About — Two Hearts Dance & Yoga

About two hearts dance & yoga

Our Mission:

Two Hearts Dance & Yoga provides community-based, accessible dance & yoga instruction, offering private lessons, specialized movement classes, and community events for every body. Two Hearts Dance & Yoga offers it's services in any suitable space, business, or home to provide high-quality dance & yoga instruction to all levels & all ages. Now virtually!

We also have Two Hearts Dance Costume Shop, organically created from a collection of dance costumes that has expanded into rentals.

Harmonize your body, mind, & inner self. Two Hearts Dance & Yoga is an inclusive holistic outlet for creative movers to express themselves, a space encouraging openness & healing, opportunities for the community to move together, & a positive environment that fosters personal growth, development, & well-being — wholehearted movement for every body.

Movement from the heart. Two Hearts Dance & Yoga specializes in teaching various movement styles, dance & yoga, focused to fit your needs. Providing an welcoming environment, open to Every Body, is our goal. From the first-time beginner to the experienced mover, we offer the following styles of movement:

Dance Technique: Jazz, Modern & Contemporary, Tap, Barre, Musical Theater, Performance Choreography, Audition Prep
Yoga: Vinyasa, Restorative Yoga, Guided Meditation & Mindfulness, Prenatal, All Levels
Specialized: Yoga for Military Veterans, Yoga for Recovery, Chair Yoga, Seniors movement, Special Needs movement
Events: Birthday Parties & Special Occasions,Wedding Dance Choreography (first dance, parent dances, wedding party dances)
Teams & Groups: Sports Teams, Dance Teams, Competitive Dance Groups (small groups & large teams), Employee Wellness Programs, Community Groups, School Programs, Church Groups, Senior Citizen Groups, Specialized Groups

About The Founder —Lee-Ann Barber, MBA

Inspired by her grandmother, who tap danced professionally, Lee-Ann's love for dance came naturally at a young age. She grew up training in ballet, tap, jazz, and modern dance at Gracie's Guys & Gals Dance Studio in Southern Maryland. She competed in national dance competition circuits with "GG's Showtroupe" in the "Elite" group, and performed on various stages, such as Tomorrowland Stage at Walt Disney World (multiple times) and the NYC Tap Dance Festival. Lee-Ann was also a varsity cheerleader at Leonardtown High School, competing at Reach the Beach in Ocean City, MD. Lee-Ann started teaching dance as a student teacher at the age of 16. She now has nearly 20 years of experience teaching dance to children and adults; specializing in jazz technique, modern dance, ballet barre, and tap dance instruction.

Lee-Ann's passion led her to earning her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from the University of Maryland. At UMD, she focused on choreography development and performance. She performed in the Maryland Dance Ensemble multiples times and presented pieces for Maryland Choreographer’s Showcase. She was also a member of UMD’s hip hop dance team, Dynamic, founded by Broadway performer Aurelia Michael. Lee-Ann started her senior year of college making the team as a NBA Washington Wizard Girl (now known as the Wizards Dancers) where she performed on the court for three seasons, represented the organization at community events, and assisted with dance clinics. She also danced professionally for a modern dance collaborative in DC called Momentum Dance Theater. She's had the opportunity to guest teach for various high school dance teams and set choreography for UDA national competitions. She has also choreographed for high school musicals, including productions of "Mary Poppins" and "Hairspray" for Eleanor Roosevelt Highschool in Greenbelt, MD. She has adjudicated dance team auditions for American University's dance team. Most recently, she was hired as an Adjudicator for Believe National Talent Competition, part of the Star Dance Alliance, and she is thrilled to have an influence on talented up-and-coming dancers across the country and to experience this full-circle moment as a former competition dancer herself.

Lee-Ann earned her Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) graduate degree from the University of Maryland Global Campus, where she can be seen speaking and dancing in their nationally-aired commercials. She has always wanted to start her own business, and in 2018, Lee-Ann founded Two Hearts Dance and Yoga with the mission to provide accessible movement classes and community events for all. Along with an extensive dance background, Lee-Ann is a Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (ERYT 200), having completed her 200-hour Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training Program with Bombay Yoga Company in 2017. She is trained to teach Trauma-sensitive Yoga instruction through Transformation Yoga Project and completed her Restorative Yoga teacher training through Erick DuPree, ERYT. She most recently completed Prenatal Yoga teacher training through Chae Yang Bullock, ERYT, Ayurvedic Yoga Specialist, in 2020, and Chair Yoga certification through Dragon Spirit Arts. Lee-Ann has a special focus with teaching dance technique improvement and foundational skills. She was recently promoted to Director of Coaching for Sideline Prep, where for the past 7+ years she has coached dozens of aspiring dancers & cheerleaders wanting to go pro. Sideline Prep has a 70% success rate of its Pro Cheer Playbook Graduates making pro dance and cheer teams, and she is very proud to contribute to this community, founded by her former teammate GeNienne Samuels.

In her community, Lee-Ann has a strong passion for working with Veterans, since she comes from a family of military vets, including her father, who can be seen taking her classes regularly. She’s created partnerships with organizations, like the American Association for Cancer Research, National Alliance on Mental Illness Philadelphia, Animal Coalition of Delaware County, Clean Ocean Action, & The Global Ripple Effect Project (to name a few) to bring yoga and mindfulness to their clients and employees. She’s worked with professional athletes, from college baseball and football players, to martial artists (karate & jiu jitsu), to gymnasts (tumblers & beam), and others to increase their athletic performance. She enjoys helping individuals find peace in their practices. Lee-Ann integrates her background of movement training, her experienced knowledge of body alignment in motion, & her pure lust for sharing good vibes to bring an uplifting energy to each student. She started the Two Hearts Dance Costume Shop after simply wanting to share her lightly-used costumes stored in Rubbermaid bins from her many years of dancing, and the collection has continued to grow. She welcomes you to the Two Hearts Community and looks forward to moving with you!