About Petite Pilates
Movement that meets you where you are.
Petite Pilates is an award winning boutique movement and wellness studio in downtown Madison, Connecticut, proudly voted Best Pilates Studio in Best on the Shoreline four years in a row.
We believe Pilates, strength training, and health coaching should feel accessible, empowering, and genuinely enjoyable, whether you’re stepping into a studio for the first time or have been moving for years.
Our experienced and supportive instructors provide personalized attention in an intimate, judgment free environment. Through private and small group reformer Pilates, mat Pilates, strength training, and specialty wellness programs, we help you build strength, improve mobility, feel more connected to your body, and create habits that support your life beyond the studio.
More than a place to work out, Petite Pilates is a community where people are known, encouraged, and welcomed exactly as they are. You don’t need to arrive flexible, fit, coordinated, or confident. You simply need to begin.
Come as you are. Leave feeling stronger, more capable, and more at home in your body.
“Every moment of our life can be the beginning of great things.”
Joseph Pilates
Instructors
Candace Barnes
Owner, Classical Pilates Instructor, Group Fitness Instructor
Candace Barnes is the founder and owner of Petite Pilates, where she has created a welcoming community rooted in the belief that movement should feel accessible, empowering, and enjoyable. Her teaching style is warm, encouraging, and attentive, helping clients feel comfortable exactly as they are while building strength, confidence, and a deeper connection with their bodies.
Candace began her Pilates teacher training in 2016 and completed all three levels of United States Pilates Association training at Pilates Haus in Jersey City under Brett Howard, Director of Education and Senior Teacher of Teachers. She has been mentored by studio owner Lori Richardson and has studied with respected Pilates educators including Junghee Won, Sheila Mello, and Iwalani Kaluhiokalani.
Her continued education includes certifications in Barre Above and Pumped Up Strength, allowing her to blend classical Pilates principles with modern strength and movement practices. Candace is also a certified health and wellness coach and the creator of the Small Shift Method, an approachable coaching philosophy that helps people create meaningful, sustainable change without relying on perfection or extremes.
As a host studio and mentor for EYT Pilates Teacher Training, Candace also supports the development of future instructors. Whether she is teaching a class, working with a private client, mentoring a new instructor, or guiding someone through a season of change, her goal remains the same: to help each person feel seen, supported, and capable.
Yvette DeBrita
CPT, Group Class Instructor
Yvette has been working in the NYC fitness industry since 2014, and is a National Academy of Sports Medicine certified Personal Trainer. She also has certifications in Schwinn Cycling, Les Mills Bodypump and Bootcamp classes. Yvette believes that fitness is a passion and a way of life- while motivation may come and go, consistency is key to a happier body and mind. Yvette loves the shoreline, and looks forward to helping you feel your best!
Emily Haight
E-RYT 500, Private Instruction, Group Class Instructor
Emily is an E-RYT 500, meaning that she has documented over 2,000 teaching hours and attended at least 500 hours of training to teach yoga. As a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider®, Emily teaches continuing education courses to other registered yoga teachers. Her original 200-hour teacher training was a month-long intensive that she completed while on maternity leave in the spring of 2016. In retrospect, that was a wild decision, but she has no regrets! The tools she's learned through yoga have made her a better, more patient parent. Emily is determined to teach yoga that empowers. Her classes utilize powerful flows to create energetic physical alignment as well as a clear mind and joyful heart. She invites students to show up to class exactly as they are and to trust that they have remarkable purpose, bravery, and support within themselves. Her classes will challenge you but, at the same time, give you permission to be kind and gentle to yourself. Outside of yoga, Emily loves writing, swimming with her kiddos, home decor, and New England architecture.
Bee Gordon
Classical Pilates Instructor, Group Fitness Instructor
Bee is originally from the Arizona/ SoCal area, but relocated with her husband and 3 kids to New England about 12 years ago. She grew up playing soccer and swimming competitively and has always loved being active, so transitioning into the health and fitness field was a no brainer. She has been instructing, training or coaching for the past 20 years and holds certifications in PumpedUp Strength, MaddDogg Spinning, TRX, Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga, IMX Pilates and is a certified NASM personal trainer, RRCA Running Coach, and Stroller Strides instructor. She has also served as a USA Swimming coach for the past 7 years and is continuing her classical pilates certification. She is so excited to join the Petite Pilates family and is looking forward to meeting and getting to know everyone!!
Maev Webster
Group Fitness Instructor
Maev is an American Barre Technique–certified instructor whose love for barre began through 14+ years of classical and competitive dance training. A lifelong group fitness enthusiast, she received her teaching certification during the summer of her junior year of high school and hasn’t stopped teaching since. She brings together her dance background and passion for movement in challenging and uplifting classes. Maev's favorite aspect of teaching is creating a strong, welcoming community that motivates mind–body connection and empowers everyone to become their best self.