Liana Bayne-Lin began her movement journey in traditional non-contact tae kwon-do, which she studied for 10 years at the International Black Belt Center of Virginia in Charlottesville under James and Virginia Hamrick. She participated in seminars in New York City and Germany as a teen with Grandmaster Kwon, Jae-Hwa and Master Robert Luciano. She passed multiple rank examinations over the years, and attained the rank of red belt, 1st kup -- the highest possible rank under a black belt -- in 2009, days before moving away for her undergraduate and graduate school studies. She made a return to and rediscovery of her love for movement, somatic practice, and studio-based community when she began attending dance classes at HDC in 2023 as a beginner dancer. Liana dove right in with studying modern dance and ballet, and has taken a class in almost every form of dance and movement practice offered by HDC.

Liana is an Assistant Professor and science librarian at James Madison University. She holds a double-major BA in Technical Writing and Spanish from Virginia Tech, an MA in English Literature from JMU, and an MLIS from the University of South Carolina. Liana is passionate about supporting the arts and her local community. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for Massanutten Regional Library, and was delighted to bring together her loves for service, downtown Harrisonburg, nonprofit board work, and HDC as a member of the HDC stewards and core volunteers group, beginning in 2025. She is deeply dedicated to HDC’s mission of making the joy of dance and movement accessible to everybody and every body.