dance schools in New York City for ten years.

Both sisters studied Pilates under the direct tutelage of Romana Kryzanowska at the Pilates Studio. They received their Pilates teaching certificate in July of 1989. The sisters co-authored The Everything Pilates Book, are active in the Pilates Method Alliance (PMA) and assisted in creating the PMA's certification exam.