Are you interested in ballet? It will help you a great deal to familiarize yourself with the items that you will use in practice. One of the things that you will come across is the ballet bar. Simply put, the ballet bar is a railing that dancers use to practice movement and positioning, thanks to its sensitivity to balance.
As you work on your routine, you hold onto the bar that provides support. Additionally, the bar serves as a platform where you can do your stretches as you warm up for the dance. What kinds of ballet bars will you find on the market?
Types of ballet bars
According to Thehomedweller.com, generally, there are two ballet bar types: fixed and portable.
Fixed
Often, you will find that fixed ballet bars get mounted to the wall or the floor in a way that the rail does not give way when subjected to pressure from one’s weight. Though this is the standard description for a ballet bar to qualify as a fixed type, there is some allowance for any bar permanently mounted on a surface. Thus, the bar may not be on a wall but could still qualify as fixed. These bars are suitable for dance studios where dancers have adequate space to stretch and practice their dance moves under the guidance of the bar. There has been a move to have fixed ballet bars in homes to allow for convenient practice sessions, and you could easily create a bar that works for your needs.
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Portable
These bars also go by the name free-standing. The reasoning behind their creation, as well as their naming, lies in their ability to get moved. Often, you will find that they comprise a rail mounted between two uprights. The latter have legs and feet to help with stability. When one needs to use them, they move them to the room where they intend to practice, and once the session ends, they return them to a safe space. The good thing about this setup is that it does not take up much space. Suppose you have a spare room that also doubles as a gym, meditation room, and playroom, you would need to ensure that all these needs interacted efficiently. In such a case, having a permanent mount may not be the best thing, and a portable option may prove to be the best course to follow.
Also, when one starts practicing ballet, the portable ballet bar often proves to be the best option. When one is using the fixed mounts, it is quite easy to force one when practicing the turnouts. This move also goes by the name cheating and is something upon which many dancers frown. With a portable bar, this is not possible, and it thus paves the way for fair play.
Furthermore, when one practice using a portable bar, they build up their core strength and balance. If you are making a mobile ballet bar, it is essential to pay attention to the weight distribution. For one, you want to ensure that the bar is heavy, but not so heavy that it affects the balance of the dancer. You should also ensure that the base is not too broad. It should be such that it can tip where the dancer applies too much force on it, thus training one to be gentle and to balance.
You will find that most of the portable options boast of one rail. However, there are other options on the market. Take the triangular and square-shaped bars as an example. They have many benefits. However, for an aspiring dancer, they tend to have more downsides than upsides. One, they take up a lot of room such that they undo the benefit of saving space. However, if you can get the ones that fold flat, this should not be a problem. Two, they tend to be too stable. You may wonder why this is a problem. To a dancer, it means that the tippy bar effect does not exist and you thus fail to know when too much force is in play.
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Sizes
Barres vary in size, regarding diameter, and length. The material in play, as well as the process used, will affect the width that will lie in the regions of one to two inches. The height depends on one’s size and is often according to one’s waist level. Adults often use barres that are at least forty inches tall while kids use bars of about twenty-four inches. As for the length, it depends on what you want as there is no restriction as to the same.
A single barre refers to when the ballet bar has one rail, regardless of whether it is portable or fixed. When two bars are in play, it becomes a double barre. The latter option is quite common in dance studios. Not only can it accommodate more people than the former choice but it also tends to be more durable.
Now that you know the options, what will your choice be?
