An EXTENDED Addition to Our Barre Family!

Today is a BIG day for us here at Boss Ballet Barres.  Literally!  We're very proud to announce our latest addition to our Boss Barre Pro family: The 12' Extended Boss Barre Pro!  Our new barre hasn't been to the studio for a professional photo shoot yet, but below is a preview.  Please note that the sliver bar connecting the upper and lower horizontal barres will, of course, be powder coated to match your barre.

 

 

Our 12ft (144 Inch) Extended Boss Barre Pro is a specially-engineered version of our Pro Barres.  The latest design to come out of the Boss Ballet Barres R&D Department, a special process was created to add extreme tensile strength and deflection-resistance to the middle of the barre.  This allowed us to eliminate a third upright leg in the center of the horizontal bars, and have very minimal "sag", if any at all.   So what prompted this new addition?  YOU!  Many of our customers, although extremely satisfied with their 8' and 9' Boss Ballet Barres, were looking for something even longer.  We tested designs, constructed prototypes, iterated on them over and over, and we're ecstatic with the final results (and we know you will be too!).  Currently, we are offering a 12' Extended Boss Barre Pro, and we will be adding a 14' version in the coming weeks.  As always, they will be available in our powder coated semi-gloss Black, White, and even Pink.  And for a really complete aesthetic look, you can even order color-matched (or contrasting) powder coated connectors.   Our Boss Ballet Barre Dolly is the perfect compliment for our new 12' Extended Barre.  Perfect for allowing the barre to be moved around easily.  Like peanut butter and jelly, a match made in heaven.  Please let us know what you think, as we're always listening to our customers for ideas, improvements and refinements to our Boss Ballet Barres and related products.





See You at the UDMA Show!

We're very excited to be attending our very first UDMA Dance Resource and Costume Show this month.  Their shows are considered one of the premier events for dance vendors in the world.  Touted as, "...the place where you will meet the largest gathering of dance vendors under one roof anywhere in the world, and see their most complete product lines and offerings in person."

Held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Seacaucus, New Jersey, this show is the most attended and popular of the four annual shows the UDMA holds.  Located just accross from New York City, the venue is a busy one, located very close to three major airports.

The show is open on Saturday and Sunday, October 20-21, 2012 from 9am until 3pm.  We will be flying in on Friday to get everything set up, bringing along four of our barres for attendees to inspect and try out, if they desire.

Says the UDMA website, "Our flagship New Jersey show will be wrapping up our annual tour this year, and that means it’s your last chance to explore this year’s hottest dance trends! We’ll be offering top master classes and seminars so don’t miss the action. The UDMA Dance Resource & Costume Show in Secaucus is mere minutes away from Manhattan, so why not splurge at night in the city that never sleeps? Spend the day loading up on dance merchandise, and then head into the city at night for a world class dinner and a Broadway show."



Please stop by and see us if you are attending the show - we'd love to meet you.  We will have some special show discounts available as well, so don't be afraid to ask!  See you in New Jersey!
           

The Busy Season Begins!

Well, these last 10 days have been insane here at Boss Ballet Barres.  We are swamped with orders for the summer/fall season, with schools and studios going back into session and/or coming off break.  The poor FedEx driver is stopping here almost constantly for pick-ups, and we're filling his truck the best we can.  So far, we are keeping up with demand, with many more barre orders coming in daily.  We have made sure there are a number of barres in our production pipeline, to satisfy the number of orders coming in daily.

We were recently running some statistics, and discovered some interesting things.  For example, our most popular product, with 65% of all sales in July, was our 9' Boss Barre Pro in black, followed by our 8' Boss Barre Intermediate in white.  But third place was quite a surprise to us: our new 4' Boss Barre Intermediate in pink!  We're so happy to see this barre doing well, as it was created due to demand from the many dancers we met at the RDA National Festival.

Remember to get your orders in soon to avoid any production delays that may arise by the high demand we're currently experiencing.  Check out www.balletbarresonline.com , and let us know if you have any questions or need any help at all.

Birth of a New Barre - The Hybrid

Hello dance and fitness world!  We hope your summer is going well, and that we find you in good spirits.  Today, we are asking for your opinion regarding an idea we have been tossing around for some time.

At Boss Ballet Barres, we have always been very proud that we offer the strongest free-standing ballet barres available anywhere.  Structural steel is key to that strength, along with the incredible quality and versatility of our EuroKlemp steel connectors.  The benefit of that construction is amazing strength, durability and longevity.  Although the greater weight of steel makes it less portable, it also means that the inherent stability that brings makes our barres less likely to move during use.

Having said that, we have had several requests for a lighter, more portable barre.  A barre that can be taken from place to place and set up easily.  Since we already have a great system to allow for a quick set-up and tear-down of our barres, we turned our attention to making a lighter option.  And thus, the Boss Hybrid Barre was born.  Utilizing a thicker-wall powder coated aluminum tube, along with our patented galvanized steel EuroKlemp connectors, allowed for the perfect balance of light weight and high strength.  We will be offering these barres for sale soon, so keep your eyes open at www.balletbarresonline.com .

In the meantime, we'd love to hear from you; what lengths and sizes should we offer the Boss Hybrid Barre in?  Intermediate, Pro or both?  Would any local schools/studios that have already purchased one of our all-steel barres be willing to try one out for a period of a month or two in order to evaluate the Hybrid Barre?  Feel free to send us a private email, or leave a comment below.

Happy 4th!

To all of our American friends, family and employees, Boss Ballet Barres wishes you a happy and fun 4th of July!  Enjoy the time with love ones or friends (or both!), and see what your local town has going on.  Be sure to check with local firework bans, due to the dangerous wildfire conditions in parts of the country, and while celebrating, please drink responsibly.

To all of those affected by the heat, storms and power-outages, our thoughts are with you.  Hopefully things will improve soon.

Everyone Loves a Long Weekend!

We here at Boss Ballet Barres want to wish all of our loyal Canadian friends and fans a great Canada Day long weekend.  What are your plans for the weekend?  Heading up to the cottage/cabin?  Grilling on the barbeque?  Let us know in the comments below.  Above all, be sure to stay safe, keep cool and have some fun.  And please, please, do not drink and drive (or boat, or motorcycle, etc.).

A reminder to the studios and schools to get you rorders in for barres sooner rather than later, top avoid the huge rush we always experience very summer.  We recommend getting all of your orders ready to submit by mid-July, to ensure delivery before the new season in September.

Newsletter & More

Yesterday, we published and sent out our first Boss Ballet Barres e-Newsletter, and the response has been fantastic!  If you didn't receive it, you can access it at this link, and feel free to subscribe while there  We will be sending out a quick Newsletter monthly, with featured schools, studios and dancers, as well as the latest product information on our ballet barres.

We also have some more photos of our RDA Autographed Barre winner, Kendall Bottemiller from Vancouver, WA, with her barre all set up and ready for use at her home.  Congrats again, Kendall!

Although difficult to see in this picture, the upper and middle bars are filled with the autographs of many of the accompanists, RDA Executives, Faculty and Honoured Guests that attended in Montreal

Kendall posing with her new barre

RDA Gala Pics and Our Autographed Barre Winner

We wanted to share some more pictures from Boss Ballet Barres' debut at the RDA National Festival in Montreal this past May.  These were taken at the Gala on the final evening of the Festival.  It was great meeting so many people, and we had an amazing time.

A big thank you to our whole team, without whom none of this would have come together.  Geert, Joel, Doug, Geoff, Dave, Andrea, Amy, Mary-Ann, and all the rest.  Also, we wanted to once again thank Gretchen and all the others at Regional Dance America and the Palais des Congres for facilitating the whole event.

The presentations begin.

A look around the huge banquet room.  2 hours earlier, this room was three separate ballet halls.

Our President, Doug Loyst, thanking the RDA for the opportunity to feature our Boss Ballet Barres.

Doug with the lucky winner of our Autographed Boss Ballet Barre, Kendall Bottemiller from Vancouver, WA.
Congrats to you Kendall!

Boss Ballet Barres in use at RDA National Festival

Here's a great example of some of our Boss Ballet Barres being used in an instructional Master Class at the RDA National Festival in Montreal, May 2012.  This particular class was being taught by Christine Clair, world-reknowned dance instructor.

Back from the RDA - What a Success!

Well, things mostly went off like clockwork at our debut at the RDA National Festival.  We had an amazing set-up and tear-down crew, great support from the staff at the Palais des Congres in Montreal, and incredibly positive comments about our barres from the RDA and the dancers and teachers that used them.  Take a look at some of our pictures, below.

Geert and Joel in the set up room, assembling barres:

 

 Our booth after initial set-up:

Geoff and Doug manning the booth:

Amy and Mary-Ann making our booth look great!

Ayisha McMillan demonstrating our barres:

Amy using our barres:

 

Dancers setting up our barres for an audition session:

 Signage directing attendees to our booth:

Getting ready for a performance at Place des Arts in Montreal:

Our barres come out, and the tables and stage go into a huge hall for the Gala:

 Geert and Dave heading up the tear-down:

Time to Start Loading the Barres!

We have started to bundle and test load our barres for the big trip to the RDA National Festival in Montreal next week.  It has been a huge undertaking, but in the end, we're sure it will be worth it.  Some photos:

All strapped down and ready to load:

 

Fasten your seatbelts!

 

Bars with protective netting:

 

Up the ramp at full speed!

Phase One Has Begun!

Everything is falling into place for the Boss Ballet Barre Pros we are providing for the RDA National Festival, coming up in just over a week!  Below you can see some of the powder coated pieces used:

The foot pieces are assembled with a patented process that uses anti-scuff inserts, which help prevent damage and marking of any surface, designed with dance flooring in mind:

We have our custom carts completed, and the parts of the barres that can be assembled before heading down the highway have begun that process.  Each cart can carry a whole lot of weight, and what you see below is the "foot assemblies" used for stability on the barres:

For more information, be sure to visit our Facebook page, and our new website: www.balletbarresonline.com .

Boss Ballet Barre Photo Shoot!

Our ballet barres starred in their modelling debut last Thursday.  The photo session took all day, but was handled expertly by our awesome photographer Anthony Parazo.  The barres themselves were respendant, and an example of every size and configuration was present.  We will be using the photos, once approved, for everything from our business cards to our e-commerce website.

A quick video shot during the set up:

Our First Blog Post!

This is our first Blog post, in what is sure to become an interesting digest of Boss Ballet Barres adventures in the world of dance.

We have been scrambling to get ready for the RDA National Festival, coming up in Montreal at the end of this month/beginning of May.  This is a huge event for us, and has taken many manhours of planning, procuring and organizing, and there is still a ways to go.

Stay tuned here for updates as we get closer to heading down the highway to la Belle Province!