Dance Magazine takes a closer look at dancing from home and the importance of a portable barre..

Many dancers have tried to make their home spaces as safe as possible for class and rehearsal by setting up a piece of marley, like Harlequin’s Dance Mat, to work on. But there’s another element needed for taking thorough ballet classes at home: a portable ballet barre.

What exactly makes Harlequin’s barres an at-home must-have, and hanging on to a chair or countertop so risky?

Here are five major differences dancers will notice right away:

Less Distraction
Working with whatever you can find in your house doesn’t do your muscle memory any favors. To be able to concentrate on technique, a dancer needs consistency: If your makeshift barre is a different height from day to day, you’re constantly readjusting to a new placement of the arm that should be at rest. Harlequin’s new portable Studio Series Ballet Barre offers that regularity no matter where you’re practicing.

Better Alignment
If the back of your chair is too low or too high, it could throw off your entire alignment. Harlequin Studio Series Barre answers that problem by offering an upper and lower barre at 3′ 4″ and 2′ 7″, respectively, to mimic what you’d experience in the studio.

More Stability
A barre is designed to give you just the right amount of stability and the option to grip as needed. With adjustable feet, Harlequin’s portable barres allow you to find a solid surface even on uneven floors. The Studio Series features an uncoated, sanded finish of beechwood, measuring 1.5 inches in diameter to offer a comfortable place for your hand to rest—and lightly grab on to when needed.

Extra Flexibility
Harlequin’s Dance Mat and Studio Series Barre effortlessly turn any space into your personal dance studio. Working with a portable barre gives you more options to film yourself from various angles and craft your space so you have as much room as possible. At only 12 to 14 pounds, Harlequin’s Studio Series Barre is easy to move to any area of the house.

Feeling Like You’re Really in Class
Dancing from home challenges even the most dedicated dancer’s discipline. Using the proper tools gets you in the right mindset for class.

With the holidays approaching fast and the dance world’s “new normal” in full swing, it’s the perfect time to gift the dancers in your life with tools to help them train their best. Visit our gift guide to check out our Holiday Home Studio Collection.