Relive my ’80s dance glory, I thought. Instantly look like the ballet dancers I write about on a monthly basis, I hoped. Be out of breath and in searing agony within minutes? I should have known…
Pure Barre, North America’s largest barre-fitness franchise, opened its first Vancouver studio today (March 24). Located at 1907 West 4th Avenue in Kitsilano, the studio comes on the heels of the launch of the chain’s first international location in Toronto last month, bringing the number of locations to more than 370 worldwide.
Built around the concept of ballet barre warm-ups, the barre fitness trend emphasizes the full-body sculpting and toning benefits of dance without the need to master any tricky choreography. If you’ve ever watched a ballet dancer in motion and marvelled in awe, this is marketed as a way to achieve similar core strength.
Just because there’s no actual ballet involved though, doesn’t mean it comes easy. Founded in Michigan in 2001 by former dancer and choreographer Carrie Rezabek Dorr, each 55-minute Pure Barre class is a low-impact endurance marathon, geared towards activating muscles you might not use all the time, while improving flexibility and balance.
I attended a media session last night led by studio owner Tanya Schneider, who has plans to open a second studio in Yaletown later this year. Coming in with my prior dance experience at play solely in the pages of my mother’s photo albums and very little recent exercise to my name, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep up.
And it was tough. The changes – calls to transition from one move to the next – came mercifully quickly, but the motions were definitely challenging for someone who isn’t familiar with the basic barre routine. That said, each set, whether it was a gravity-defying arm extension or butt-blasting leg lift, felt like it was targeting an entirely different set of muscles, so just as fatigue (and the infamous “barre burn”) set in, you were on to a new muscle group.
The studio itself is low fuss – a long, carpeted space lined with mirrors and the requisite ballet barre that gives it its name. Equipment such as mats, balls, and weights are provided as necessary, and your instructor walks around offering advice when not leading the class by mic from the centre of the room. The music – appropriately motivational EDM – sometimes made it hard to hear, but it was obvious that once you attended a few classes, you wouldn’t need to listen so closely to what was being said.
Fitness 101-style planks, bicep curls, sit-ups and Supermans were all among the deceptively simple techniques called for by the class, but their execution was augmented by tiny lifts, tucks and holds. The small movements initially seemed painless, but as the reps built, the muscle-rending burn – or shake – that barre devotees crave set in. Classes are open to all levels of fitness, and I certainly stopped to rest when necessary, but by the end of the workout I realized that, when it comes to barre, success is measured in millimetres, not miles.
And while my time as a ballerina may be just a fleeting memory, some of my favourite exercises came once we finally stepped up to the barre, using it for balance as we squatted on tip toe or extended our legs out into the air, moving (almost) as one. Tight-fitting clothes – somewhat of a must for an optimal barre workout experience – only added to the feeling that I was just a few more classes away from having what it takes to rejoin the corps. The reality though, was a whole different story.
• Pure Barre is located at 1907 West 4th. For more information about classes and schedules, visit PureBarre.com/bc-kitsilano.
