The Pure Barre class I attended was much different than my final pre-school ballet recital for two reasons: 1) No one peed in their sequined shamrock leotard during class and 2) “Pizza feet” is no longer a position.
I chose a class at 7 a.m. In my email exchange with owner Lori West, I told her that I chose a morning class to see if starting my day with barre would make me smile before noon.
I arrived a few minutes before 7. The instructor introduced herself as Mackenzie and set me up with the right equipment.
The upbeat music started to blast and it was go time. We started with a little warmup in the middle of the floor and jumped right into business shortly after.
Barre is basically the combination of yoga, ballet and pilates that focuses on lengthening, strengthening and toning the body. Switching back and forth between the middle of the floor and the actual ballet barre, we ran through a series of calisthenic combinations.
Mid class, we squatted into a seated position with the resistance tube around our legs. Mackenzie instructed us to pulse up and down. I began to experience “barre shakes” so intense that I thought my legs were going to give out from underneath me.
I had to stay on my toes (literally) and listen to Mackenzie the entire time. It wasn’t until after class that I realized that for the first time a while, I spent 50 minutes without finding something to worry about.
The next morning, I woke up so sore that I sneezed and almost collapsed. Maybe if I didn’t quit ballet lessons at the age of four, I wouldn’t be struggling, but I guess it’s just a testament to the kick-ass workout. Pure Barre, I’ll be back.
