"What should I wear?" and "do I HAVE to wear teeny tiny shorts, stripper-heels and whatnot?"
In order to stick to the pole you need bare skin. This is the poles rule, not mine.
Different studios have different clothing-rules though so I recommend you ask your studio what they think you should wear. Personally I'd recommend shorts, sports-bra and a t-shirt, a sweater and a pair of pants or leggings for warm-up. I really encourage beginners to start off in shorts because a lot of beginner-moves and spins require / is easier with bare legs, but if you're not comfortable with it no professional studio is gonna force you to show up half naked.
Also, I recommend beginners start off barefoot. Heels are for the more advanced girls.
"I am a plus-size, can I still poledance?"
Yes, yes and a hundred times yes!
"Do I have to strip / will we learn stripping?"
No, you don't have to strip, and no, you don't learn stripping at pole-classes. Poledancing is not stripping, and therefore you will not learn that at pole-class.
"What if the other girls look at me?"
Trust me, they won't. The other girls will be so caught up in their own thing that looking at you will be the last thing on their mind. And if they do, they're probably just admiring, or trying to figure out what to do.
"I saw a really cool video on youtube, will we learn that?"
I don't know what you saw, but you'll probably not learn it in your intro-class. I've heard people say that pole-class wasn't fun because all they learned was two to four spins and some floorwork, and it was nothing like they imagined (like what they saw on youtube). Just hang in there! Rome wasn't built on one day, and the same goes for those skills needed to do whatever crazy performance you saw on youtube. Just keep at it, it's important to get those beginner-moves down before the craziness starts, but it will take some time.
"Don't you have to be super-strong to poledance?"
I'd like to quote Nicole The Pole here, poledance is not easy, but it's easy to learn. Nobody's got the muscles needed to shoulder-mount on their first class, people rarely got the muscles to do a single pull-up at their first lesson. At the beginner-classes you start off with hanging from the pole. No pulling yourself up, just hanging by your arms. These are the basic spins, spins where the only thing your muscles will have to do is holding on. And you can do that!
"What if I fall?" and "what if I hit the floor?"
The fear of falling during beginner-spins is something psychological you just have to work on. You just gotta face the fear and believe that if you fall, you won't die. You won't injure yourself, it might be a little painful, but that's it.
When it comes to more advanced and dangerous moves like inverts we take precautions like using crash-mats, having a spotter and planning safety-exits. But that comes later.
"Do I have to be sexy / do sexy stuff?"
No, you don't have to feel (be) sexy and you don't need to do anything you're not comfortable with. And if you like the sexy-thing, that's up to you! Everyone has their own style, some like it sexy, some like it classy, some like it to be mostly acrobatics... and I think it's great that everyone is different and has their own unique style, how boring wouldn't it be if we all danced the same way?
Yes and yes. The pole is made from hard steel which you hang off from your skin. You will squeeze your flesh and bones hard against the pole to keep yourself from falling. But luckily the pain is temporary. After your second lesson with climbing it will already get easier and much less painful. Bruises vary from person to person, some get a lot and big ones, some get a few and small ones. But it's all temporary, and when your body has adapted to a move it will stop bruising and hurting (:
"Do I have to perform or compete?"
No (: You may use your new skill to do whatever you like. Maybe you want to compete or perform, or maybe you want to become an instructor and even start your own studio. Or you just like to do it at home or at your studio, for yourself, for the fun of it. It's all up to you!
"Will I get bulky?"
Over time you will get some broad shoulders, big muscles on your arms and back and a toned stomach, but this is after years and years of training! But ultimately yes, poledance is a sport that is almost entirely founded on strength and to get better you will have to get muscles.
"What will we learn at beginner-classes?"
This vary from studio to studio, and I haven't gone to classes myself. But from what I have seen on the internet you'll probably be introduced to some spins like the fireman and the front-hook spin, you'll probably learn how to climb and how to sit and various floor-work moves. (Links to youtube tutorials)
"What if people judge me as a stripper / slut / whore etc?"
Sadly, haters gonna hate and people are gonna judge. That's just a risk you're gonna have to take.
I hope that cleared up some of the questions you might have had, and if there's anything else don't be afraid to ask in the comment section (:
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