Loving Le Barre--IE checks it out

Remember the Days?

IE is always on the look out for new and fun workouts here in Marin. Le Barre is her latest discovery. It’s the brainchild of former dancer Jenn Hall, an international fitness and dance presenter who after retiring from dancing professionally with popular artists like Beyoncè, and Jay-Z, decided to focus on dance and fitness choreography and instruction. 

Le Barre class at Body Kinetics in Novato has teacher Debbie Gleeson A Le Barre and Flirty Girl certified instructor. Debbie has us moving quickly through the barre sequence building up from squats, aka plies, to toe taps, aka tondues, to leg swings that become  arabesques and panches.(Kinda--you get the idea) 

All this without stopping class and with everyone smiling and having a great time. 

The barre itself is this funny little gizmo called a "Lebert equalizer."

It’s lower than a real ballet bar so it’s not a tool that creates balance but rather assists in stabilizing the body for movement. Translation: it's not going to do the work for you, but it will help you learn your own body's individual balance weaknesses and strengths.  

What's also cool about is it's portable, so you can pick it up to do the left side. This is a subtle thing but it means that not only are you not glued to your barre, you are not glued a certain part of the room. 

So when Debbie tells us to chasse' around it it's no big deal because we are already in the center of the room and ready to move. It eliminates that dance-class-phobia where you get planted at "your spot" on the barre and forget that all these exercises are so you can move in the center freely! 

This brings me to the barre's other use: an 8 pound free weight bar that Debbie has us rotating around our shoulders in controlled circles.


Then we go to the floor for some neat assisted body-roll-up-Pilates-type exercises. It’s great to really stretch your spine as you hold onto it and do the "roll down." It's a little like the

Pilates springboard class  but the barre is not as solid when you hang from it. It actually becomes more of a play instrument.

Check out classes of LeBARRE with Debbie At Body Kinetics in Novato!

See you in class

IE