Floor Barre

[Guest LaurieM]

Has anyone ever done floor barre before? If so, did you enjoy it? What are its various benefits?

 

A local school is offering a floor barre class, which they've described as being great for dancers and non-dancers alike. I'm a bit apprehensive about it in that respect; I've never done an actual barre (we didn't in pre-Ballet, obviouisly, since most of us were still finding our feet and toes), but if non-dancers are welcome I don't think it'd be a requierement. However, how much benefit a dancer would get when taking this class with non-dancers.

 

I had never heard of the school before. They also offer Flamenco and I think a few other classes as well.

 

I am interested in the floor barre thing, but would like some opinions from all of you.

 

Thanks!

[minty]

Hi I do one hour floor barre everyday and it's really a great way to improve your strength, your flexibility and your turn out . The only thing is, some can be more boring than others, so you need to find the right teachers (for ex, if he forces you, you have to be sure he knows what he's doing...) we do it with music, so it's great..

[Guest newchickDC]

I'm new to ballet, but have really benefitted from floor barre sections of classes I've taken and from the NYCB video workouts. When I'm laying on the couch watching TV I do little bits too, or just before I go to bed... what I've found is that I'm not able to really progress in ballet because my abs and hips and quads are so weak as a beginner, and these are the major muscle groups involved in correct form. Classes don't focus on building strength for long enough on each exercise to really build the muscle mass I need. So the floor barre has helped immensely because you don't have have to fight gravity as much when you're doing leg lifts, you can more slowly build strength because the resistance is less and the good back/hip form is more likely when you're on your back. I also find it helps with turnout.

[Garyecht]

Whether one does a floor barre I think depends on one’s goals. Floor barre is a nice adjunct to ballet class. I think of it as an alternative to Pilates that is more specific to ballet than is Pilates. Nevertheless, as far as developing technical skill, I think a regular ballet class is better.

 

So if your goal is to develop skill in ballet, floor barre can be very helpful as long as you are taking a full schedule of classes.

 

As a general means for developing general physical fitness, though I wouldn’t say it is useless, I think there are better exercise forms. If you really enjoy it, however, by all means continue. Any exercise form that you enjoy is likely to improve your fitness.

[Guest abc4dance]

I find most floor barres I've taken to be extremely beneficial for me. Different teachers use different styles and techniques, not unlike regular classes. It would definately be worth checking out and trying a few times. I started taking floor barre classes in 1990 and can tell a difference in my dancing when I do one class a week in addition to my regular classes and when I don't.

 

I also do pilates on a regular basis and will say that there is similarity between some floor barre styles and exercises with pilates, I wouldn't say there was any more similiarity than there is between pilates and regular ballet class.

[FleetFeet]

The greatest benefit I have gotten from floor barre is learning how to "feel" certain positions better. For instance, it has helped me learn how to keep my hip back when extending my leg to the front.

 

I wouldn't do it instead of regular class and I'm not sure I would want to do it on a regular basis since I didn't feel like all of the work translates into improved perfomance in ballet. I would recommend that you try it though.

[Guest prokofiev]

My experiences echo everyone else's: very useful for getting the hang of placement and feeling certain things, but not a substitute for Pilates/yoga workouts and certainly not a replacement for regular barre!

 

An added note: because you don't get the benefit of checking your placement/alignment in the mirror with floor barre, it's important that you be in a small enough group that you can get the hands-on attention you need.