Gretchen Bierbaum

Gretchen has been a group fitness enthusiast since high school, when she took up step aerobics to stay active instead of joining a sports team.  Through kickboxing, yoga, pilates, calisthenics, ballet, the Method, and cardio dancing, Gretchen honed a mindful and articulate connection to her physical self.  She is a Barre Intensity master trainer and is prenatally certified. She believes in the power of breathing and sweating with a supportive community and started Straightline in 2014.

Gretchen’s Favorite Ways to Stay Active: Gretchen is obsessed with Barre, it is her favorite form of exercise, but she also enjoys family bike rides, yoga, and dancing in her kitchen while cleaning or cooking.

3 Fun Facts about Gretchen:

• She’s the mother of two gingers, her adolescent red-headed children.
• An entrepreneur who loves a challenge, Straightline is the 3rd business Gretchen has begun, and by far her most favorite.
• A few of her favorite things: hot weather, coffee, cooking, everything French, music, and
  mother earth

Certifications: 

• Barre Intensity Master Trainer
  
• IBBFA Barre Certification
  
• Piloxing Barre and Piloxing SSP
  

Erika Cianciaruso

Erika's fitness journey started in Shanghai, China where she took the leap from competitive ballroom dancer to group fitness instructor. What started as a hobby turned into a full-time career - Erika is now a Personal Trainer specializing in prenatal and postpartum exercise and a PILOXING Master Trainer, international educator and performer.
 
Erika's Favorite Way to Stay Active: Through dance! Whether it's a group class or a night out at the Salsa club. Latin music runs through her veins and dance is her superpower.

3 Fun Facts about Erika:

• She’s lived in 5 countries and speaks 5 languages
• ​She does a mean chimpanzee impression
• She loves playing dress-up
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Certifications: 

• ACE certified personal trainer
• Piloxing SSP (Master Trainer)
• Piloxing Barre (Master Trainer)
• THE MIX by Piloxing (Master Trainer)
• Xtend Barre

Meredith Casey

Meredith started as a ballet dancer and got involved with Barre Intensity to keep up her technique and fell in love with it. She is a certified Barre Intensity instructor and an avid fitness student. You can find her at Straightline's front desk!
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Favorite ways to stay active: She LOVES to walk! Even in the winter, walking places is her favorite way to get moving. She also loves a good stretchy ballet class.

3 Fun Facts about Meredith:

• She has an earring collection that started before she had her ears pierced.
• She grew up in both Minneapolis and New York City
• ​She had three marriage proposals from fellow preschoolers before the age of 5.

 
Certifications:

• Barre Intensity

Christina Redondo

Christina began teaching when she was selected to choreograph her middle school show choir production! From there she taught hip hop, tap, and jazz classes and choreographed musical theatre and color guard performances for over 12 years. She shifted gears and entered the fitness world in 2019, earning her first instructor certification in 305 Fitness with hopes to add more classes to her repertoire in the future. 
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Christina's favorite way to be active: Anything that challenges her to be creative and move her body to music.

3 Fun Facts about Christina:

• She likes to travel and collects tattoos everywhere she goes 
• She has performed alongside Drag Queens in a cabaret theatre back in Northern Virginia 
• Overcoming her fear of insects has given her an incredible sense of fascination for them (and she'll never kill a spider again!) 
  
  

 Certifications:

• ACE certified group fitness instructor
• 305 Fitness certified instructor

Renee Celing

Renee considers herself fortunate to have started dancing when she was three years old studying ballet. She majored in Dance at the University of Wisconsin -Stevens Point and studied ballet, jazz, tap, and modern. She started teaching at a studio in La Crosse after college and has not stopped teaching since. She loves working with kids the most, but also enjoys teaching barre and yoga classes to adults--she couldn’t imagine her life without yoga. She loves working at Straightline, having found a community finally that she enjoys. The energy that everyone brings to the studio, both teachers and students, is amazing!

Renee’s Favorite Ways to Stay Active: Renee stays active with a healthy blend of yoga, barre, biking and dancing. 

3 Fun Facts about Renee:

• She teaches preschool 
• She loves to read and likes talking about books with her book club.
• She wants to go to the Price Is Right with her mom! She has watched it with her mom since childhood and thinks it would be super fun to get called up on stage.

Certifications: ​

Cammie Redford

Cammie found her way to dance at a young age and went on to teach younger students while in college. After moving to Minnesota in 2017, she found her way back into a fitness and dance lifestyle at Straightline Dance Fitness. Starting out as a client, Cammie soon let her passion for cardio dance fitness take over and became a certified Piloxing SSP and The MIX by Piloxing instructor.

Cammie’s Favorite Ways to Stay Active: Anything outdoors or with a beat! She loves hiking, walking, or running, but when you get that music going you’ll find her out on the dance floor.

3 Fun Facts about Cammie:

• ​She is a 4th grade teacher 
• She is originally from Nebraska
• She loves sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee and a good book

Certifications: 

• Piloxing SSP Certified Instructor
• The MIX by Piloxing Certified Instructor

Sara Karimi

A native of Milwaukee, WI, Sara began her dance training at Milwaukee Ballet School & Company. After 25+ years of dancing, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance, and touring regionally and nationally as a professional dancer, Sara began her yoga journey in between rehearsals and performances- after years of being a student, Sara earned her 400 hour Vinyasa Yoga certification in 2010 and has been teaching around the country since from Colorado to New York. She is currently a professional dancer with Twin Cities based companies and a highly valued and sought after yoga instructor. 

Favorite Way to Stay Active: Outside of the dance studio, Sara loves to run/walk outside all year round- snow, below 0 temperatures, rain, she loves to be outside in the woods and on the trails!

3 Fun Facts about Sara:

• She eats the entire apple– core & seeds (but not the stem!)
• She got her first smartphone EVER in 2018
• Superfan of the show Frasier and can quote from every episode

Certifications:

• Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Dance Performance from the University of Iowa
• ​400 hour (RYT) Vinyasa Yoga certification

Kelsey Braak

Kelsey Braak is a lifelong dancer. Originally from Des Moines, Iowa, her childhood through college years were spent at the dance studio where she studied and competed nationally in jazz, tap, lyrical, hip hop, and ballet. Kelsey fell in love with the upbeat energy and positive class environment of XaBeat as a student here at Straightline. Known for her infectious smile, you’ll be sure to dance to the sassiest songs in her class. 

Favorite way to be active: through dancing of course. When she's got friends surrounding her and energetic music, she forgets she's working out.

3 Fun Facts about Kelsey:

• She is a cookie addict. 
  
• ​She is a big Harry Potter fan and tries to reread the series every year or 2. 
• She is married to her high school sweetheart. 

 
Certifications:

• XaBeat Inspirator

Elizabeth Wynne

Elizabeth started taking barre classes way back in 2012. She's been hooked ever since and decided to start teaching her favorite workout format!
 
Elizabeth's favorite ways to stay active: Any activity outdoors! Hiking, kayaking, biking, swimming, and gardening.

3 Fun Facts about Elizabeth: 

• Her dream job would be to have travel blog specializing in culture and cuisine.
• She loves music! She played in bands in college and was a DJ at The Front
• She can touch her nose with her tongue
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Certifications:

• Fit in 60

Robin Gast

Robin is a certified GROOVE Facilitator. She left her corporate job of 23 years to share her passion to keep moving and stay connected through dance, and to introduce Minnesota to The World Groove Movement.

Robin's Favorite Way to Stay Active: Any kind of dance– line dancing, ballroom, JADE, workshops... She also has several part-time jobs which keep her physically on her toes.

3 Fun Facts about Robin:

• She volunteers at a therapeutic horse barn.
• She has three cats, two dogs, and a horse.
• Her grown daughter says she's a “super mom.”

Certifications:

• GROOVE Facilitator

Laura Merino

Laura began her fitness journey as a student at Straightline where she fell in love with group exercising doing Barre and Piloxing. Her passion developed into a career when she decided to become a certified instructor to share the empowering qualities of these two amazing formats with others. Her favorite thing about fitness is helping people realize and believe in their own potential.
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Laura's Favorite Way to Stay Active: She loves nature, especially the mountains and forests. Her favorite ways to stay active include hiking, running and bike rides where she can breath in the fresh smell of trees and the earth.​

3 Fun Facts about Laura:

• Laura was born and raised in Colombia. She moved to Minnesota when she was 18.
• She had never seen snow in her life (little did she know she'd moved to the state with the most snow! haha) Her fondest memory of winter was tearing up at the beauty of the first snow of the season.
• She also loves traveling, part of her New Year's resolutions is to visit at least 10 different cities every year. So far she's made it, and every time she falls in love a little bit more with the U.S and the world.

Certifications:

• Elite Piloxing
  
• Barre Intensity

Jourdan Myers

Jourdan Myers is a passionate barre advocate and loves dance. As a touring musician, she turned to barre to increase her functional fitness after injuring her back while carrying heavy musical instruments. She is excited to bring her love of music, fitness and dance together in the Straightline studio and desires to help others increase their functional fitness so they can continue to do the things that they love. 

Jourdan's Favorite Way to Stay Active: Walking around Lake of the Isles, teaching classes, and running.

3 Fun Facts about Jourdan: 

• She has written, recorded and released 3 full length music albums
• She keeps the studio clean without chemicals by using Norwex cleaning products!
• ​She loves to travel and has been to many countries and backpacked the Grand Canyon.
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Certifications:

• Barre Intensity 
• Piloxing Barre (Elite Star)
• ​Certified Personal Trainer (ACE)

Meet the Kids Team

Renee

• Our lead kids teacher, Renee majored in Dance at the University of Wisconsin-Steven’s Point and studied ballet, jazz, tap, and modern. 
• She loves working with kids the most, but also enjoys teaching barre and yoga to adults.
• ​Her favorite ways to spend her time include yoga, biking, reading, and watching the Price is Right--she hopes to get called up on stage some day.

Meredith

• Meredith has been dancing ballet since childhood.  She loves a good stretchy ballet class
  
• She loves to walk, even in the winter, and it’s her preferred activity.
  
• Meredith is an actress who grew up in both Minneapolis and New York City. 
  

Shawn

• Shawn is one of the founders of Elite Family, an Urban dance competition team, and the director of Gentlemen and Gentlebaes and all-male/all-female urban dance team. 
• He is a full-time dad to an adorable baby girl and does teaching and videography in his spare time. 
• His motto in life is "do better" and he embodies that in his lifestyle, leadership, work, and dancing.

Karen