How were you introduced to barre and what was your first barre class like?
Lynette needed help at work in transferring a video from her iPhone to her laptop. While waiting, I noticed she couldn’t keep still and was wearing sports attire in the office and a winter hat. Being curious, I asked her if she exercised, and she replied that she was a barre instructor at Barre 2 Barre. She then suggested that I should go for a class. I like to try everything, so I immediately whipped out my phone, opened the classpass app, and signed up for her 16 Sep 2022 class. She was impressed with how decisive I was.
That Friday class only had a few people. I can easily climb 160 floors without a break so I thought the class would be easy. But it was surprisingly challenging. My legs shook a lot in the Relevé position. Even though movements were minimal, my thighs were burning and I had to take a lot of breaks. Meanwhile, Lynette was so graceful and could do everything without a sweat.
What does barre do for you physically? What keeps you returning to class regularly?
Barre helps to tone my body. I want to have a nice body like all the instructors! I like that there is a variety of class to do here, from mixed, fire, bounce, TRX, kickboxing and Tabata. And the different instructors – Angela, Cheryl, Denise, Jessica, Lynette, Seoen and Woan have different personalities and choice of music, so it is never boring. 
You are a long time committed student at Barre 2 Barre. What are some of your recent discoveries this far into your barre journey? Are there things that you have learnt or experienced in barre that apply to other areas in your life?
Barre is painful and can be tiring. If it is not tiring, you are not pushing yourself into the challenge pose, or your position is wrong and you should get the instructor to correct you.
Having been to other boxing and Muay Thai studios, I am surprised you can incorporate barre in kickboxing training at Barre 2 Barre. Join Seoen’s class to find out more!
I am also surprised at how many different exercises you can do on a trampoline. At Jumping Singapore and BBounce, I only jumped on it.
The poses I learn at Barre 2 Barre can make posing for photos more interesting!
What are the traits that you see from each teacher from attending classes regularly?
Having attended more than 113 classes as of 10 Jan 2023, I agree each instructor is different.
Angela: Angela is really attentive and will correct your forms. Her pilates class seems similar to other barre mixed classes.
Cheryl: Cheryl has been teaching for a long time and her class feels like a pure barre class for the first 30 minutes. More time is spent doing each movement, so there is more burn. Even though there is less variety compared to other instructors, I would still recommend newcomers to try her class.
Denise: I attended 17 classes conducted by Denise. She is REALLY LOUD, likes cakes and really ensures we get our poses right, even when other instructors may not realise it. Her song choices are from a different era and her classes are fast paced and tiring. Going for a spin class is more relaxing to the body than attending her fire class. Denise has so much experience that she can even teach a fire class using just the resistance band.
Jessica: I attended 9 classes conducted by the highly esteemed Jessica. Her music choice is on point and all the movements we do can follow the beat. She also makes newcomers feel welcomed and will ensure everyone gets the poses right.
Lynette: I have attended 27 classes conducted by Lynette. She smiles all the time and makes it a point to use everyone’s names by writing the newcomers’ names on the mat. Almost every lesson, she will say “Ho Ho Ho” even when it is not even Christmas. She will ask about everyone’s level of experience before the class, and gather feedback after the class. She also gathers intelligence by going to other barre studios and incorporating the new things she learns into her own class.
Seoen: I have attended 40 classes conducted by Seoen. I am REALLY impressed with Seoen’s stamina as she can teach 4 classes a day for multiple days. She starts off her class by introducing herself the same way – “Hello everyone. My name is Seoen, Korean instructor at Barre2Barre. We are going to have a healthy and happy 45 minutes together!”
She is also multi lingual and can also speak Japanese and Chinese. I like the way she gives encouragement to students by saying “ohh! Beautiful!” I think her catchphrase is “rotate anti-clockwise, time-reversing, your body is getting younger, youthfulness all go to you.”
Seoen really cares for her students by giving them advice. She also makes the effort to remember names. She is always encouraging and can get really loud when telling us to “hold it there.”
There are some exercises which are only done during Seoen’s class, so I recommend trying some of her classes.
Woan: I have attended 14 classes conducted by Woan. Her IG handle is really funny. Her music choice is interesting. I like her voice when she says “very nice”, “you can do it” and “good job.” She also tries to do different exercises if you attend her class back to back.
Who would you recommend barre to?
I’d recommend barre to someone who likes yoga but don’t find it tiring. I would recommend trying the bounce class here as it is different from other places. The kickboxing class is good to learn something new. Even if you go to the gym regularly, one barre class can still be challenging.
What else is part of your fitness, nutrition, or wellness routine to support your barre practice?
As barre is a low intensity (<150 heart rate) exercise for me, I supplement it with jogging/cycling to ensure I have sufficient high intensity exercise for the week. I try to eat healthily and take folic acid, vitamin C, taurine and beta-alanine supplements.
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