Pilates for Dancers

Sabrina is one of the best dance teachers I've ever had (and I've been taking dance my whole life). I have had a chronic ankle injury for a few years now, and her Pilates class has helped me enormously. She has fantastic corrections, and she can see a problem immediately. My sports medicine doctor is the doctor for the Boston Ballet, and Sabrina has helped me far more than he has (!!). Yes, she does give corrections bluntly and in a matter-of-fact sort of way, but quite frankly, she's usually right. She is also very precise about what she wants, but trust me, it will improve your technique/alignment tremendously. She is passionate about dancing correctly (i.e., so you don't injure yourself).

If my injury permitted me to do ballet, I would still be in her class. She teaches a fast-paced, technically challenging class. Personally, it's the kind of class I love most, but it's not what everyone likes. She does not use your typical ballet music either; in my class, she was mostly using Modest Mouse's "The Moon and Antarctica" album, which provided some great atypical rhythms.

Like a previous reviewer has said, if you are easily offended, Sabrina may not be the professor for you. For the record, I have never seen her raise her voice or get angry in the two semesters I've had her. If you're willing to put in the effort that Sabrina demands from her students, however, you will get an abundance back from her. She is actually quite a lovely and interesting person from my discussions with her. Don't be discouraged!

This is the worst class I have ever taken in my entire life. At first I was excited to go do pilates but then I realized that all you do is stupid breathing exercises that put you in a coma. I wanted an actual work out but the loud and retarded music that she plays over powers her voice so you just lay there and don't hear a single thing she says and wonder if you are doing the exercise right. She would repeatedly single out people for not doing it right and make you feel inept, well i'm sorry i really don't give a shit where the solar plexus is and how i'm supposed to use my tail bone the right way. Don't ever take this to fulfill any requirement or in general.

I have taken pretty much every dance class Barnard offers, and classes at outside studios; this is the least nurturing class I have ever undergone. Sabrina is an incredibly knowledgeable instructor, and within three weeks of starting her class, I could feel the difference in the muscles of my back. That said, I am not going back; I have an anxiety disorder, and far from being a source of endorphins, I would often leave class with a panic attack beginning. The music she uses is jarring, drowns out her voice so you're often guessing about wtf you're supposed to be doing, she's absolutely crap at learning names so you can't tell if she's scolding you or the student next to you, she pays next to no attention to people trying to get her to answer a question, she's often five or ten minutes late, and all in all, despite the undeniable physical benefit from this class, I really wish I hadn't taken it.

Sabrina is an amazing and remarkable teacher. her knowledge of the human body is unparalleled as far as ive seen, and if you listen to her she can make you stronger, more flexible, and have better posture. she does have a slightly blunt way of talking that may not mesh with all personality types, which may explain the negative reviews. But honestly, she has so much to offer and she really can transform your body.
The pilates we did was a modified version suited for sculpting the body to be fit for dancing, so that means a lot of core work and stretching, range of motion, etc. It starts out slow, but each exercise has a number of different difficulty levels to ensure everyone feels the burn. HIGHLY recommended.
added plus: if nothing else, this class can make you look really really good.

NEVER take this class. She is extremely harsh and short tempered and just generally a very bad teachers. She makes corrections in a snippy and condescending manner. Also--will NOT help your GPA.