Ballet Barre Basics

In this Barre basics video, instructor Lindsey Bomgren teaches you the terms, positions, and movements you’ll need to know to start your first Barre class. Barre is a combination of ballet, pilates, functional strength training and yoga. If the word “ballet” scares you, don’t worry! No formal dance experience is required. Plus, Barre is low-impact, which makes it a great workout for every age, body type, and experience level.

You’ll be on your feet and toes a lot for Barre, so it’s preferable to be barefoot, but if you have socks with more “grip” to them, you can also wear those. If you’ll be doing a Barre workout at home, you’ll also need a chair instead of the barre for balance and stability.

Watch as Lindsey takes you through the Barre basics of this posture-centric practice. Start with first position, which you perform with your heels in and toes out. Lindsey will guide you through the perfect form for this position, with your shoulders over your hips and your core pulled in tight and engaged. Next, she’ll display relevé, which you do on your toes. Going into releve in any pose will make it more challenging.

Next, she’ll demonstrate second position. Second position is a wide-stance, similar to a sumo squat if you’ve done HIIT training before. She’ll then show you how to take this into a plié, which is simply a bending of the knees. As you go into your plié, Lindsey will explain how Barre consists of many isometric holds and pulses, which seem small at first but have you feeling the burn! When you perform an isometric pulse, you might only be moving up or down an inch, but it’s this small movements which help to tone, lengthen, and strengthen your body.

Lastly, Lindsey will round out this Barre basics video by showing you front and back attitude postures, which are balancing moves where you can also do holds or pulses that work the inner thighs. She’ll also demonstrate an arabesque, which is a great pose for doing oblique crunches in and other core conditioning.

All exercises you perform are your own responsibility and you perform them at your own risk. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider before starting any physical exercise, fitness or wellness regiments of any kind.