About Us

Denise Griffin Crowe has been involved with movement for her entire life, from her first dance recitals to her current career as a fitness teacher and teacher trainer.

 

Denise was a Senior Teacher of the world famous Lotte Berk Method in New York City and Bridgehampton for more than seven years. She was trained by Fred DeVito and Elisabeth Halfpapp, co-Founders of CoreBarreFit and legends and pioneers in the Barre industry, who are still her mentors to date.

 

After the closing of The Lotte Berk Method in NYC, Denise used all of her experience to start her own studio, Ealanta Exercise, with co-founder Shawn McCormack. Ealanta Exercise was a very successful studio on Manhattan's Upper East Side but with the birth of their first child, Denise and her husband Rusty's priorities shifted. The decision to close Ealanta and move closer to family in Boston was made.

 

In December of 2006, Denise accepted the position of Mind Body Manger at Exhale. She quickly built Exhale's classes and reputation with consistency and quality and established Exhale as a leader in Barre classes in Boston.  She trained some of the best Barre teachers in the company and in Boston. During Denise's time at Exhale, their classes were named Best of Boston by Boston Magazine and the Improper Bostonian. Fitness website Rate Your Burn named 5 of Exhale's teachers as the  "Best in Boston" - Denise was one of those teachers and the four other teachers were trained by her. 

 

When Exhale formed a team of Subject Matter Experts to work on the accreditation of their Barre class, Denise was an obvious candidate. She was also asked to join Exhale's National Barre Teacher Training team and was the only trainer to run the entire 40-hour teacher training unassisted.

 

Denise received a B.F.A. in Modern Dance with a minor in Ballet from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She is also certified in CPR.

 

A teacher's teacher, her classes are fun, challenging and full of variety, drawing on her wide range of knowledge, training and experience.  Her attention to detail and ability to adjust your positioning will help you achieve maximum results. She has a true passion for this workout that she has seen change people from the inside out.

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See Denise's fitness classes.

 

Photo by Lucie Wicker

Julie has been teaching barre classes for nearly 12 years at top studios including Motion Study (Newton), Exhale Spa (Boston), Equinox (Chestnut Hill) and Pure Barre®, now b.fit barre studio (Washington, D.C.).  

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A classically trained ballet dancer raised in South Louisiana, Julie attended LSU and LSU Law School.  After graduation, Julie moved to Washington D.C. where she began working as an attorney in the emerging field of computer forensics and electronic discovery.  Her career in that field culminated in the role of Vice President in the Boston office of Stroz Friedberg, LLC, where she managed large scale forensic investigations and electronic discovery matters for litigation throughout the U.S.   

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In 2006, Julie was invited to train to teach barre classes at Washington D.C.'s first of it's kind studio, Pure Barre®, which Julie's aunt decided to license after taking the classes for years in her home state of Michigan.  Julie was an avid student of classical Pilates, and her aunt knew Julie's movement practice and dance background would be a perfect fit for the new studio.  During her training with Pure Barre Founder, Carrie Rezabek Dorr, Julie discovered a natural affinity for teaching and loved that while barre exercises were very challenging, the technique was also very healing after so many years of dance training.  

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Upon moving to Boston in 2008, Julie started taking barre classes at Exhale Spa Back Bay with Denise Griffin Crowe, as well as Pilates and Gyrotonic® at Upward Spiral Studio in Cambridge.  In 2013, she decided to leave her job as an attorney/engagement manager to be at home with her two boys and eventually pursue teaching as her career.  In 2014, Julie became certified in the Gyrotonic® Method under Martha Mason at Upward Spiral Studio, and was invited to continue on as an instructor at the studio.  She taught privates and semi-privates in that modality for several years.

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In 2015, Julie became barre certified by Exhale Spa under Denise Griffin Crowe, Fred DeVito and Elisabeth Halfpapp.  Fred and Lis, now Co-Founders of Core Barre Fit, are pioneers in the American barre industry, having helped run the Lotte Berk Method studios in New York, and are responsible for much of the current barre methodology being taught in the U.S.  and internationally.  Denise and Julie are so fortunate to call them their mentors.  

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Julie's classes have smooth transitions, high energy and an attention to detail.  She loves to build sequences that let one exercise flow into another, with a focus on breath to keep her students in the moment, building endurance and stamina.  Julie strives to make her classes accessible to all levels, and to leave her guests rejuvenated for the rest of their day.  

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See Julie's fitness classes.

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Photo by Lucie Wicker

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