Reset with Barre
How a Dunedin barre studio is connecting people all around the world and helping them to reset.
All you need is a chair for Barre Base Anywhere
Barre Base opened its classes to the world during the first COVID-19 lockdown with virtual sessions and now they’re here to stay says founder Rosa Anderson-Jones. The success of Barre Base Anywhere has connected a powerful community of barre (French for ‘bar’) lovers online, and has since seen international success, with people tuning in from places such as the US, France, Germany and Australia.
During lockdown, AndersonJones took her classes online, digitally connecting with her members, new and old.
“COVID-19 really threw everything up in the air but it pushed me out of my comfort zone to create something I have wanted to do for a while. Yes, it was a challenge but COVID left us no choice, we had to find a solution that was online so we could maintain an offering for our clients,” says Anderson-Jones.
Passionate about wellness, Anderson-Jones set up her own studio, Barre Base, in Dunedin five years ago. Barre Base fuses elements of ballet barre conditioning exercises with Pilates, yoga, and functional body-weight training. Alongside traditional barre classes, they also offer yoga-fusion classes and stretch and mobility sessions – offering a balanced timetable of classes for regular clients.
“It’s about feeling good in your own body,” she says. Post-lockdown, the Barre Base studio in Dunedin is now back up and running and is once again a hub for people of all shapes, sizes and ages de-stressing and resetting from their busy lives. And many have continued with online classes and joined the Barre Base Anywhere community.
The combination of barre, yoga and mindfulness offers a balanced workout practice – from lowimpact, yet powerful, workouts to mindful mobility sessions. The combination of these practices allows clients to find both strength and freedom in their bodies and enhances a mind and body connection – allowing clients to gain more from their workout.
“Everything that we do starts with the core. Once you learn to connect with your breath you can improve posture and alignment, and in turn gain so much more from your workouts,” says Anderson-Jones.
Through slow mindful stretches or intense strength-based classes, Barre Base allows you to leave behind everyday stresses and gives you time to pause and, with participants’ ages ranging from 16 to 70, there is a barre class to suit everyone’s needs. Anderson-Jones says there is more than just the physical results because “having a strong core, and truly connecting to your body, allows you to feel confident and empowered but it does go beyond that, you stand a little bit taller, feel stronger, and even more confident day to day.” Anderson-Jones also works in the corporate world using barre as a form of stress management. She finds herself alleviated of stress in barre, shutting herself off from the outside world and reconnecting with her breath for an hour through stretching classes or sometimes a more physically demanding class.
Raising the bar
Anderson-Jones has a passion for teaching and encouraging people to move with strength and confidence. And while she has a communications and marketing degree, her passion and love for the barre exercise was the reason for opening the studio.
“I was really encouraged to think what my passions were, what do I love, what have I studied at university and where do I want to go from here,” she says. “Combining all of those things led to opening a barre studio,” says Anderson-Jones.
Starting off small with renting community halls and dance studios, she now owns her own space with 20 classes in their timetable and regular members.
Barre Base offers a variety of barre-focused classes, such as their original Barre Base class, which combines barre, Pilates and yoga, to their hugely popular Self-Care classes, combining yoga, mindfulness and breath work.
Barre Base Anywhere is a $30 monthly subscription allowing users access to an array of 20- to 30-minute online classes, extending their audience for those who don’t have time to go to the physical studio. With a mix of recorded and live Zoom classes, members can stay connected on a digital level.
For parents, they can put their kids to bed and do a class in their own time. Or for shift workers whose schedules are always changing, Barre Base Anywhere is for anyone and everyone. All you need is a chair.
“Focusing on tuning in with the body and strengthening the muscles, barre classes allow you to better connect to your body and mind.”