A Dance Barre Fit for a Princess

What little girl has not dreamed at one time of waking up to discover that she's really a princess? If we are honest, there's probably not a woman among us who would not admit to having fostered such fantasies while growing up. Hence the massive popularity of Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries, a book series which chronicles the adventures of hapless high school freshman Mia Thermopolis. Mia's discovery of her royal heritage and all of the responsibilities that go with it turn out to have a massive -- and hilarious -- impact on her life.

Whether born of literal royal blood or not, every little girl has a princess inside. Girls who dance feel this doubly so, and they long for others to recognize this fact and give them the royal treatment they deserve.

That's why the Boss Princess Barre would be the perfect addition to the bedroom, rec room, or dance studio of the little princess in your life. At a height of 37 inches and with an adjustable lower bar, this barre is perfect for home princess practice, either alone or with a royal court of friends!  And the ability to adjust that lower bar means it can grow with her, as well.

If you're seeking to honor a princess who lives far away, remember that we also offer gift certificates. Taking advantage of this unique gift-giving opportunity can ensure that your thoughtfulness will arrive in a timely manner (via e-mail) and still allow her royal court to assist her in choosing the dance barre that best suits her needs.  This time of year sees us usually running short of Princess Barres for holiday gifts, but we currently still have stock.

As a reminder, we encourage all West Coast orders to be in by Dec. 11, and all East Coast orders by Dec. 15 in order to have them arrive in time for the holidays.

For all of your ballet bar needs, please feel free to contact us. We look forward to serving you!

How to Find the Ballet Barre That is Right for You

For safety and for your own personal satisfaction, it's essential to have the proper ballet barre. Whether it is for your home or studio, you deserve equipment that best suits your needs. The 3 most important characteristics to keep in mind before purchasing a ballet barre:

Type

The first thing you should look for is the type. Pro Barres utilize a larger tube and are designed for maximum strength and stability in a studio or school setting, used by multiple dancers. Another type is the Intermediate Barre. They have high strength and durability to use at home, at a competition or in the studio. Got a little ballerina at home? No problem! The Princess Barre will be a perfect size. Fortunately, Boss Ballet Barres can easily help you choose what type is best for you.

Size

You need to be prepared with the correct size. If you are just practicing in your basement, you will want a smaller length barre. If you own a studio, a larger length barre is probably more efficient and has greater value.Ranging from 4 feet to 14 feet, www.balletbarresonline.com can provide you with the accurate size barre for your needs.  No need to try to adopt your space to a barre; there are enough choices to get the right barre for your space.

Accessories

The ballet barre is only one piece of equipment. When purchasing ballet barre equipment, accessories are also essential. Dollies enable you to relocate your barre from different spaces, or even to a different venue. They are constructed to custom fit your ballet barre. Hex keys are also needed to tightened or loosen the bar perfectly.

Don't stress when looking for ballet barres.  Our website can help you determine your needs and how they can be best met with a variety of ballet barres and accessories. Boss Ballet Barres offers a selection of ballet barres and accessories for you. Contact us so we can help you create your ideal ballet space!

Find the Time for Dance with Our Free-Standing Ballet Barres

These days, it seems we're working harder than we have in decades. While North Americans may not be working as hard as employees in certain areas of Asia, we do in fact have less national holidays, and in general, less days off than many of our European counterparts. Even lunch breaks and vacation days are becoming less and less common in the North American workplace. In fact, many employers are discouraging both lunch breaks and taking vacation days with peer pressure and the idea that a “dedicated worker” craving advancement is one who does not need time off, or have obligations outside of the workplace, causing many workers to feel pressured into giving up these times away from their jobs in order to advance their career.

Despite this, our knowledge of what it takes to stay healthy and live a long life, is growing. We all know that a healthy diet, preventive healthcare and plenty of exercise is the best way to be, and stay healthy. So, while our free time is being limited by more time in the workplace, our commitment to getting good exercise and staying fit hopefully remains intact.

Balancing both work and caring for your health doesn't always go hand in hand. More often that not, you might find that having the time to rush to the dance or fitness studio before, or after work, in order to run routines isn't always an option. Boss Ballet Barres understands the fine line we walk when trying to balance work with finding the time to dance and exercise, which is why our free-standing ballet barres are perfect for today's hectic schedule.

Now you can keep your work schedule and still find time to participate in the excellent exercise that dance provides. By having your own portable, free-standing ballet barre--you don't have to worry about getting to a location with a barre to complete your barre stretches, strength training, or exercises. You simply have to have the space to set up and dance!

Boss Ballet Barres creates high quality, easy to use and assemble ballet barres for all your free-standing ballet barre needs. Our Boss Barre Intermediate line offers a perfect choice for any dancer looking to move their ballet barre from venue to venue, making practicing at home, in studio, at school, or anywhere as easy as the set up. The 8ft Boss Barre Intermediate is not only one of our best selling free-standing barres, it is also ideal for those looking for an adaptable barre for use in many different places.

The 8ft Boss Barre Intermediate was specially designed to meet the needs of users ranging from beginner to professional, and everyone in between. It is so easy to set up, and take down that it only needs one tool (the Boss Hex Key) to do so. This barre is also constructed of high structural strength steel components, making it both versatile and durable enough to last for years to come, unlike some of the much weaker thin-wall aluminum barres available elsewhere.

Never let time, the stress of the work week, or a lack of days off, keep you from the exercise your body and mind needs to stay healthy and happy. If you love dance, like those of us at Boss Ballet Barres love dance--then you know that you can always find time to do what you love, and what make you feel good. With Boss Ballet Barres, we can make your dance practices and routines easier with our line of amazing ballet barres.

Contact us today to discuss all of our ballet barre choices, and let Boss Ballet Barres provide you with the finest quality in free-standing ballet barres.

Tap Into Success With a Workout Bar

For those who realize how athletically rigorous ballet actually is, it will come as no surprise that many professional athletes outside the dance world have appropriated techniques and workouts from the ballet world in order to improve in other areas.  We've mentioned this in our Blog before, but it bears repeating.

Even more successful athletes who credit ballet with a measure of their success:

• Legendary bodybuilder, actor, and political figure Arnold Schwarzenegger took ballet lessons.
• NBA legend Michael Jordan freely admits that his signature slam-dunk jump is actually a borrowed ballet move: "Everyone thought I did that by running and taking off. Actually, it was a ballet move where I jumped up and spread my legs." 
• Just one among many in the NFL who use ballet to strengthen knees, ankles, and feet, Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Steve McLendon states emphatically that ballet is harder than anything he does.
• Junior hockey champion Brooke McArdle has found that ballet moves have given her an increased flexibility that's helped her on the ice. 

With so much evidence pointing to how ballet can increase strength, agility, flexibility, and muscle tone, workout studios across the country would be remiss if they did not install at least one workout bar in order to incorporate ballet moves into their exercise regimens. 

No matter your fitness needs, we have a barre to suit the occasion. For MMA studios, yoga studios or fitness classes, we recommend our Boss Barre Pro series, our strongest and most durable barres that are still easy to move from room to room as needed. For home or individual use, we recommend the portable Boss Barre Intermediate series. And for homes with their own very young junior champions, we offer our compact Boss Princess Barre.

For more information on installing workout bars in your workout space or studio, please feel free to contact us.

Piloxing: The Latest Craze With the Ballet Barre

As you know from some of our earlier blogs, the ballet barre is not just for the sedate classes of your childhood memories anymore. Enter piloxing: a new fitness craze that has come or is coming soon to workout studios across the nation. Think a bit of boxing combined with pilates and dance. Think half pound gloves and balance exercises that involve a ballet barre.

According to several sources, including a recent report in the Richmond Times Dispatch, piloxing was created in California by a Swedish dancer and a celebrity trainer. Instructor trainings are now held around the world and piloxing classes are cropping up around the country. Classes are split between high intensity punches and kicks and the balance and core training found in Pilates and ballet.

Are you the owner of a studio or workout center, looking for a fun and healthy new class to offer your customers? Are you an individual looking for something to learn and practice at home? You'll need a ballet barre.  A Boss Ballet Barre.

The idea of Boss Ballet Barres came in much the same way as piloxing: by finding a creative use for an established, trusted product. With piloxing, a dancer and a trainer came together and asked why can't the benefits from three different disciplines be used together for one awesome workout? With Boss Ballet Barres, a dancer -- the Boss president's award-winning daughter, to be precise -- asked why the strong and trusted Boss steel product lines couldn't be used to make the strongest portable ballet barre available? The answer to both questions: they can! 

For more information on how to get the strongest, most durable ballet barres around, contact us.

Dance Barre Classes: Guys Do Them, Too

Dance barres are often used in ballet classes, and rightly or wrongly, that creates in some people the perception that barre fitness classes are intended for or only benefit women.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, a great many magazines, websites and fitness programs for men have recently discovered and written or spoken about the benefits of dance barre classes for men.

For example, Details magazine praised dance barre classes as a route for achieving the sort of body male models have -- a "rangy" and "athletic" physique that's quite popular right now, as opposed to a bulkier and more muscle-bound look that was in fashion a few years ago. The magazine quoted one barre class devotee, a male model himself, for working smaller muscle groups that he does not normally have the opportunity to focus on.

Dance barre routines can work the gluteals, hamstrings, back and obliques (the "Michelangelo muscles" that help make a desirable abdominal section). These are muscle groups that many men want to emphasize. That's in addition to other fitness benefits that dance barre classes can bestow, like flexibility and muscle responsiveness.

Given the popularity of other fitness regimes, like CrossFit and Insanity, it is fair to assume that dance barre classes are only on their way up and will become a staple of the fitness-conscious for years to come.

At Boss Ballet Barres, we sell the dance barres that many gyms and fitness studios use in their classes. Contact us today for more information. We can help you find the right product for your needs.

The Lotte Berk Method: How the Ballet Barre Became Fitness Studio Equipment

Many have reaped the benefits since the introduction of the ballet barre into fitness studio equipment fixtures. Fitness regimens that include work at the barre traditionally combine yoga and pilates along with traditional ballet exercises that shape and sculpt the body; and such studios have popped up all over the country. But where did the trend start? Answer: Lotte Berk.

Lotte Berk was a German dancer who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s. She and her husband, who were Jewish, settled in London where she continued to dance. Soon after, Berk suffered a severe spinal injury in a car accident. Determined to recover, she incorporated her dance training with her rehabilitation therapy. Berk developed a series of moves designed to strengthen muscles that had weakened without activity and to regain suppleness. Her dramatic improvement inspired her to teach the methods to others in recovery--first out of the basement of her home and later from her own studio in London.

An American named Lydia Bach fell in love with Berk's system. After training with Berk for a year, Bach bought the rights to Lotte Berk's name and technique and then opened a Lotte Berk Method studio in New York City in 1971. 

In the years since Lydia Bach brought the techniques to NYC, the original Lotte Berk Method has seen changes at the barre--most notably, incorporating yoga, sports science, and even other genres of dance (for example, Latin dance and belly dancing). In the 90s, Burr Leonard, and her husband, Carl Diehl, transformed Bach's version of the Lotte Berk Method again and franchised several Bar Method studios around the country. 

What started as one dancer's love of her craft and her desire to heal herself from injury developed into a widely lauded fitness regimen. The results are praised and flaunted by athletes, celebrities, and health enthusiasts. The ballet barre--particularly one that is portable and sturdy--provides versatility in an exercise program--easily and safely adapted into multiple genres of fitness and fun.

We know you'll enjoy your ballet barre, and so will your health and physique. It's important to choose the correct barre for your purposes. We can help. Contact us for more information.