Neil Hampson Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 This doesn't fit anywhere else so I'll try here. The school were I work as Lighting technician are having a new dance / drama studio built, all of the equipment has been bought and most of it is sat in the office waiting for the installers, however we have been asked to tell the installer how high the Barre is to be fitted.We have phoned around a few places but they all have adjustable barre (typically the school have bought fixed on cosy grounds), the range seems to be between 38 and 42 inches. so to my mind a happy medium would be 39inches, (but that's just too easy isn't it.) Is there a 'Standard' height for the barre? I have suggested staggered heights between sections but that apparently would look odd and requires more mounting hardware. Bearing in mind that this is a school so the user base would be from 11 Years to adult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 Sorry Neil,The entire point of adjustable ballet barres is to be able to do what you want. In fixed barre installs there are normally two, one for the taller people and one for the shorter ones. Normally to set the height you get the 'average' dancer to stand upright, put their arms to the side, bend their elbow and bring their forearm to a 90 degree angle to the upper arm. The idea is that their hand would then be able to rest on the barre - so it's effectively their elbow height. Banister rail is a good cheap alternative, and not too expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w/robe Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 As Paul indicates it is going to be in the wrong place for most of your dancers where ever you put it. Unless you are going to be teaching the class yourself it is probably worth getting the teacher in to the room and making them take the decision as at least then they can not complain to you about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikienorth Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 Sorry to sound daft, but can an adjustable system be built with low profile unistrut, and some attatchments?That can't be too expensive a fix for the situation, that is, if they are permanently attached to the walls.Otherwise, if they are supplied by a specialist supplier, will they not already be shipped or designed to the fixed height the supplier makes them to.The range of potential ages using these would scream out to me that they need to be adjustable. The school caters for 11-Adult. Now people grow a lot from 11-16, so one height will never suit all, either adjustability or a range of heights should be providied to cater for all, sureley?? No one is thinking about the potential revenue streams to be gained from renting spaces to community groups/dance schools....?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 It's more common to have two fixed barres, one above the other. Anything adjustable will be too much bother for them to fiddle with. Imagine one group of shorties leaving when the bell goes, and the next lt of tallies move in. With very short lesson time, they won't waste ten mins tinkering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRisdale Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 If you're looking for an "official" suggestion the National Dance Teachers Association advise that 36" - 38" is typical (here). If anyone ever tells you the height's wrong you can blame the NDTA! :-) Gareth. EDIT: Corrected to "NDTA" since the "NTDA" initially posted presumably refers to the National Tyre Distributors Association who (oddly enough) don't seem to have a view on barre height... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loz Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 As a dancer myself, I can safely say that a dancer will want a barre to be at waist height. Not to be confused with hip height. The purpose of a barre is to represent a partner dancer's support, which is why waist height is right.Hope that helps.Lawrie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Hampson Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 Thanks for all of the input. As the lowly lighting technician, nobody thought to ask regarding ballet barre or mirror, (then again they didn't actually ask me for input on the lighting either come to think of it) The school have paid a fortune for 'ballet barre' from a stage company, which for the life of me I'm sure I have seen it in B&Q for £5/m or so.Anyway, based on the fact that we now can't affords to buy adustable stuff, and that the headteacher doesn't want any DIY soulutions in the new 'showcase' studio, we are stuck with what we have, I have presented the NTDA document and I'll let the dance teacher decide... Knowing us It will end up somewhere near the ceiling, probably with some cheap LED PAR 56's on. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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