Pure Barre brings newer style workout to Grosse Pointe Farms

Two lifelong athletes turned barre workout worshippers are business partners behind Pure Barre Grosse Pointe, a barre studio that opened in Grosse Pointe Farms in late August.

Co-owners Renae Lange and Lia Amine renovated a 2,200-square-foot storefront at 75 Kercheval Avenue in The Hill business district into a studio space with room for 22 students. Lange and about seven other instructors teach 5-6 classes each day.

Lange, a high school basketball and softball player, discovered a passion for barre while looking for a workout that felt competitive once her sports days had ended.

"With barre it's like you're competing with yourself to get stronger," she says. "With the music it's fun. It's interesting."

Co-owner Amine grew up playing soccer and found barre after a knee injury. She's a grad student working on a doctoral degree in physical therapy at New York University.

When she returns to teach and help run the studio she will also be able to offer clients advice on ways to strengthen weak or troublesome parts of the body.

The two met while Lange managed Pure Barre in Ann Arbor. Amine taught there while attending the University of Michigan, where she obtained a degree in movement science.

"She is excited to share the amazing Pure Barre technique with the Detroit area," Lange says in her online bio.

Lange has seen both sides of the business: as a franchise owner, and the corporate side after starting Pure Barre Midland in 2009 and then moving to Denver to work as master teacher trainer and director of training at Pure Barre's home office. Lange also managed Pure Barre in Okemos.

Barre is a workout that uses a mix of body positions and movements to strengthen and stretch the body. Many of the movements involve a barre like those in ballet studios.

"It's going very well," Lange says. "The community has responded to it very well. We're having a lot of fun."

Source: Renae Lange, co-owner, Pure Barre Grosse Pointe
Writer: Kim North Shine