ABOUT US
Danielle
Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Danielle brings a global perspective to her teaching, having lived and traveled extensively across the U.S., including the East and West Coasts, Hawaii, and Europe. A lifelong athlete, she has competed in a range of sports—from track and field and lacrosse to boxing, volleyball, and dance. This diverse background fuels her dynamic approach to fitness and movement.
Danielle’s classes are known for being energetic, unpredictable, and fun. With a focus on strength, stability, and configuration, she guides clients through innovative Pilates sequences designed to challenge the body and mind. Her signature style emphasizes deep muscle engagement and precise alignment, cultivating unmatched stability that leads to powerful strength .
When she’s not in the studio, Danielle runs a baking business, enjoys cleaning (yes, really!), and loves spending quality time with her dogs, family, and friends. Her goal in every class is to help clients feel strong, empowered, and a little surprised by just how many pulses they can hold.
Lianna
Born in Cuba and raised in Southwest Florida, I’m a true tropical girl at heart. My movement journey began with years of dance training, where I was first introduced to Pilates as a tool for building core strength, improving posture, and deepening body awareness.
After struggling with gym routines and managing injuries, especially sciatic nerve pain, I returned to Pilates and Barre as an adult. The difference was life-changing. Discovering Barre Roots about a year ago helped me reconnect with movement in a way that felt sustainable, empowering, and healing. It quickly became my daily ritual and my happy place.
Becoming a Barre Roots instructor has given me the opportunity to share that joy and help others, especially those with back pain or looking to build core strength, feel stronger and more connected in their bodies.
When I’m not in the studio, you’ll find me soaking up the sun at the beach, cuddled up with my cats, or singing along (loudly) to Taylor Swift.
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About Kelly Porter and Barre Roots
So, in 2019 I decided to open my own barre studio, calling it Barre Roots. It was to be a place where men and women of all shapes, sizes, and walks of life would workout, benefit from the physical aspects of barre, where everyone felt safe and a part of a community. I had grand plans for an elegant brick and mortar studio in Nashville.
But in 2020 the world shut down, and I had to get really creative. I started teaching outdoor classes in parks, I would host pop-up barre classes at local breweries, I would do "lunch and moves" via zoom for various corporations during the pandemic. I also started teaching private barre classes out of my house, and then I started a regular outdoor class schedule and taught in our backyard (since we lived on five acres.)
However, our son was three years old, and the entrepreneurial lifestyle was not conducive for our family at the time, so I put Barre Roots on pause. Life took some crazy turns, and we moved to Fort Myers, Florida at the end of 2021 to help open an athletic performance center where college football players train in hopes of them getting drafted. The center also trains the everyday athlete, like me.
But that itch to get Barre Roots integrated into Southwest Florida was there, and in March of 2023 I started barre Roots again. It has been so awesome to see how welcoming this community is, and I am excited to see what the future holds. Having a new lens on business, and where I'm at in life now, I am excited to help provide functional strength and movement to the community.
Barre Roots started as an alternative to therapy.
OK, maybe that's a stretch. Maybe it isn't. But when I was 22 I was living alone outside of Philadelphia, and was at a pretty low point in my life. I was seeing a therapist once a week to help me deal with a great deal of anxiety.
There was a barre studio next to my therapist's office. But at that point in my life, you NEVER would have found me in a gym. My anxiety was too much. But every week I would look through the window of this barre studio, see the ladies in there who all looked so happy, and the workout didn't look too crazy, so I wanted to give it a try. I talked a coworker into going with me for the first time, and I was HOOKED. I went back every day that week.
It wasn't long before I swapped my therapy sessions for barre classes, and I never looked back. Barre helped me not only get control of my physical health- but, most-importantly, it helped me build confidence. I decided to become a certified barre instructor because I wanted a deeper understanding of the workout, and that furthered my obsession with barre and my connection to it.
When my husband and I moved to Nashville in 2016, I tried to find a barre studio near me, but I couldn't find one where I felt I really fit in. Barre unfortunately gets a bad rap for "only being a workout for people with expensive workout clothes, and who are built like Barbie dolls, and who always look perfect." I am far from that.
Certifications
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Exhale Core Fusion
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Bootybarre
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Pre/postnatal barre exercises
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AFPA Pilates Fitness Instructor
Danielle originally came to Southwest Florida from Massachusetts thinking it would be a quick post-college adventure. But the sun, the sand, and the amazing community here pulled her in, and 8 years later she’s never looked back. She’s been moving her whole life, starting dance at age two and continuing through college on her university dance team.
Traditional gyms were never her thing, but she’s always thrived in the energy of a good class. She first fell in love with fitness through CrossFit, loving how every workout pushed her further than she thought possible, both physically and mentally. After an injury (as many CrossFitters can relate), she discovered Pilates, which brought her back to her dance roots while giving her the strength and focus she was craving.
As an instructor, Danielle loves helping people realize they can do hard things. For her, it’s not about chasing trends or numbers, it’s about health, longevity, and being able to pop, lock, and drop it well into your retirement years.
Her mission is to show every new mom, corporate baddie, former athlete, and strong grandma that they have a barre babe inside of them. And being a barre babe means carving out time for yourself, because it’s not selfish — it’s essential. The best investment you can ever make is in your own body.