As much as training for a showcase is fun, or prepping for a comp makes you incredibly motivated to smash your pole goals, sometimes I just like to turn the lights down and dance.

 

I have a pole playlist on my Spotify account that I return to again and again. A list of songs that I can put on and just flow. Some are fast, hip hop beats, others are slower, melodic, and sometimes instrumental. All of them ring true in someway, and reach a place in me, no matter how many times I hear them.

Last night I taped my freestyle, but didn’t really have any expectations that I’d be able to share anything from it worthwhile.

But then I really surprised myself.

Watching back, I saw a fluidity and grace that is often missing from my choreographed routines. A flow and sense of movement that comes from just being with the song.

There were no big tricks, I don’t even think I inverted. Just spins and floorwork that became amazingly cathartic and gave insight into how emotions could be represented in my dancing.

The pressures of a competition or performance night can shroud the flow and grace that comes from just moving and dancing.

Perhaps a way to overcome this is to freestyle to a piece of music for a while before laying down the chorey. To feel it before you try and say it.

Something to ponder.