Barre versus Ballet
It’s very likely there is a “barre” class in your vicinity. Perhaps one is offered at your gym, or perhaps there is a teacher trained in particular method offering sessions in her garage. It is also likely that there is a ballet class nearby and perhaps you’re wondering “What’s the difference?”
So I shall endeavour to dispel any confusion whilst hopefully exalting the benefits of each of them.
A brief history of “barre”
Probably the earliest form of “barre” was The Lotte Berk Technique.
Lotte Berk, a dancer and teacher, fled Nazi Germany in 1938 and landed on Britain’s shores. There, whilst recovering from a back injury, she developed a form of exercise derived from her ballet training. Like Pilates, her method focused on strengthening the core. From what I have read, Lotte Berk was quite the firebrand and was not afraid of raising an eyebrow or two, for example giving her exercises surprising names like “the Prostitute”, “the Peeing Dog” and “the French Lavatory” (and see this article for some eyebrow raising of your own: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/24/health/barre-sexual-history-partner/index.html).
She taught well into her 80s and her technique is still taught all over the world to this day.
Lotte Berk with a student
And, as is often the way, it’s not in the least bit surprising that others have developed their own styles.
Barre today
Now, in 2018, the variations of barre methods are vast. Les Mills, the fitness behemoth, offers a barre class, and you may well have heard of Andrea Rogers of Xtend Barre or Sadie Lincoln of barr3.
Andrea Rogers developed her method after a career in dance. She began by training to teach Pilates but found she craved more creative movements and from there Xtend Barre was born.
Sadie Lincoln’s background is more fitness-class based, her style and technique starting to develop some 20 years ago whilst studying first at UCLA and then the College of William & Mary in Virginia. She launched her brand barr3, “full-body, mindful workouts”, in 2008 and the franchise has gone from strength to strength.
These accomplished ladies are just two of many who have developed their own style of barre workouts and, like Zumba, make it possible to train to run your own classes.
Many have brought their style to DVDs as well. For example, these are just some of the barre DVDs I have in my collection:
Andrea is on the very left and Sadie on the right.
I find the DVDs very useful when I’m travelling and I’m unable to get to a ballet class. I want to try to maintain some of the strength and the conditioning and these offer good variations in style and intensity.
Yes, some do use the word ‘ballet’ in their titles because some exercises are ballet based, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this is also a marketing decision.
So what do barre classes aim to do?
For brevity’s sake, I will generalise as each style will have developed to offer something slightly different to others. But, at the heart of it, barre classes offer strengthening, toning, low impact exercises, often starting at a ballet barre or using the back of a chair. Many of these exercises involve movements derived from ballet, such as pliés, relevés, rond de jambe and developés.
Some classes incorporate balance balls, elastic bands and centre and floor work as well, and often Pilates exercises are also thrown into the mix. After all, Pilates is one of the top forms of exercise dancers favour outside of the dance studio thanks to its restorative and sustaining effects.
I did snort (in a ladylike fashion) at the next image. That’s exactly what I’d wear to a barre class (not).
From my experience, barre classes are not like a scene from Flashdance. There are people of all shapes and sizes, usually wearing a little more clothing, working hard, concentrating and occasionally groaning with effort.
I digress.
Why are they different to a classical ballet class?
The difference between what happens at the barre in a barre class and in a ballet class is actually quite extensive.
By way of illustration, let’s look first at what might happen in the typical barre work in a ballet class. In general, the plié exercise is followed by tendu, glissé, rond de jambe, frappé, developé and grand battement. Crucially, each of these exercises will be timed to specific music and each will incorporate not just that one particular movement, but several others as well. So for the plié exercise, yes, the main focus is on the correct form of the plié in each position, but you would also use, for example, tendu, port de bras and relevé.
In a barre class, the plié will most likely be the only movement you make, perhaps differing in degree (demi to grand) and the instructor will most likely add several sets and repetitions and pulse the movement. Yes: it hurts, but it’s also effective!
But, to sum it up, barre work in a ballet class is already instilling the notions of musicality and coordination in the dancer, which will translate to centre work and performances. These ideas, however, are not the focus of a barre class—the focus there is to strengthen and tone.
The main points to take away:
A ballet class will teach you to dance, which happens to be a great way to stay fit.
A barre class is an effective workout, with exercises inspired largely by ballet.
The verdict
The bottom line is that there are definite health benefits to both barre classes and classical ballet classes, if you’re trying to decide between the two. But please do keep in mind the focus of barre classes is to strengthen and tone. They will not be paying too much attention to alignment and technique, and they will certainly not be teaching you to dance.
So if you are a barre devotee, but fancy trying ballet for the first time, please still go along to a beginners class. You will be glad to find some similarities, but there are important aspects to classical ballet that beginners classes will teach you.
If you’re a ballet devotee and are looking to reinforce and strengthen your body, do not be afraid of a barre class. There will be no Lilac Fairy variations, but you will work hard.