Anne Laing has been dancing since she was a little girl. She started her dance training at the age of 5 and four years later, she became a member of the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet, a pre-professional dance company in Cuyahoga Falls. She has been teaching ballet since 1995.
Anne also teaches and practices other movement forms, including Pilates, yoga, Barre, Balletone, belly dance, and hoop dance. Under the mentorship of Tom Smith, she became a Pilates instructor in 2003. She also trained with Nancy Myers of EHS Pilates. After 10 years of studying yoga, she received her 200-hour yoga certification from TRY4Life with Jan Hauenstein and Judi Bar in 2007. She studied hula hoop with Lara Eastburn from Superhooper.org and Jonathan Baxter from Hoop Path. She is the lead teacher for One Love’s 200 hour Yoga teacher training program and earned her 500 hour yoga certification in August 2018 and became a Barre Intensity regional master master trainer. As well as, being a certified personal trainer and group exercise instructor. Anne’s knowledge and experience in these diverse movement forms has contributed to her thoughtful, creative, and challenging teaching style. She helps her students become better aware of their bodies and themselves while having fun.
These diverse forms also contribute to Anne’s fluid, graceful, strong, and dynamic performance style. She started studying belly dance at Kent State in 2003 and went on to join the belly dance troupes Dance du Soleil and Gems of Egypt. She currently choreographs and performs with Akron-based troupe Gypsy Soul, specializing in tribal fusion belly dance. In November 2011, Gypsy Soul won the awards for Best Troupe Performance and Best Artistry at the first annual Pittsburgh Belly-Off competition. Anne continues to study belly dance as well as gypsy (Rom) and burlesque dance with Sherena Hendrix of Sherena’s Art in Motion Dance Studio in Sebring, OH. She performs with Sherena’s Art in Motion Bellydance Company and occasionally teaches dance classes at her studio.
Anne’s advice to people is to never stop moving. She shares this motto by continuing to perform and teach workshops throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania.