Mens sana in corpore sano. The Latin expression has traveled through time, but it seems to gain much more strength in modern times. For some years now, sports disciplines have crept into the lives of a large part of the population. Gyms, dance studios, climbing walls; all sports are integrating into the daily routine of citizens with such force that sometimes the offer can be overwhelming. However, sport is not a one-day activity. To see results, routine, constancy, and dedication are needed. In a fast-paced world, it is difficult to find a moment to stop and, on the other hand, not all centers allow implementing a discipline into daily routines. Concept Barre was born to break these barriers. Faced with the rise of Barre, María Barrientos and Michelle Mizes decided to set up their first studio with their own methodology, based on Barrientos' years of experience as a dancer and Mizes' marketing knowledge. Two multidisciplinary, didactic, and unique studios that seek to bring out the best version of their clients with continuous training.
Juno House, the Barcelona women's club founded in 2021, was the cradle of this alliance. Barrientos taught her classes within the club. Her years as a professional dancer had made her the trainer everyone would seek to improve. Precisely because of this level of expertise, Mizes did not miss a single class, and after two years of meetings, sweat, and teamwork, both women decided to embark on entrepreneurship. Mizes came from abroad, and there, Barre was a much tougher and more professionalized discipline than what she could find in the few studios that existed in Barcelona. That is why she proposed to Barrientos to open her own center. In April 2023, both embarked on entrepreneurship with a premises on Neptú street in the Catalan capital. The idea was simple, and Barrientos defines it perfectly in a conversation with The New Barcelona Post: "To do the workouts I would like to do," she confesses.
In this sense, Concept Barre stands out from everything known in Barcelona about this discipline. A new method, then, that works strength, cardio, and resistance with classes from Monday to Sunday. The counterpoint, however, is that Barrientos' methodology combines the principles of dance, Pilates, and strength training to improve cardiovascular capacity, mobility, resistance, and muscle strength from a low-impact approach. Under the claim This Barre Has a Method, all classes have been designed to complement each other and promote constant and sustainable progression, moving away from fleeting trends and opting for training supported by experience and results. "It is designed for repetition," explains the co-founder, referring to the consistency of her clients and the raison d'être of the studio itself, which is based on highly personalized guided classes that ensure that in the same space "a person with great sports experience or someone for whom it is their first day of training" can coexist, Barrientos emphasizes.
The consolidation of the brand led Concept Barre to open a second studio in Barcelona, this time in the Eixample. This decision came naturally after perceiving the good reception from the public. Currently, the studio offers more than 215 weekly classes between its two operational centers and has developed an experience that no longer only focuses on physical exercise, but integrates meeting spaces, collaborations with brands, events, and proposals that connect with new consumer demands. Their involvement has led them to have between 800 and 900 regular clients and they closed 2025 with a turnover of 1.2 million euros.
The professionalization of staff
The Concept Barre team has about thirty employees, but half of them are trainers at the center. Barrientos emphasizes that when she saw the number of clients growing, she saw the need to start training professionals in her methodology. However, the former dancer and co-founder makes it very clear that she needed trainers with a professional career behind them. That is why a good part of the staff are either dancers or gymnasts, in order to ensure the knowledge of the body, resistance, and coordination they possess. In addition, far from limiting themselves to teaching classes, these professionals act as ambassadors of the method and movement specialists. All of them go through a specific training program to guarantee technical consistency and the excellence of the experience in each session. "This commitment to talent and continuous training allows Concept Barre to maintain a high standard of quality, even in a context of accelerated growth, and to strengthen the close bond that characterizes its clientele," the company reiterates.
A multidisciplinary space with clients at the center
Concept Barre is much more than a center where guided classes are held. In its second location in the Eixample, they also have a cafeteria space that is subcontracted. Mizes explains to this newspaper that on many occasions they had seen how after a class, clients wanted to stay and bond: "We wanted to help make those bonds that were created stay here." The reality, then, is that this company seeks to transcend, to stop being the space where a person exercises or moves a little throughout the week. Their idea is to introduce themselves into routines, to become an essential part of daily life and to do so through great professionalism, but also through comfortable and attractive spaces where people can do much more than exercise: "We have space to work after class or even to celebrate someone's birthday," Mizes emphasizes.
In short, Concept Barre stands as the original and personalized alternative for exercising and seeing results. Dancers as instructors, spaces with much more than guided classes, and clear values make this company a pioneer in the sports sector. They have the ability to attract young audiences, but also older ones, and their philosophy opens the door to "all kinds of bodies and genders," affirms Mizes, who highlights, however, that the large majority are women: "Men find it harder to sign up," says the co-founder. Among the next steps the co-founders have is expansion. During the conversation with this newspaper, territories such as Andorra, Madrid, and the Catalan capital itself come up. However, Mizes assures that they are not in a hurry and that if they have to seek alliances and expand, they will do so when they are very clear that wherever they go, there will be the same spirit, design, and values. "Creativity is part of the company," says the co-founder, who adds that they have many creatives on staff to maintain coherence: "All to be a unique experience," concludes Mizes.