Sabrina Pillars

This course changed my life. I later learned I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. In college, I just knew I was in pain and frequently injured, and that my skills were not always equally available to me. I went on to become a health professional and used what I learned from Sabrina to keep myself functional and to help others through physical therapy. She is extremely generous and kind if she sees something Menne putting forth their best effort and showing up with humility and respect. She does not tolerate hubris or ego. Anyone who thinks they have something figured out or deserve praise will not find her to be kind or warm. Take her corrections, show you're working to incorporate or understand them, ask thoughtful questions, and she will see your beauty and build your strength and knowledge. If you're not open to breaking down what you think you know and rebuilding it anew, her ballet, pilates and other classes will likely be frustrating power struggles from which you will gain nothing but a general disdain for your teacher. But you will have missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime.

Sabrina is one of the best teachers I've ever had. Not just in dance, but in approaching problems in life. Many of these reviewers are upset because Sabrina gives people harsh reality checks, which is not what people are used to hearing, or do not want to hear. Put your ego away and bow down. If you let her, she will give you more attention than any dance teacher ever has. She is an expert at figuring out people's bodies, and she'll tell you exactly what your personal issues are and how to fix them. If you're lazy, don't want to face your own problems, or don't have time for this, stay out. But if you are looking for real personal growth and you follow her instructions and actually try to understand what she's saying, you'll find that your whole body will feel different in a matter of weeks. She will only start paying attention to you once she sees that you're listening and willing to trust her methods. Otherwise, she thinks you're a waste of her time, which is true anyway-- why would you take the class if you're not going to even try to learn? This is not the place to fulfill a PE requirement. Her classes have been getting smaller, presumably because of horror stories such as those below. Don't believe them and shy away-- give her a chance and judge for yourself.

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 had Sabrina several years ago, and as the most memorable teachers tend to stand out, Sabrina stands out strongly. Certainly not in a good way, however. I had had some ballet experience, but it had been a while since I had taken it. So I was looking forward to a challenging yet not overly demanding class as a nice change from my academic classes. I can easily say that Sabrina's Ballet I was the most stressful class I had that semester. She routinely made you feel horrible and singled you out in front of the whole class if you weren't doing the exercises perfectly. I agree- -if we wanted to do pilates for a lengthy amount of time, we would have taken her pilates class. I found that she picked on people a lot. And the other reviewer is totally right--we were always kept 10 minutes over, and she had no regard for the fact that most of us had classes we had to get to. And she'd get mad if we said we needed to leave in order to be on time to our next class. In spite of everything though, I did become more flexible. But that's about the only thing I gained from taking her class.

After reading the other reviews of Sabrina, I wanted to clarify a few things. She's extremely direct, which if you have a tendency towards hypersensitivity, can seem mean. I actually found her comments about my body extremely helpful. She has a lot of working experience and she can see where your body is imbalanced, weak or tight, and when she points these things out it is for your benefit not because she derives pleasure out of it or because she is mean-spirited. (As a sidenote, I sincerely doubt she's ever called anyone fat. I assume this is a result of sensitivity and misunderstanding on the part of the student.) In terms of the coursework, I was not so impressed. Her course pack is disorganized and it's nearly impossible to find anything. As for her teaching abilities, I can't say much. She gives you a book with the information, but she doesn't really know how to teach it besides reading the text and using her mug/pen/any random accessory to (poorly) illustrate the movements. That said, the exercises were helpful, though she often forgot to explain or even mention why we were doing them. Probably not worth it to take the class (you might as well just buy Anatomy of Human Movement and go take some Feldenkreis or floor barre classes).

She is absolutely insane. Very intelligent and knowledgeable, but clearly mentally unstable. She is very invasive and inappropriate in class, often shouting curse words and making comments about the personal lives of her students. She means well but I was not a fan of her teaching methods. To her credit, she pays attention to dancers who would be overlooked by a teacher like Robert Lafosse or Allegra Kent. While it is clear that her actions are fueled by the deep care and compassion that she has for her students, I found it too close for comfort.

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.

I hope you like ab work! Sabrina is a wonderful instructor, but she can be VERY intimidating. You will work technique in this class until your mind is completely numb and your body is entirely sore, but it is ultimately worth it. There is no one else in the dance department quite like her. While I could not call the classes fun, you will certainly be challenged and learn a lot perfecting your technique. Any of Sabrina's classes are for the truly dedicated dancer or the really ambitious beginner.

This class could have been really amazing...except that Sabrina ruined it. This woman was so cruel to me..I can't even contain myself. I wasn't a ballarina so she seemed to refuse to take me seriously, accusing me of not paying attention in class and never wanting to help me outside of class. Futhermore, in my opinion she publically humiliates girls in class, pointing out whats wrong with them, making fun of them. She seems to think her method of teching ballet is the ONLY method and makes fun of girls in the class for having learned other ways. Her teaching is vague and wishy- washy, yet her exams are hard and she barely prepares you for them. She made me cry the two times I came for extra help outside of class...telling me I was out of shape, chubby, and asked me why I didn't understand any of the material. I did the readings and all the exercises, never missed class yet somehow...she was absolutely awful.

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…