How Irish Barre Helps Dancers Improve Their Toe Height

If you’ve been working on improving your toe height in your dances this month, you’re not alone - it’s our October focus inside the Gold Club, and it’s one of the most common areas Dancers want to improve. The good news? You don’t have to spend hours working on this each week to make progress. The secret lies in strength, control, and alignment and that’s exactly what our Irish Barre classes are designed to build.

What Is Irish Barre?

Think of Irish Barre as your secret weapon for mastering the small muscles that make a huge difference on stage. Inspired by ballet-based barre training but created specifically for Irish dancers, each Irish Barre toe height class helps you to:

• Strengthen your hips, glutes, and calves (the powerhouse muscles for elevation and turnout).
  
  
• Improve ankle stability and control, helping you to hold your toe height for longer.
  
  
• Develop balance and posture, so your toe height looks effortless — not forced.
  
  

Every exercise is intentional. It’s not about dancing full steps; it’s about refining how your body moves through every lift, hold, and extension.

How Barre Training Boosts Toe Height

Here’s how our Dancers are seeing results from the four Irish Barre for Toe Height classes already live inside the Gold Club:

1. Increased Range & Strength

You’re building the strength to dance high on your toes, but also the control to keep it there throughout the whole Dance. That’s the key to developing toe height that last through every full.

2. Better Alignment = More Height

Barre helps Dancers with their alignment, reducing the common “tuck” or “tilt” (we talked a lot about this in our posture 5-day challenge in the Gold Club). Once your foundation is aligned, your body can work with you, which will help you to Dance with ease, not strain.

3. Improved Stability & Endurance

Toe height isn’t just about how high your toe rises — it’s about how well you can hold it there while maintaining perfect posture and balance. Irish Barre builds that deep stabilising strength through slow, controlled movements.

4. Mind-Muscle Awareness

One of the biggest changes dancers notice is that they begin to feel which muscles to activate. That awareness means more knowledge, quicker improvement, and more powerful performances.

The Gold Club October Focus

All month long, our Tuesday morning Irish Barre classes are centred on toe height. With four dedicated videos already uploaded in the Gold Club library, members can jump in anytime and follow the progression at their own pace.

Each class uses the What, Why, How method to make sure you understand exactly what you’re training, why it matters for your dancing, and how to apply it to your next Feis or full.

Ready to See Your Progress?

If you’re a Gold Club member - head to the Movement Library → Irish Barre → Toe Height section and join this month’s focus.

If you’re not a member yet, you can join the Gold Club today for access to all past and upcoming classes, live sessions, and exclusive Dancer challenges that help you improve faster (and smarter).