Here I'll post pictures of the moves that I've learned (:
I don't have pictures of everything yet so they will be posted later. Also, pictures and gifs will probably be switched out over time as I'll constantly be working on and get better at the different moves, and getting files with better quality than these.
Questions that often pops up on the poledance reddit and fb-groups are about preparing for your first lesson, what to expect, what to wear, what you will learn, etc. So I thought I would answer some of the usual questions here on the blog (:
"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?
"Does it hurt to poledance?" and "will I get bruises?"
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 (:
Lately, I've been tired and uninspired.
It happens every time I'm forced to take a break. First it was injury, and right after that I went on vacation, and came straight home to work-work-work. I feel like work really drains my energy down to zero, which is frustrating. How can I get better if I never have the energy to practice?
Luckily, these five videos always seem to help me out. Let me give you my top 5 list of youtube-videos that always gives me inspiration, ambition and a smile on my face!
no. 1 - Jenyne Butterfly at PolePressure 2011
This must be my favourite of all time. Gives me goosebumps all over my body. I love it from 00:00 to the end. The start, were she dances happy, free, seems even a bit clumsy, is perfect. You can see she is really having fun up there, embracing the moment and enjoying the dance. She then proceeds to the most hardcore tricks, all in pace with the music. Love it!
no. 2 - Anastasia Sokolova at Ukraine Got Talent
What I love most about this is how she managed to be herself, sexy girl, sexy costume, sexy dance to rock n' roll, and still managed to show the world her true talent. Sadly, as mesmerizing a girls sexuality may be, many people are also blinded by it, and aren't able to move their focus from her appearance to what she is really trying to show.
I love her style, it sexy, raw and powerful, but don't let it fool you! She's also strong, flexible and a talented dancer. Keep at it!
no. 3 - DirdyBirdy to Wicked Games by The Weeknd
This is the first video I fell in love with. Simple, graceful and also, it's improvised! I love that there are no big, scary, advanced super-flexy-so-painful--that-youregonnadie moves, but it's most about the execution of the moves, the movement itself, and, of course, pointing your toes!
no. 4 - Emma Haslam at Britain's Got Talent
You can't NOT love this video, it's impossible! Also, most of us have heard it before "I can't poledance, I don't have the body to do it". Yes you fucking do, you have a body don't you?! If she can do it, can't you? I mean, she's gotta weigh like the twice of me, and she can do an elbow-grip ayesha?!! Everything is possible if you work hard enough to get it!
The cherry on top - she also has the confidence to put herself out there, in minimal clothing, on a "stripper-pole", in our body-fixated world. Respect!
no. 5 - Yeva Shiyanova to Radioactive by Imagine Dragons
No, it's not poledancing, but you would love to do floorwork like this, wouldn't you? Yeah, I thought so too.
I can be sexy.... as long as there is silly laughter afterwards... I really lack confidence in this department of poledance. I just.... can't. It feels awkward, unnatural and silly, I have huge issues with taking my sexuality seriously. What to do? Work on it. A lot. Fake it till you make it. This video is my ultimate goal. Letting go, be dramatic, be sexy. I'm probably never gonna turn out a twerking-goddess, but a little bit of this wouldn't be too bad.
So, who did I leave out? Who's your favourite dancers, videos, your sources of inspiration and ambition?
The oh-so-boring part of poledance. Injuries. It's pretty common, if you haven't got injured yet, you probably will someday. A strained muscle or something. Or maybe it's not even pole-related at all. Maybe one day, at winter perhaps, you will slip on the ice, fall and break your arm. Even a bad cold could slow you down. That's just life, shit happens.
I got my first couple of strained muscles about one week after I got my pole. I'm a fast learner, my body adapts well, and my quick progress fed my ego and made me even more eager to train than I already was. I guess I practiced the first week straight before I hit the wall.
I hadn't paid too much attention to do everything properly from the beginning, and my first bad habit was holding my outside arm way too high in basic spins. I strained my deltoid muscle (shoulder) and it took three weeks to recover. I also strained one of my calf-muscles during a chopper, which took three weeks to recover as well.
This happened in mid-december. I was recovered in the middle of january, but something had changed. The progress I had made was gone. Suddenly everything hurt again. It hurt to climb, it hurt to invert, everything except the basic spins hurt. I basically had to start from scratch again. I exercised a few times in january, a couple of tries in february, but the spark was gone. I was utterly discouraged, nothing seemed to go my way. Everything hurt, the pole was slippery as f***, my legs never got warm enough to stick, I couldn't figure anything out. It was pointless. I gave up.
Until a day in late march. The boyfriend had just fallen asleep, and I was cleaning my room since I couldn't sleep. And the pole was just there. In the middle of my room, where it has been since I put it up. I took a couple of spins. Like, it was just standing there right? Why not just use it? Just for fun? Suddenly those couple of spins resulted in me having a little 30min workout. Put on my new, unworn pole-shorts from lulu lemon which the boy had bought me from his trip to the states. I had a blast. I had fun on the pole until my arms were shaking and sweat was dripping. I had finally found the joy in poledancing again.
Since then I've been practicing regularly, but with a couple of rest-days between each practice. I've learned from the mistake of exercising way too hard way too often. And I've come into a pretty good pattern. I usually work out on thursdays and fridays, because that's my days off work, and when the girls come over for lessons.
Unfortunately, I got injured again. Or I was on the way to get injured. I'm not sure what it is, but my forearms hurt while doing some types of moves, like the fishhook. It wasn't too bad at first, but over time it got worse, and last practice it was so bad I figured I had to take some time off before seriously hurting myself. Dang, I've been hitting some bad speed-bumps lately.... It's been two weeks since last practice, so I'm gonna try again today and see if it's gotten better. And avoid the moves that triggered the pain in the first place...
Work, friends, boyfriend, housework, getting my drivers license. Yeah, lot's to do.
But I've been able to squeeze in a few practices. I thought I would give you a follow-up on my "list of improvement", so here's how everything is going.
My invert to chopper has really improved. I'm working a lot on pointing toes, getting clean lines, holding the chopper forever and getting a little momentum.... I really struggle with my momentum, can't spin while inverting, unless I'm doing aerial invert. Btw, I got the aerial invert! Feeling a lot of doors has opened up for me now, hehe ^^
I'm really happy with my butterfly, so I'll check that one off my list! Next one would be extended, but since I'm nowhere near that flexible yet, I'll save it for another time (: Both superman and cupid needs a lot of work, still. But I'm getting there!
I've had a couple of workouts since last post, so I've learned some new tricks as well. Got my phoenix, my aerial invert and my russian layback! Each move still needs a lot of perfecting, need to get flexier for my phoenix to look prettier, still need to work on my basic inverts in order to make aerial better, and need to work a lot on transitioning into and out from russian layback.
Not the best angle, gonna get a better pic as soon as I have it perfected
I'm also happy to say that my progress with the splits is really going forward! If I can keep up my training I guess I'll have my splits by the end of the summer! YAY, FINALLY! Not my box-split though, that one is faaaaar away in the future, lol.
I'm also ambitious about getting a real video out asap. With some real choreography, but trying to keep it at a low level. Need to get my groove on, and not just practice tricks.
It's been a while since I updated, so thought I would give you a quick little catch-up on my pole-journey. First of all, I was forced to take a two-week break from pole in may. I've prepared a post about it which I'll publish as soon as I have it done, but for now I'll just say it was because of an accident involving alcohol, high heels and a gravel road.... So yeah, had to take some time off the pole to let my wounds recover and avoid scars.
But now I'm back on the pole, and so is my "student", who's practicing with me regularly. She also had to take a break due to surgery, but now she's fit to fight again and she's even got herself a pole of her own! Congrats, Maria :D If you want to check her pole-skills out you may have a look on her blog here.
As for myself, I've been a little strict on my practices lately. I have a lot to work on, so new and desired moves are put on the shelf for a while. My little list of things that need polishing are
Inverting into chopper - Over all my inverting needs to get cleaner. My chopper is really unsteady, but it's so great for getting into the leg-hangs (figured that out when I first watched my superman-video, my feet were everywhere), so I have to perfect that A LOT! Here's footage from last practice, it's already looking better.
The "dance" part of poledance - I'm more into poledance than pure polefitness, but I'm always struggling with a new move or polishing something else, so I always end up "saving" the dancing for "next" time. Trying to get better at this, especially since I'm aiming for attending the Norwegian Pole Sport Championship next year.
Superman, Cupid and Butterfly - Before learning any new moves I'm set to perfect these three a little more. I've managed to get a decent butterfly, need to clean up the transitioning into superman, and the cupid is nowhere near perfect... Yet!
Getting out of invert - I can dive down almost perfectly, but I often forget to, or I'm just too lazy.... A bad habit that ruins a lot of my videos, instead of gracefully diving down from crucifix I usually just do.... this
Also, maybe need to polish up my photoshop-skills,
that thing in the left corner is really bugging me.
So yeah, a pretty little list of things that needs perfecting. What has really made me want to perfect these is my videos. A lot of things in my videos just looks super-sloppy, because they are super-sloppy, and it's ruining my happy moments. Grrr, I want to look like a star, at least for the 15 seconds Instagram is giving me, but instead I look like a real amateur. Haha, it's motivating me though, so I guess it's good for something!
I've been a little lazy the last couple of weeks, haven't bothered to put up a camera during my workouts. Frankly, I always get a little disappointed and feeling a little bit ashamed when I look at videos of myself dancing. Suddenly I'm able to see myself from another perspective, and then noticing all my mistakes and bad habits. So, sadly I've felt a little discouraged about taking pictures and videos.
And I don't wanna blog about my achievements when I got nothing to show for it. Which is too bad. I read through the few posts I've published so far on this blog, and I am already amazed by my progress. I got my outside leg-hang on 11th April, but to me it feels like ages ago. It feels like I've been stuck on the gemini for months, but actually it only took me two weeks to go from gemini to superman.
It's great to go back and look at my journey. Especially when it feels like I've been standing still for a while. It's like I don't feel the progress if I don't nail a new move or combo at every practice, but it helps when I can remind me when I accomplished what. Then it doesn't seem so long ago since I progressed after all.
Fish-hook, screenshot from vid
I've nailed a few other moves since last time. I got the "fish hook" (that's the name I've heard for it) by a mistake and suddenly - a new move (: I think it looks awesome! Love it.
Aaaaaand the cupid. I thought I got it a while ago, but wasn't able to do it again at the next practice, so I've struggled a fair bit with it. But now I've really learned it. Like, I'm able to do it again with no problem. I've figured it out. It's pretty heavy though, so I have to practice it a lot before I get comfortable in it. My upper body just kinda want's to let go and fall to the floor.
I'm really happy though, it was my first goal move. The really REALLY first one. I remember when I was waiting for my x-pole from the U.K, and I was switching between renovating the basement (for pole-space) and watching pole-videos on youtube, dreaming about the day the basement was done and my pole had arrived. The first pole-video I fell in love with was DirdyBirdys freestyle to Wicked Games, and when she did the cupid at the beginning. It was so beautiful, so elegant, I just knew I had to learn that. Now I just gotta learn to do it as graceful as her, lol. But I'll get there (:
Today I did a move that I've had trouble with for a long time. For me it was ten times harder than it looked like on videos, I just couldn't seem to figure it out. Since I started working on my leg-hangs I've slowly been working towards this special move. For a lot of polers it's a milestone, and for some even the mark itself between beginner and intermediate. Do you know which move I'm talking about?
Today I finally landed the superman!
Screenshot from vid, you can watch the vid on instagram
My particular struggle with this move at first was getting into it. I just couldn't find a way that was right for me to move into it from. Then I watched Jamilla Deville's Art of Pole dvd's and got my eyes open for the possibilities of the gemini and started practicing. I had never really thought about the outside leg-hang as important, and generally I had been avoiding it because of the pain, but when I watched her dvd's I saw the possibilities, and started to work hard on my leg-hangs.
And when I got comfortable in my leg-hangs, I started to work towards superman. The problem now was the legs. I wasn't able to turn my hips from sideways to the floor without massive pain, so much that everytime I got close I had to break it off. Annoying and frustrating.....
Then I turned to youtube. Started to watch videos, tutorials and so on. Anything with the superman in it. I was busy analyzing everything when I noticed how a girl used her arm to push herself from the pole while in gemini. That was what I was taught too, except she held her hand higher, pushed herself further from the pole and she held her hand in a different way. Could it really be that easy?
My biggest bruise yet, on the inner thigh
Of course it wasn't easy. It hurt like a bitch, I was scared of letting my hips drop, felt like I had no control and so on. Took a couple of tries before I got it. But oh, what a glorious moment it was when I finally did it. I still remember the smile on my face, the tingeling feeling in my stomach of pure joy and victory. And everything I had to do were those things. Holding my hand different, higher, and pushing myself further from the pole.
I feel that I'm in a good pattern now. Every time I get a little better, a little stronger, and I feel like I'm finally able to harvest the fruits of my hard work. I came up with another combo the other day too, that I'm working towards. Looking forward to the day that I finally get it!
Otherwise I'm happy to announce that I've officially signed up for the instructor-program! And I even got an appointment with the bank next week. It's nothing huge, just a kind of counseling meeting about maybe opening my own business in pole, how I'm gonna go about it, where to start, how to get the money and so on. But I'm really excited! Stuff is happening yo!
If there's one thing I think is super important when poledancing, it's keeping track of your progress. I have this blog, I have a pole-diary, I try as hard as I can to take photos and record videos, and the last part has been particularly hard. As I said before, I've lost the screw that connects my SLR-camera to my tripod, and I just can't find a place to buy single screws... Looks like I have to buy a new tripod then.
And I really want to be more active on Instagram. The girl that inspired me to try poledance posts videos of herself regularly on IG, and I really want to do it too. But on the other hand I'm to lazy to bother with getting my phone balanced up on books n' stuff. Sooooo here's my new toy!
It wasn't expensive at all, 300nok (norwegian kroner) or about 50usd. And it's pretty handy, for those of you who aren't familiar with tripods and camera equipment a GorillaPod has bendy "legs", so I can wrap the tripod around lamps, doorknobs, trees, maybe even up on the pole etc. So now I'm hopefully gonna get better on posting videos and pictures, both here and on Instagram. My IG account is @liandcats, and if you want me to check your out you can just leave your account in the comment-section (:
Since I've started teaching the girls, I've gotten better at practicing regularly myself. When the girls come over I want them to have as much fun as possible, so I work out an hour or two before they arrive so the pole is warmed up and ready to go. And today it really paid off! I've been stuck practicing leg-hangs for a couple of weeks now, which is fine cause I need to perfect them. But after a while it get's boring to just do the same thing over and over, so today I wanted to try something new.
I tried brass monkey, which I got at my first attempt! Or kinda, it needs a lot of work before I would call it a good brass monkey. And then.... That effing butterfly. It's been bothering me for a while now, I've just never found the proper way to get into it, and every time I thought I had it I got stunned by fear and couldn't let my leg go. But I watched a video where a girl went from gemini into butterfly, tried it myself and it was just ridiculous how easy it actually was.... Here I've been the whole time, perfecting my leg-hangs and struggeling with my butterfly, and this was the solution the whole time? REALLY?! But of course I'm happy I finally "cracked the code" and got it! The moves needs a lot of work, but at least it's a start.
Then the girls came over and we got a lot done today! They're starting to get really good at sitting and climbing, so I decided to teach them the hangback with bridge and inverting. And they did sooooo good! Very proud of how much we did today, they're really getting somewhere!
June in hangback bridge & inverted
And even more pole-stuff happened today! We have decided that June and Maria are going to practice regularly with me, and tomorrow I have another girl coming over for a try. It's almost starting to get a little out of hand, if the new girl want's to continue training and she also needs to come regularly I'm getting a lot of busy evenings. I also see a lot of other people who want's to try pole, but I can't take them all.
Soooooooo I emailed the only woman in Norway who has instructor-lessons. Like, you get a license and everything if you pass the exam at the end of the lessons. I want to start my own studio when I get good enough, and the next instructor-program is in August, so I emailed her some questions about the program and if everything goes as planned I'm signing up!
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