Fit Trend: Hot Barre

Hot BalletFit class image provided

Fit trends come and go, and sometimes those trends can be a bit ridiculous. But once in a while, you stumble upon something that just makes total sense.

DanceFIT in Natick, which opened in Dec. 2013, as the sister studio to the Brookline location which has been in business for seven years, offers a class called Hot BalletFIT. Basically, it’s Hot Barre. Genius!

There’s a plethora of barre classes in Boston. But a quick Google search shows that there are a handful of studios offering hot barre in NYC and L.A., but there doesn’t seem to be anything of the sort in our area.

“It evolved through inspiration,” says DanceFIT owner Gina Fay. “Our Brookline studio is in a beautiful old church, but it has no air conditioning. We used to joke in summer that our classes were ‘hot Zumba’ and ‘hot Pilates’ because the studio would be so warm. But, people loved it.”

Then, through what can only be called divine inspiration, the new studio in Natick is housed in what used to be a “real” hot yoga studio. Once Fay and her team had access to a controlled heated room, the class was born.

Hot BalletFit image provided.

Heating a yoga class or now, a barre class, is said to get you a much deeper stretch, release toxins, and improve your mood. But, the jury’s still out on whether any of this works. That said, Mass General is currently conducting studies on Bikram yoga (the room is heated to 105 degrees), so there may be something to it.

Hot BalletFIT is a 55-minute, high intensity class heated to 92 degrees that mixes in cardio (read: ballet inspired jumps) and hand weights to the typical barre workout. Fay was a pre-professional ballerina, and so, she says, she wanted to create a class that uses real ballet moves mixed in with modern techniques. So you’ll still do the typical pliés and relevés, and there may even be some traditional ballet (classical) music, but your tucks and endless leg shaking will also be set to pop music.

“I’ve been teaching BalletFIT for more than 5 years,” Fay says. “I have two children, and after I gave birth I needed a workout that combined cardio and stretching.”

If you want to try barre at home before hitting the studio, here are five moves to master–no tutu required.

Single class is $15; 721 Worcester Road, Natick; 857-225-1888; dancefitstudio.com