Our Faculty

Physical Therapist/Pilates – PT

Barbara Chappell, P.T., NCPT, has over twenty-five years of practical experience as a health care professional. Barbara attended University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on an athletic scholarship and swam competitively for the Tar Heels while earning her BA in intermediate elementary education. Barbara continued her post-graduate PT education at Winston-Salem State University. Always looking to expand her knowledge, Barbara successfully completed Pilates training with Polestar Pilates in 2005 and continues to regularly attend workshops, seminars, and conferences in multiple areas of pilates, physical therapy, and neuroscience.

Prior to joining Synergy Studio fulltime in 2014, Barbara combined her physical therapy and Pilates knowledge as a physical therapist in rehabilitation centers, skilled nursing facilities, and the out-patient clinics of several local hospitals, including St. Vincent’s Medical Center, River Garden Hebrew Home, and Baptist Medical Center. Barbara brings a wealth of knowledge to her Synergy clients. She particularly enjoys combining her physical therapy skills, manual skills (strain, counter strain, MFR, MET), and Pilates knowledge to help her clients achieve their best potential outcome. Barbara has recently graduated as a Z-Health Practitioner and is certified in R and I phases.

Polestar Pilates Instructor – MFA

Sonia DeVille holds a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from Florida State University, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance (cum laude) from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, and an Associate of Arts in Business Administration from Keiser College. With over 40 years of experience in the fitness and movement education fields, she brings extensive expertise in dance, Pilates, and rehabilitative conditioning.

Sonia is a Polestar Pilates Certified Practitioner for Post-Rehabilitation and an American College of Sports Medicine Certified Exercise Physiologist. Her additional certifications include Total Gym GAVITY Master Trainer, Konnector, OOV, TRX, HKC, and BOSU. She has worked with physical therapy clinics and Pilates studios across the United States and previously served as a Senior Fitness Associate at Body Dynamics, Inc. in Falls Church, Virginia, where she directed interdisciplinary education programs and developed Pilates conditioning initiatives for pre-professional ballet students at The Washington School of Ballet and the Kirov Academy of Ballet.

Her academic career includes leadership and faculty roles at institutions in Georgia, Louisiana, Washington, DC, Virginia, and Maryland, teaching courses in dance, kinesiology, movement theory, pedagogy, and conditioning, as well as serving on MFA thesis committees. Actively involved in dance medicine since 1996, Sonia has presented nationally and internationally on movement science and conditioning for dancers and educators. She has published and presented work through organizations including Dance Magazine, IADMS, and Body Dynamics, and she continues advanced neuromuscular training annually with renowned anatomist and movement educator Irene Dowd in New York City.

As a performer and choreographer, Sonia has appeared with numerous modern and ballet companies and in theatrical productions throughout the United States. Her work has been presented across the East Coast and beyond, and her performance credits include venues such as the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. Outside of her professional work, Sonia enjoys travel, plant-based cooking, spicy cuisine, and spending time with her family and two cats.

Pilates Instructor

I was born and raised in Brazil, where I was trained in classical and contemporary dance. My first contact with Pilates happened while working professionally in a dance company in 2013. Pilates soon became my passion. I noticed improvement in my body, performance and daily tasks. After discovering all the amazing benefits of Pilates, I decided to share what I was learning and began a comprehensive Pilates Certification Program and a Physical Education Degree in 2014. In 2017, after years of being Alice Becker’s (Pioneer of Pilates in Brazil) student, I was invited to assist Alice’s classes at PhysioPilates (Polestar Brasil Master Center) where I worked as an instructor/ assistant up until I moved to the United States in 2019. I took another comprehensive Pilates course through Polestar Pilates in 2021 at Synergy Studio. I wanted to be able to understand and teach in English with the same quality I did in Portuguese.

My classes today are a combination of what I’ve learned over these 10 years of exploring and studying movement. I’m a Pilates enthusiast and I strive to teach fun and rewarding classes. I hope to help you feel stronger and more confident after sessions.

Massage Therapist – LMT

Featured in Natural Awakenings magazine and a regular guest host on Awakened Radio, Patricia’s greatest joy is helping others step into their spiritual brilliance.  She is also a Reiki practitioner, a licensed massage therapist and is certified in transformational breath work.