The Bar Method’s founder Burr Leonard has always been an avid lover of ballet and jazz classes; in 1981, Burr was introduced to the Lotte Berk Method while living in New York. She became a devoted student and noticed an incredible transformation in her body. Burr dreamed of creating her own version of the exercise technique that would empower people of all ages and physical abilities to build strong, lean, toned, and healthy bodies for life. Working in close collaboration with a team of physical therapists, Burr honed the method to make it safer for the joints and to more effectively target the muscles. When the technique was perfected, she borrowed inspiration from her father George Leonard’s book “Mastery” to develop a teaching approach that would enable and encourage students to make lifelong changes to their bodies and their everyday lives outside the classroom. The product of her passionate work created The Bar Method that we know and love today.