An curved arrow pointing right. Kathryn Boren: My name is Kathryn Boren. I'm a dancer at American Ballet Theatre. I started when I was about three years old, which is really young but probably by ...

Barre is a fitness class which is inspired by ballet, that first came to prominence in America in the 1970s. The workout focusses on your core with an aim to improve balance and posture.

Over the years the workout evolved and while the movements you see in barre classes today are still based on postures from ballet, they are more approachable for non-dancers, Sweeney says.