Ballet Barres
The Secret Solution

With so much practice on the ballet bar it is easy to forget it' s significance, or even realize its importance. The exercises at the barre are the fundamental aspects to all the movements for center work, and the whole strength of your dancing.

When you practice your barre exercises in class, this is the most important time to work on your technique.

Even at a professional level for ballerinas, they still have to do their barre exercises everyday.

The bar exercises are a big help to keeping all professional dancer's bodies in top shape.

Believe it or not, every exercise you do at the ballet barre is closely associated with the ballet moves which come later in the class. You may be surprised at how strong the connection is between the exercises at the barre and ballet jumps.

It sounds simple, but it is vastly effective to be aware of the connections. Here is some examples of how they link directly to the more challenging ballet moves -

Plies Plies prepares your legs for the different depths of plies used in later movements. For example, Petit Allegro uses a medium-sized plie, whereas Grand Allegro will use a much deeper, powerful plie.

Frappes Frappes gets your feet ready for jumps and batterie work. The fast footwork is resembles ballet jumps such as Jete Battu, Assemble Battu or Brisé.

Grand Battement This definitely gets you ready for Grand Allegro. The speed at which you throw your leg in grand battement, resembles the throwing of your legs in a grand jete.

The more power you have in grand battement, the more power and speed you will have to jump high off the floor for a grand jete.

You can see that every exercise is very relevant to the development of movements. Few dancers realize the importance of the ballet bar, therefore don't take advantage of the valuable time in which barre gives.

It is essential to commit your attention to each exercise in order to advance your technique as a dancer. From the very first plie at the barre, you can think about the different depths of the plie as it is the fundamental element for ballet jumps. No dancer can move fluidly without their plie.

The solution is, improve your strength at the barre and it will improve your strength in your overall technique. No dancer can expect to do all the showy and virtuoso ballet moves if the base technique is not secure. The ballet barre is the primary place to refine your strength.

I know that ballet barres can seem tedious and long. I remember feeling as though the bar was a real chore, until I realized what importance it had on my strength as a dancer.

It is so easy to go through the motions at the ballet barre, but next time you go to your class, really think about the purpose of the exercise as to how it will help you with particular ballet steps.

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