Pure Barre is All the Rage

Why are ballerinas so incredibly in shape? The answer is pretty simple: the ballet barre. Exercises performed at the barre are ultimately what mold ballet dancers into the perfect technicians that you see performing on stage. A barre warm up usually lasts about an hour to an hour and a half, and consists of a series of exercises always performed in the same order—from plies to grand battements. As barre progresses, the exercises get increasingly more difficult and intense ranging from those in the first minutes of class which are meant to simply warm up the body to those which involve a complete and full range of motion. Obviously, the extensive amount of time ballet dancers spend exercising in addition to their restricted diets both contribute to their extremely slim and muscular bodies; however, the work done at the barre every single class allows dancers to grow and push themselves to new limits throughout the entirety of their dancing careers.

With women constantly looking for new and exciting workouts, it is no surprise that many try to discover what dancers do in order to maintain their shapes. In 2001 dancer, choreographer, and fitness guru Carrie Rezabek Dorr created a company called Pure Barre. Her first studio was opened in the basement of an office building with just a few regular clients; however, the company has grown exponentially since then and has become an extremely popular workout for women throughout the U.S. Why? Because Pure Barre classes consist of a series of small isometric exercises performed at the ballet barre which can quickly and effectively change the shape of the body. The workout is also very good on joints and muscles by delivering a tough workout without extreme impact; this fact alone causes this new and trendy workout to appeal to women of all ages as well as physical abilities. The classes are set to upbeat and motivating music as women work to tone thighs, abs, and arms as well as burn fat in a record breaking amount of time.

I have yet to take a Pure Barre class myself, but with a studio set to open in my hometown this summer I cannot wait to go and take a class with a few friends. I love the idea of combining dance and muscle conditioning exercises into one fun and challenging workout. The ballet barre, although just a simple piece of wood, can be the tool to completely change your body; I think Pure Barre is becoming so successful because of the discovery of the ballet barre as a way to help all different types of people reach their physical goals in a safe and healthy way.

3 responses to “Pure Barre is All the Rage

  1. When I think of ballerinas I usually picture them next to a barre and doing their exercises but I never knew how long they spend at it! I feel like being a ballerina takes some of, if not the most, dedication. Of course I’ve head the stereotypes of all the great ballerinas being anorexic and all that to stay thin, but what they actual do to stay thin is actually even more difficult. As a soccer player in high school we always gave the dancers grief that what they did wasn’t a sport because it didn’t take the physical endurance of team sports. But, after reading about this barre I am in awe of you ballerinas. Not only does it seem extremely intense but I am assuming you have to be super flexible in the first place just to do a lot of the exercises.

    I think it is really cool that people are turning this into an exercise craze and maybe one day I’ll get a pair of slippers and a leotard and see how much Pure-Barre I can take!

  2. Thank “Black Swan”? It’s because of that movie that I became cognizant of ballerina fitness. You should be a spokesmen for Pure Barre! I don’t know if I would do it simply because I believe in healthy food over healthy activity – well actually it’s mostly because I’m too lazy to workout. I also am not entirely convinced of “burn fat in a record breaking amount of time” – it seems too good to be true. But I guess you’re the expert since you researched and have background knowledge on the topic. Have fun!

  3. In science, as in ballet, it is often the simplest things that are the most important. We hear all the time of the “fundamentals”, anything from stretching and breathing exercises to biological building blocks like glucose and amino acids. The result in both cases is a product: stronger core and easier time in the actual workout or performance for physical activity, and starch and protein chains which can span hundreds of thousands of units. Funny how life can reflect on itself from tiny scale to a large one.

Leave a Reply