Our mission

Our hope for this foundation is to preserve and promote the amazing work of Lotte Berk and her daughter Esther Fairfax. What a pair of constellations these two are - lives that touched some of the great characters of the last century and experienced some of the seminal moments in our cultural history - and left us with a legacy of their own.

Lotte never wanted to be known for 'keep fit' or excercise. She was an artist, a bohemian, creative, dynamic, resourceful and ahead of her time. She created a technique that is still referenced today and was the original and first barre class. Google her and you will see how she influenced so many of the dance based movement we see today.

Lotte's work lives on in its truest form sustained by her daughter in her Hungerford studio, in the teachers Esther and Lotte trained around the globe, and the students who have been loyally taking classes for 20, 30, and 40 years.

Our aim for this foundation is to be a touchstone to preserve the amazing history of the technique, and the incredible lives of Lotte and Esther. We hope this will be a place to share memories, to perfect technique and to keep this work alive.

Above all, I suppose this foundation is a love letter to two inspiring women and their work.