Discover the Melissa Black Method, a unique and empowering approach to strength and fitness for women. With a background in dance, barre, and yoga, Melissa has honed her expertise as a movement practitioner, creating bespoke classes that inspire and challenge. From ballet-inspired fitness to body conditioning, Melissa's studio offers a vibrant community for women to join the movement. After the closure of our studio Shilling & Black in Whitley Bay, Melissa opened the Home Studio, providing small group and private classes in dance, ballet, barre, yoga, and bespoke personal training. Additionally, Melissa's new project Black's Garden offers coastal glamping and mini retreats for up to 6 women. Embrace the Melissa Black Method and elevate your fitness journey with enthusiasm and passion.

Melissa Black is an accomplished professional dancer and choreographer, as well as a movement specialist and Performing Arts teacher. She co-owned Shilling & Black and is the innovative mind behind Black’s Barre and The Strong Woman Project. With qualifications as a Yoga teacher and Progressing Ballet coach, she is also the founder of Women that Ride and holds a level 3 Diet Specialist certification. Additionally, she is a certified Yoga Trance Dance teacher and Shakti Yoga Wheel instructor, while currently pursuing certifications as a Life Coach and Advanced Personal trainer,Melissa is also a qualified Dance teacher and Barre instructor.. Melissa is on the verge of embarking on a teacher training program and artist development journey with Mitya Staev, founder of Tango with Pole, to become one of the first internationally qualified teachers of Tango with Pole. Mitya, an international multi-disciplined artist and movement therapist, is someone Melissa is eagerly looking forward to learning from and experiencing creative development with in the next chapter of her journey. She firmly believes in the saying 'every day is a school day,' recognising the importance of continuous learning and self-development for movement practitioners, therapists, dancers, and coaches. Despite her professional pursuits, Melissa is also a foodie mom of two, passionate about good wine, dance, movement, and outdoor activities. Her mission is to assist women in finding a realistic balance between home, family, health, and well-being, while helping them discover joy in all their endeavors.

After years of immersing herself in the dance industry, working as a secondary teacher in mainstream education, and delving into health, fitness, and wellbeing, she has gained firsthand experience with fad diets, so-called detoxes, cleanses, quick-fix training programs, and a plethora of misguided advice from self-proclaimed experts on her journey to attain the ideal physique. She has observed the decline in the health and wellbeing of her colleagues, as well as her own, when the balance between work, life, and leisure became severely skewed. After jotting down "Black's Barre" on a post-it note in the teacher's workroom and affixing it to her desktop, she resolved to make significant changes in her life to achieve the elusive equilibrium between life and work.

In 2017, Melissa made a commitment to herself: never to dwell on the past and always to push forward. This mindset has empowered her to pursue her greatest passion, which has always been movement!

Promoting movement for everyone, not just for dancers, is my mission. I strive to make movement practices relevant to the contemporary world and accessible for all to enjoy. Let's be honest, we could all benefit from moving a whole lot more.