How to Make a Cheap and Easy Ballet Barre
Ballet barres are a specialty tool that ballet dancers use as part of their training, to aid with balance and improve their flexibility. Ballet schools around the world have ballet barres attached to the walls of their studios: a bracket secures the barre to the wall. Although this works well for large classrooms, wall space in a home is limited and a freestanding barre is not only more convenient, but can also be easy and cheap to make. Bring it to other rooms or take it outside to practice in good weather.
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Things You'll Need
- 5 feet of 1 1/2-inch PVC or PolyPipe
- 2 PVC or PolyPipe elbows
- 2 lengths of straight PVC or Polypipe, 3 1/2 feet or 4 feet tall
- 2 T brackets
- Felt lining
- Pipe glue
Instructions
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1
Spread some pipe glue on the inside of a pipe elbow. Insert the end of a 5-foot straight pipe into the pipe elbow, immediately after you've sprayed the glue. Repeat this process for the other end of the straight pipe. Ensure the elbows are facing the same direction.
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2
Spread more glue on the inside of the other end of the elbow and insert a shorter straight pipe into it. Repeat this step for the other elbow so that you have created a large U-shape out of pipe. Lay the U-shape on the floor.
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3
Spread some more glue into the inside surface of the vertical bar of the T bracket and insert one of the ends of a straight pipe into this vertical bar. Ensure that the horizontal bar of the T bracket is facing perpendicular to the U-shaped structure you've made so far. Repeat this process for the other T bracket. This creates the feet the freestanding ballet barre stands on.
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4
Glue some felt onto the bottoms of the T brackets so that they do not scratch the floor where you place the ballet barre.
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Tips & Warnings
Change the height of the shorter straight lengths of pipe to suit your needs. Most ballet barres should come up to mid-torso level.
Buy plumber's pipe, because it does not have to be threaded but only glued together.
References
- "The Big-Ass Book of Crafts"; Mark Montano and Auxy Espinoza; 2008
