Meet the passionate instructors and experts behind Lilac City Barre.
Our team brings years of experience in barre, ballet, yoga, and fitness to help you achieve your goals with expert guidance and support.
Kerrianne Thronson
Director of Technique Development and Instructor Training
Kerrianne is the Director of Technique Development and Instructor Training for Lilac City Barre, bringing over 12 years of experience in barre instruction. Kerrianne first introduced the Spokane community to barre as the prior owner of a bar studio. With a deep passion for the barre community and classes, she has honed her expertise and has meticulously crafted the studio’s full-body workout that prioritizes muscle and joint safety. She loves being a part of each clients’ barre journey.
Kerrianne is the proud mother of three grown daughters each excelling in their respective fields. Her older daughter is a professional ballerina in Germany, while her second is a competitive runner and competed in the 2024 Olympic Trial, and her youngest is a collegiate runner.
In addition to her professional accomplishments, Kerrianne enjoys a variety of hobbies, including baking, going on walks, and recently discovered a love of golf. She also enjoys traveling to visit her daughters, cherishing the time they spent together.
Kerrianne’s commitment to excellence, both in her personal and professional life, reflects in her approach to teaching and mentoring.
Jenae Ball
Owner & Barre Instructor
Jenae started her barre journey approximately 12 years ago. When her local studio closed, and she was left without a place to practice, she thought - why not open up my own studio?!
With Kerrianne as the Director of Technique Development and Teacher Training, and with the assistance of the Lilac City Barre Technique and Design Team, she sought to create an empowering barre community, one where the studio centers its members and merely serves as a guide in the member’s barre journey.
Jenae is from Sonoma County, CA but considers Spokane her home. As for her day job, Jenae is a partner at the law firm Randall | Danskin, where she practices labor and employment law. She and her husband Tony are raising two boys and a Goldendoodle Dolly.
Aside from teaching and taking barre classes, in her free time, she likes to swim, run, ski, read, cook, garden, and watch really bad reality T.V.
Katie Nuss
Front desk manager
Katie was born and raised in Spokane. She attended Gonzaga Prep and Washington State University for her Undergrad degree. She went on to earn her master's in teaching and taught in parochial schools while raising her two boys alongside her husband Aaron of 25 years.
Katie has been a barre lover for many years. After she retired from teaching, she worked at a local barre studio for a few years before it's closing. Barre has been the only workout that Katie found that she consistently wanted to go back to, day after day.
In her free time, she is an avid reader, enjoys traveling to visit her boys in college, and loves doting on her dogs. In the summer, her family enjoys lake time, and, in the winter, they love getting up to Schweitzer to hit the slopes.
Amy Carlisle
Barre Instructor
Amy is a certified barre fitness instructor with eight years of experience, inspired by the first workout she didn’t quit.
Passionate about technique, safety, and customization, Amy loves helping women feel better about themselves while improving their health and quality of life.
Married to Chris and a proud mom of four, she balances her active lifestyle with a love for creating, baking, decorating, attending concerts, fresh flowers, sunshine, and champagne.
Katie Storo
Barre Instructor
Katie hails from the Great Lakes state of Michigan. After finishing college in Arizona, she pursued a career as an Aircraft Accident Investigator, which took her across the country. In 2012, Katie retired from the aviation industry and relocated with her husband and two children from Northern Virginia to Spokane.
Katie discovered barre 12 years ago and fell in love with the practice. She has been teaching barre for 7 years, sharing her passion for fitness and movement with others. In addition to her work as a barre instructor, Katie is a certified substitute teacher at Spokane Public Montessori, where she brings her nurturing and creative approach to supporting children’s education.
When she’s not teaching or spending time with her family, Katie enjoys knitting, solving the New York Times puzzles, riding her bike to local coffee shops, and watching British crime dramas. Katie is a dedicated instructor and teacher who blends her diverse career experiences and personal passions into all aspects of her life.
Alyssa Teaford
Barre Instructor
Alyssa began taking barre classes in 2018 finding the exercises to be both fulfilling and sustainable.
She became an instructor in 2022 and enjoys connecting with her class through movement. Alyssa's goal is to help clients strengthen their body and mind all while having some fun!
When she is not in the studio Alyssa, enjoys traveling, spending quality time with her family, sipping on coffee and playing with her golden retriever Silas.
Gillian Murphy
Barre Instructor
Gillian’s love for movement began at the age of two when she demanded to be included in classes at her mother’s dance studio. She continued studying dance for the next twenty-five years, performing and teaching throughout college and beyond. Gillian eventually discovered barre classes and loved the way barre combines her dance background with focused strength and flexibility training.
Outside of the studio, Gillian is a partner at the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, where she practices labor and employment law. She lives in Spokane with her husband and two daughters.
When her dear friend Jenae decided to open a barre studio, Gillian embraced the opportunity to train as an instructor. Teaching barre has allowed her to channel her passion for movement and connect with others who share her love for fitness and fun.
In her free time, Gillian enjoys party planning and listening to true crime podcasts—sometimes at the same time! Her classes are a reflection of her vibrant energy, love for movement, and a little bit of her playful side.
Lani Call
Barre Instructor
Lani is a passionate fitness instructor and advocate for wellness, currently teaching at Lilac City Barre. With experience at The Bar Method in both New York City and Detroit, Lani developed a deep appreciation for barre workouts and their transformative benefits.
In addition to her fitness career, she serves as an Adjunct Professor at North Idaho College, where she inspires students with her artistic vision. As an actress, collaborator, and artist in the Pacific Northwest, Lani thrives in the creative community, blending her love for movement and expression into everything she does.
Angie Ball
Barre Instructor
With a passion for fitness and a love for encouraging others, Angie brings a fun, positive, caring, and energetic approach to every barre class.
Having five years of studio experience and nearly 1000 Barre classes under her belt, Angie is thrilled for this new opportunity to teach others. Angie takes a lot of pride in her ability to bond with and build trust with friends, co-workers, and clients. Angie believes ALL participants of LCB are stronger than they think, and she can’t wait to prove it!
When not teaching or barre-ing herself, Angie enjoys reading, walking, shopping and spending time with her family – which consists of her far-better half - Carlos, a super-rizzy middle schooler - Guthrie, and the sweetest mutt there ever was – Maisy. Angie also moonlights as a real estate closer during the day.
Dr. Michele Finlayson, DPT
Physical Therapy Consultant & Program Development
Michele joins Lilac City Barre as a physical therapy consultant and part of the program development team. Exercise and health have inspired and shaped the direction of her life at every turn. She was a youth athlete growing up in Montana through high school later at Stanford University where she rowed competitively and studied human biology. Intense physical activity and genetics conspired and she got plenty of first hand experience in the value of skilled physical therapy, which she ultimately pursued as a career. She received a doctorate in physical therapy from University of Montana and has been practicing physical therapy since 2007 (with a treasured hiatus where her children were small). She currently works as an outpatient PT at Larry Ham and Associates in Spokane.
She discovered barre in 2014, when she met Kerrianne as an instructor. She was drawn to barre for the challenge of the workout as well the physical benefits she personally experienced in managing chronic hip pain. She is proud to now be able to contribute her PT expertise to the development of the LCB programming. Each exercise has been chosen methodically and instructors are educated in the purpose for the exercise and the anatomy of the movement so they can provide an effective and safe workout for clients.
Outside of the clinic and the studio, Michele loves to run, hike and (to her surprise!) cross-country ski. She loves to read (with both eyes and with ears - an audiobook is a constant companion) and is a sucker for any tv series from the UK. Spending time with her husband and two teenaged sons is her favorite activity of all.
Chelsea Thronson
Ballet Consultant
Chelsea is a passionate and highly skilled ballerina with an extensive background in classical ballet. Currently, Chelsea is a professional ballerina with Bayerische Staatsballett in Munich and has been there for six years. She previously performed with prestigious companies, such as, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet.
Chelsa trained at the renowned School of American Ballet. She studied in Dresden and at Paris Opera Ballet. She grew up in Spokane and trained at many of the local ballet schools as a child.
She brings a wealth of professional experience to the LCB Technique and Development team combining technical expertise with a love for fitness and movement. Outside of the studio, Chelsea enjoys baking, sewing, and reading, with a special fondness for exploring European countries.
Michiko Fjeld-Raymon
Yoga Instructor – Strength & Stability Focus
Michiko began practicing Ashtanga yoga in 2000 while living in Wilmington, NC.
She moved to Spokane in 2001 to attend grad school and continued her practice with Katie Cooley and David Garigues. In 2005, she earned her 200-hour RYT with Katie Cooley and started teaching Ashtanga based yoga. She has taught at City Yoga, The Yoga Shala, and Harmony Yoga. After 25 years of practice and teaching, Michiko’s style has evolved to focus on strength and stability through conscious movement. While she no longer practices traditional Ashtanga, she uses it as a foundation for her personal practice and teaching. Michiko views the human body as a well-engineered structure designed for movement. Her teaching is predicated on building a strong stable body through deliberate movement.
Off the mat, Michiko is an attorney, wife and mother. She enjoys spending time with friends and family and traveling to see live music.
Andrea McFarland
Front desk attendant
Andrea was introduced to barre classes 12 years ago when her good friend opened a barre studio on the South Hill. Andrea always said that she was not a "group exercise person." Kerrianne talked her into trying barre, and she was hooked! The classes and the community were so different from any exercise class she had tried before, and she knew that she wanted to be a part of it. Andrea worked front desk at the studio for almost 12 years, welcoming clients to the community, and even spent a few years as manager. She was sad when that studio closed and was so happy to hear that Jenae would be opening her own studio!
Andrea, a former 6th grade teacher, has been married to her college sweetheart for almost 32 years, and they have two grown daughters. Her eldest is working on her PhD in marine biology at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and her youngest is pursuing her master's degree in occupational therapy here in Spokane. She is also mama to her three fur babies, two cats and an elderly little white dog (a look alike to Jenae and Kerrianne's white fur babies).
In her spare time, Andrea loves to bake, cook, travel, hike, read, listen to true crime podcasts, watch reality tv, and cheer on the Zags! She is so excited to be part of LCB and looks forward to welcoming our new clients to the warm LCB community.
Natalie Felker
front desk attendant
Natalie is thrilled to be a Lilac City Barre team member and excited to welcome clients to class at the front desk. She was raised in NW Montana and began dancing as soon as her mom discovered a purple tutu at a garage sale when she was six. She trained in MT during the school year and attended multiple intensive programs around the country during the summer. Her high school had an amazing music and theater program, so she was fortunate to become a true “theater brat.”
Natalie made the difficult decision to forgo a professional career in dance and attended University of Portland where she met her husband of 33 years. She has two children – her son (25) owns a lawn maintenance company in Spokane, and her daughter (24) is pursuing a career in forensics and criminal justice in Portland.
For the past 17 years, Natalie has worked as the office manager at Jefferson Elementary. In her free time, she loves to be with family and friends, go to the theater, travel, take long walks, garden, and spend time near the water, or kayaking on top of it.
Attending barre class came at the perfect time in Natalie’s life when she no longer felt her body was physically capable of handling the stress of a traditional ballet class. The movements are familiar and challenging, but allow her to modify when necessary to protect her aging joints and old dance injuries to maintain flexibility. The community is not competitive but supportive and welcoming – What a gift!