OpenBarre

Am I going to be the (your scariest fitness class fear that’s brought you to this post and is keeping you from signing up right now) in class? Maybe you’re worried about being the only person who has never taken a barre class, or an exercise class at all! Maybe you’re thinking you’ll be the oldest, the most nervous, the least flexible, or the only non-dancer. Let’s talk about it!

OpenBarre is a place where we really value transparency; you wouldn’t sign up for a class if you didn’t know what to expect, right? And if you didn’t know how much it was going to cost, how would you know whether it was worth considering? So we have class descriptions here, prices here, and FAQs here, but the questions in this post are a bit more personal and a bit less logistics-based. So here we go:

Am I going to be the oldest in class?

We have members who have taken over a hundred classes and are well into their seventies, and who have hit that milestone with their daughters (and sometimes grandkids!) by their side! It’s highly unlikely that a class you take with us will be made up entirely of one generation. You probably won’t be the oldest! But you might, and we’ll be happy to have you!

Am I going to be the most out of shape person in class? I don’t think I’ll be able to do everything!

Listen, we love modifications over here. So no matter how “in shape” or “out of shape” you think you are, we’re going to give everyone options so there’s something that works for how you feel, in that moment.

We train our instructors ourselves, and a big part of our training is recognizing that everyone comes into class with different life experiences. That might mean that your first class with us is your first ever form of organized movement. It might mean you’re in class with someone who played on their college volleyball team and can’t get enough movement. In each class, we’ll offer the entire group ways to modify and amplify movements, whether you’ve asked for help or not!

We are very pro taking breaks when your body needs them, and we believe in listening to our bodies. Our goal is for you to feel better at the end of class, not worse, so if your body wants a break, take it! There’s nothing wrong with that, and if we skip the breaks, we often find that we wind up quitting entirely. Breaks are good!

I’m not a dancer and can’t find the beat to save my life. Can I still take your barre classes?

You do not need to be a dancer to take classes with us, and the majority of our instructors aren’t dancers either! I’ll say the same for our members; we have some with dance backgrounds, but the vast majority only dance when they’re out having fun!

While it’s true that barre blends Pilates with yoga and ballet, from our perspective, the ballet component often comes into play more in loose interpretations of foot positions and some of the ways we’ll move our bodies. And we do stand at the ballet barre!

We’re not building dance routines though, and we’re probably going to remind you when you position your feet that we’re not looking for your widest dancer turnout - at the end of the day, we want your joints to feel good, not strained, and no one is grading your performance in our studio, so we’re going to help you do what works for you.

As far as moving to the beat goes, we don’t require it at all. There might be moments in class where it happens naturally for you, and there will definitely be moments where your instructor tells the whole group to freeze and hold a position and then move in slow motion.

I’m not flexible! I think I’ll just start exercising on my own first and then take a class in a few months.

You don’t need to be flexible! You don’t need to be anything, other than willing to try. When I first started taking barre classes, I couldn’t touch my toes. It didn’t matter! It doesn’t matter. It’s your first day, and we have no expectations (you’ll find that we’re pretty easygoing over here). No judgment, no prep work, just be open to something new (and bring your water)! You’re here on our page now though… so if you want to sign up, we’d love to have you!

If you’re feeling a bit more comfortable with signing up for a class, we recommend Barre Express as your first class! You can sign up for one today using this link, or if you want us to reach out to you directly to answer a few more questions, please head over to our first-timers page and share your info there.