Written by Ellen Lambert
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Foster, who has worked in medical sales and holds a biology degree from Old Dominion University, toyed with the idea of investing in a fitness studio for a while when she came across Carrie Rezback-Dorr’s ballet-based program.
“I was rehabbing from a foot injury when I came across a Pure Barre class. This was something I could do! At last I found the missing piece in the fitness puzzle. It’s awesome; all fitness levels can do it. Pure Barre blew me away and I wanted to pass on that experience to other women,” says Foster.
Suzi Meredith went from repairing oriental rugs to opening Body and Soul Pilates in Norfolk, Va., and has been offering barre-lates classes since fall of 2012. A physician’s daughter, she is keenly aware of the critical mind/body health connection. She taught group fitness and Pilates for more than a decade. Barre seemed like a natural addition to her studio classes and after researching a dozen methods, Meredith settled on the Booty Barre System developed by celebrity fitness and lifestyle expert Tracey Mallett.
“The class combines the toning, stretching and core strengthening benefits of Pilates with strenuous ballet barre-related exercises,” Meredith explains. She acknowledges that the class is challenging, but not difficult. “Students of all levels can reap benefits, no dance experience is necessary. Barre uses the more natural field of gravity while defying the natural effects of gravity—that’s what keeps students coming back,” she says.
Her challenge as a studio owner has been keeping up with demand and she is on the lookout for more instructors. She believes that people find the workouts appealing because “it’s a great cardio workout and you see great results in posture and balance.”
Katy Henderson, owner of Studio South in Williamsburg, Va., likes to say she discovered barre before barre was cool—on the playground! Prior to opening Studio South, one of her fellow barre instructors, Nancy Jadatz, would take her through barre workouts using the playground equipment in place of the actual barre.
“[I like] how it works all parts of the body, develops coordination and incorporates the best of yoga and Pilates,” states Henderson. “It’s ideal for students leery of high-impact aerobics and injury. Our barre class is a cardiovascular program of isometric exercises and orthopedic stretches designed to rapidly transform your body by lengthening, leaning and toning muscles.”
Barre is suitable for all fitness levels. And like any other fitness regiment, the more you do it, the better you become.
Henderson, who echoes Meredith’s sentiments, says that it’s not an easy program, but admits “it is user-friendly—even if you are rhythm-challenged, like myself!”