 In the 21st century, derivatives of her method are widely offered by gyms and studios around the world as barre classes

Lotte Berk was born Lieselotte Heymansohn in Cologne, Germany, to a German mother and Russian-born father, both of whom were Jewish.Her mother died of a stroke when Lotte was aged eight; her father, Nicolai Heymansohn, had been a tailor and owned a chain of menswear shops.She initially studied the piano for 11 years, according to her father's wishes, but she preferred dancing and went on to train under modern dance pioneer Mary Wigman.