Studio Barre- Alexandria, Alexandria

Ballet has defined much of Shannon Higgins's life—she performed for 15 years for Linda Yourth, acted as principal instructor for the NYC Ballet, and honed her steps at the US International University in San Diego under a full ballet scholarship. She eventually left ballet on a professional level to pursue work as a personal trainer, but as it turned out, ballet wasn’t finished with her yet. One of her clients introduced her to the barre technique, which rekindled her passion for the graceful art form and inspired her to train with the woman who invented the method, Carrie Rezabek. She was so taken with the exercise method that she gathered a team of other experienced instructors and opened Studio Barre.

Now teaching in two side-by-side spaces, Shannon and the team conduct more than 60 classes a week, helping students to lift, tone, and burn. For advanced students who have competed 100 or more classes, they teach the exceptionally intense Centurions course, which promises to involve even more verbs.