Ballet Floor Barre: Everything You Need to Know

Male dancer performing ballet floor barre routine

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Ballet floor barre is exactly as it sounds, traditional ballet barre exercises adapted for the floor.

It’s an incredible training tool for dancers of all levels, from beginners to professionals.

If you’re aiming to elevate your training and refine your form, floor barre can be a powerful addition to your routine.

In this blog post, I’ll explain everything you need to know about ballet floor barre, including common mistakes and class recommendations.

WHAT IS BALLET FLOOR BARRE?

Ballet floor barre is a ballet training method performed on the floor rather than in a standing position.

Ballet floor barre stretching before class

It’s designed to strengthen core stability, alignment, and muscle memory without the usual strain on the joints.

By taking gravity out of the equation, dancers can focus on precise movements and proper muscle engagement without overloading the knees, hips, and ankles.

And the best part is that you’re still targeting the same muscles used in standing barre, such as the core, hip flexors, glutes, and hamstrings.

This is great for dancers recovering from an injury!

BENEFITS OF BALLET FLOOR BARRE

Ballet floor barre was developed as a supportive training method for dancers, offering many valuable benefits including:

Enhanced muscle engagement
Improved alignment and turnout
Injury prevention and rehab-friendly
Core strength and stability
Increased flexibility and range of motion
Greater body awareness

Two male dancers performing ballet floor barre in dance studio — _{Image credit: acostadancecentre.com}

Personally, floor barre was instrumental in my development as a dancer, providing invaluable insight into my body’s mechanics.

Without the external force of the floor to push turnout or positions, I had to rely entirely on the correct muscle groups and activate them properly, leading to better awareness of muscle engagement and alignment.

With greater strength, precision, and support, I felt much more stable and aligned in standing exercises, which ultimately gave me better balance, control, and overall strength in my dancing.

BALLET FLOOR BARRE SETUP

NO EQUIPMENT REQUIRED

One of the best aspects of floor barre is that it requires no special equipment, just your body and a bit of floor space.

While not essential, a Pilates mat can add a bit of comfort.

Practising in socks rather than ballet shoes is also a good idea, as it allows you to feel the floor more directly and connect better with your movements.

This simple setup makes floor barre easy to incorporate anytime, no matter where you are.

GENERAL ROUTINE

Floor barre starts with a gradual and progressive warm up, gently preparing your body for more challenging exercises.

It generally includes a variety of positions, such as seated, lying on your back, and on your stomach.

The music helps guide the pace, much like a traditional ballet barre, beginning with plies and progressing through more dynamic movements, ultimately finishing with grand battements.

This structure helps dancers build strength, control, and technique in a balanced and effective way.

DIFFERENT FLOOR BARRE METHODS

There are several different floor barre methods, each with unique approaches and focuses.

The two most well known floor barre methods are:

Boris Kniaseff’s Floor Barre Method
The Zena Rommett Floor-Barre® Technique

Both methods are widely practised by dancers around the world for their effectiveness in refining technique, building strength, and supporting rehabilitation and injury prevention.

While you may find some introductory videos on YouTube, full classes are available for purchase (definitely money well worth spending!).

The Zena Rommett Floor-Barre® Technique — _{Image credit: www.charlottefurst.se}

COMMON FLOOR BARRE MISTAKES

Here are some common floor barre mistakes to watch out for:

INCORRECT ALIGNMENT

One of the key benefits of floor barre is improving alignment, yet it’s a common mistake for dancers to try to increase their range of motion or flexibility at the expense of proper alignment.

In doing so, you may unintentionally compromise the very thing that will help you, correct posture.

It’s crucial to practise with a neutral spine, ensuring the pelvis and hips stay stable and don’t tilt, as this will give you better support and control (especially when you transition to standing).

RUSHING THROUGH MOVEMENT

Floor barre is often practised with ballet music, providing the proper speed and tempo for executing each exercise correctly.

While it may be tempting to rush through the movements, it’s crucial to resist the urge and focus on performing each movement slowly and with full control focusing on precision and muscle activation rather than speed.

HOLDING YOUR BREATH

A common mistake in floor barre is holding your breath during exercises.

Just like in regular dance, breathing is essential not only for releasing tension in the body but also for oxygenating the muscles.

Proper breath control helps maintain fluidity and ease in movement.

When practising floor barre, it’s important to avoid holding your breath, as this can lead to unnecessary muscle tension and reduce the effectiveness of the exercise.

BEGINNER BALLET FLOOR BARRE CLASS

Here’s a beginner floor barre video from Ballet Peeps NYC that introduces some foundational exercises essential to floor barre training.

If you’re new to floor barre, this is the perfect place to start!

_{Video credit: Ballet Peeps NYC}

INTERMEDIATE BALLET FLOOR BARRE CLASS

Here’s a 20-minute intermediate Floor Barre workout from Train Like A Ballerina.

While it’s not a traditional floor barre method, it creatively combines Pilates-inspired exercises with ballet technique for a fresh approach.

_{Video credit: Train Like a Ballerina}

PROFESSIONAL BALLET FLOOR BARRE CLASS

This professional floor barre video from Ballet Health Coach offers a perfect full-body warm up and conditioning class.

It’s designed to leave you feeling warm, strong, and ready to dance!

_{Video credit: Ballet Health Coach}

BALLET FLOOR BARRE FAQS

IS FLOOR BARRE A GOOD WORKOUT?

Floor barre is an excellent conditioning workout to add to your weekly schedule, especially if you’re recovering from an injury or avoiding weight-bearing exercises.

Floor barre allows you to build and maintain strength and refine your technique in a controlled way, with the movements specifically tailored to mimic ballet exercises, targeting the exact muscles dancers use.

Watch out, it will leave you sweating!

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BARRE AND FLOOR BARRE?

While both traditional barre and floor barre aim to strengthen muscles and improve ballet technique, the approach is quite different.

Traditional barre work involves standing exercises using a barre for support, whereas floor barre is practised lying on the floor, on both the stomach and the back.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD DANCERS PRACTISE BALLET FLOOR BARRE?

Dancers can gain significant benefits from practising floor barre 1-3 times a week, and it can be seamlessly included as part of a warm up before class.

For individuals recovering from injury, floor barre can be practised daily, though it should always be done under the supervision of a medical professional.

DO I NEED SPECIFIC EQUIPMENT FOR FLOOR BARRE?

One of the great advantages of floor barre is that it doesn’t require any equipment, just a space where you can freely lie on the floor.

WHAT AREAS OF THE BODY DOES FLOOR BARRE TARGET THE MOST?

Floor barre primarily focuses on strengthening the core, back, hips, glutes, and legs, targeting muscle groups crucial for ballet, particularly the deep rotators that are key for achieving proper turnout.