Today we’d like to introduce you to Barri DeFrancisci.
Hi Barri, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Ever since I was a little girl, movement was my life. It started when I took my first ballet class at 3 years old. Like most little girls, I was drawn to the beautiful costumes, sparkly tiaras, and impressive pointe work. I dreamed every day of becoming a ballerina and carried that dream with me for the next 10 years. At 13, I began attending the Kirov Academy of Ballet, a full-time ballet boarding school located in Washington, DC. It wasn’t enough for me to attend classes every night after school, I needed to have the BEST training, and at that time, the Kirov was that. I stayed there for 3 years, simultaneously improving my technique daily while also resenting the ballet world more each day. The teachers were incredibly hard on us, regularly telling us students what horrible dancers we were so that we could “toughen up” and want to work harder. Eating disorders were normal and being underweight was encouraged. As soon as we started hitting puberty, our ballet teachers would ask us to lose weight. We had regular academic classes too, but ballet was the number one priority. One of my friends even had to drop out of math class one year because his teacher made him memorize and write down every ballet combination from his 2-hour class each day to turn in the next day. To say it was cutthroat would be the understatement of the century. And yet I still loved to dance.
I finished the last 2 years of high school at North Carolina School of the Arts where academics were at least on par with the regular school system, and where I thought my Russian ballet technique would shine. I was wrong. This American ballet school hated my Russian training and put me in a lower level than many peers my age to “re-train me” their way. I wasn’t cast in any of the main stage shows my first year, I wasn’t seen, appreciated, or celebrated for any of my efforts. Everything I did, and therefore I thought, everything about me, was just “not good enough.” The love and passion I had for ballet was being sucked out of me with every relieve. I was tired, beaten down, and no longer dreaming about that sparkly tiara.
And yet I still loved to dance.
So, I went to college. A small liberal arts school in Allentown, PA. I didn’t want to study dance. I wanted to try to learn new things, discover a new passion that could lead to an interesting career. I tried political science, psychology, Russian studies, art history, creative writing, and more… and I kept dancing. I took so many dance classes “just for fun” that it made most sense to major in Dance after all, if I wanted to graduate on time. In this school, my technique was at the top, but we had to write papers for our technique classes which I found ridiculous, so I rebelled and either skipped them completely or turned them in late. My modern dance teachers asked why I couldn’t be like the other students with strong ballet technique and be more versatile in my movement (even though they didn’t have the patience to show me how). Even though I was technically the best, I still wasn’t good enough. Student choreographers wouldn’t cast me in their pieces although I danced leading roles in the main stage shows, and Charles Anderson, my modern dance teacher, may as well have slammed the door right in my face when I applied for his summer internship. There was just never a place for me.
And yet I still loved to dance.
But things were changing. My boyfriend broke up with me to ride his motorcycle around the country and South America. I abused pharmaceutical drugs and lost 20 pounds senior year (if only those ballet teachers could have seen me then-, they would have been so happy!) My world kept crumbling down until I crashed on the floor of my bedroom in my 4-roommate house. I had no energy to get up, let alone to dance. I knew I had to turn my life around, had to find the joy of living again.
There was a yoga studio down the street from my house, so I started going. I had practiced yoga on and off for years, and every time I did, it always left me feeling stronger in my body and lighter in my mind. It allowed me to move in a way that felt good, where I wasn’t being judged for “not doing it right” Actually I was good at the moves, but it didn’t even matter. It just felt good. It lifted my spirits, and through the nuggets of wisdom the teachers would share, I finally learned how to take control of my mind, love my body, and live peacefully in each breath. I knew yoga would play a huge role in my life from then on. I knew I had to teach- had to share this beautiful practice of self-acceptance, presence, and peace with the whole world.
Anyway, long story short…ish…
After graduation, I went to Israel and danced with the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company for a 5-month MASA program. The dance company life wasn’t for me. I don’t work well with rigid schedules and under directors who don’t let my unique talents shine. But still, I loved to dance!
When I came back to Baltimore, I started teaching dance at Coppermine Fieldhouse, where I had so many ideas for growing the program that they promoted me to Dance Director after a few months. When I felt like I did all I could there, I was offered a job as Dance Director at the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia. I loved teaching the students and offering them opportunities to perform in the community. But as usual, I wanted to do things my way, and not get stuck in a box of just being a kids’ dance teacher. So, I started teaching Barre at a local studio and remembered the dream I had in college to teach yoga…
But just after I quit my job and signed up for a 200-hour yoga training, my partner landed a job in Miami, and we moved. So, I found a job managing a corporate fitness studio, Flywheel Sports. After 2 years of working my way up until I was managing all 3 studios in the Florida market, I decided enough was enough. I couldn’t sell my soul to corporate fitness any longer. I had developed a very strong and dedicated yoga practice, and knew I had found the teachers I truly wanted to learn from. Kino MacGregor and Tim Feldmann were the BEST (still are)- and I couldn’t miss my chance to learn from them.
I finally completed my 200-hour yoga teacher training at Miami Life Center in August 2019. At the same time, thanks to my management experience, I became Kino MacGregor’s personal assistant. Over time, I also started working as the Social Media Manager for her online yoga platform, Omstars, and a few months later became Marketing Manager. Soon after taking on that full-time role, I again realized it wasn’t for me. I had become a shadow artist. The tiaras and spotlights of my childhood dreams faded further and further away as I hung out backstage and helped others to shine. But I knew I wasn’t put on this earth to be behind the scenes. I’m a Leo rising, baby, and I NEED to shine my own light on the world! I knew I had to leave that job and find my own way. I started teaching more locally and finally found my tribe at the Movement Lab.
The Lab was the first place I’ve taught in my life where I felt like I could really be myself and share my unique voice (and moves!) with the community. Any class or workshop I wanted to teach, both the administration and the students were on board. And it was there where I learned to dance again! Pole dance, contemporary dance, ecstatic dance! I didn’t realize but over the past 3 or 4 years, I had totally stopped dancing! And even after all the hardships, I faced as a dancer, all the times I was told I would never make it and I wasn’t right; nothing could ever feel as good in my body as dancing. Dancing became my medicine, and I finally started dancing at home on my own again. I’ve even developed a practice called Soulful Movement, which guides students through authentic dance movements to release stagnant energy from their bodies, connect them with their spirits, and ultimately raises their personal and the collective vibration.
With the closing of the Movement Lab last month, the community needed a new space for movement and authentic expression. I spoke to Pastor Jim Muratore at St Luke’s Church, and he was overjoyed to host us in his space. Along with several teachers from the Movement Lab and a few others, we formed Motion Collective on the Avenue, a true community movement organization where all are welcome. Classes and events are offered on a sliding-scale basis in order to increase accessibility for all, and anyone who feels called to share a healing, or simply joyful practice, is offered the opportunity and space to do so. At our Open House, a very cold, windy, and snowy day, we filled the entire church front, front to back with over 60 beautiful beings. I’m so overjoyed by the response of the community, and honored to keep Baltimore in mindful motion!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The road is finally starting to smooth out. It’s been a very bumpy ride, but I feel like I’m finally doing what I was meant to do! The biggest challenge has been my own fear of going out on my own and failing. And that’s why I’m so lucky to have amazing, supportive business partners and community members! I’ve realized that trying to do everything alone has held me back the most in life, and more success in available to all of us when we work together.
Other struggles- being yelled at constantly by dance teachers growing up telling me I needed to lose weight, I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t doing it right, and that I just wanted to do it “my way.” Well, they were right about the last part, and it’s working out so far!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in promoting movement that honors the body’s impulses and authentic expression. I truly tap in to the needs of each of my students and offer them individualized practices to support their highest form of self-love. I don’t stick to one practice, one format, or one method of movement. If you try to stick me in a box, the first thing I’ll do is come up with a way to dance out of it. I’m a yogi, dancer, Barre instructor, meditator, and free-spirited songbird. I challenge my students to break out of their comfort zones in every class I teach, whether it’s a million pulses in Barre, a challenge balance in yoga, or moving freely in Soulful Movement. I challenge you so that you can strengthen your minds and prove to yourself that you CAN truly do anything.
I’m most proud of spearheading the Motion Collective on the Avenue. I’m so honored to be leading this beautiful community of mindful movers and providing an inclusive space for all practitioners and teachers to move towards their highest selves.
What matters most to you? Why?
What matters most to me is COMMUNITY. My greatest healing has always come from having a supportive community around me. In community, all things are possible, and all are equal.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@motioncollectiveontheavenue.com
- Website: https://motioncollectiveontheavenue.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/motioncollectiveontheavenue/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/motioncollectiveontheavenue
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx-5Tnv2r6DikYIPM6C10yA
Image Credits
Alex Zebrowski
Renee Choi
