Linda Ryan, CPT (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based dancer, movement educator, personal trainer, and stretch specialist. Her artistic work pulls from movement, video art, and immersive media to explore the dissonance of physical embodiment in an increasingly virtual world — particularly as it relates to attention & the body under the digital-first structures of surveillance capitalism.

In training, she takes a collaborative approach that prioritizes partnership – between her, as an expert on exercise and movement; and you, as an expert on your own body. Her training style pulls heavily from her dance background in Laban/Bartenieff postmodern with an emphasis on balance, proprioception, and efficient use of effort. Her practice acknowledges that the concept of fitness is not ideologically neutral, and she believes in politicizing our understanding of wellness through an anti-eugenics lens. In addition to personal training, she also offers assisted stretch & recovery sessions designed to relieve muscle fatigue, decrease injury risk, and manage pain. You can work with her in midtown Manhattan (Arrive Wellness) or in Fort Greene, Brooklyn (Mark Morris Dance Group Wellness Center).

Linda holds a BA in dance from The George Washington University, where she studied under Dana Tai Soon Burgess, Maida Withers, Anthony Gongora, and Matt Reeves. She is currently an Artist-in-Residence at New Dance Alliance. She is a former artist-in-residence at BRICLab, PlySpace, Keshet Dance+ Center for the Arts, the Institute for Electronic Arts at Alfred University, and Nimbus Dance Company’s OFFLINE Thrive performance series. She served as co-chair of the Dance/NYC Junior Committee from 2020-2021, where she facilitated critical dialogue on cultural equity in the dance community. She has presented her work in dance/technology at the National Dance Educators Organization (NDEO) annual conference and the 7th International Conference on Movement in Computing (MOCO), and has taught dance/technology to children and adults across the country.

From 2019 to 2022, she worked for the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries, where she managed medical research in biomechanics, injury epidemiology, and the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on performing artists. She later joined cultural strategy firm LaPlaca Cohen, where she lead qualitative research projects in EdTech, arts education, and user experience for museums.

She now works primarily in the dance and wellness fields. Click ‘Email’ in the footer of this page for bookings and other queries.