Here we go again! Riding the success of the first Solotude in June, the awesome girls at Sydney Pole are running the showcase event once more!
To celebrate having my caboose on the poster twice, I’ve got a sexy routine in the works that’s all about big heels, hair flicks, and being a woman!
(and it’s a great distraction from comp prep!)
In a similar exploration of the power of pole, Sydney Pole has put on a Pole Changed Me Challenge, asking for a one minute video of how pole dancing has changed your life.
There have been some humorous commentaries about the size of biceps and willingness to wear shorty-shorty-short-shorts, but underneath this comedy is some truly beautiful messages about the effect that pole dancing can have on your life.
Here is my contribution:
Not quite sure what I’ve got myself in for but I’ve entered Miss Summer Trick Star – a pole dance competition held in Canberra each year.
I’ve entered two other pole comps in the past (PDA Secret Life and Sefton Pole Dance Comp). As much as I love showcase and the space the perform without the pressure of a comp, there are a few useful insights I have gained from throwing myself at the judges.
1) Feedback – Unless you attend more than one studio it’s likely your main audience are always the same people. And in true pole family fashion, they are endlessly supportive, encouraging and complimentary about your pole talents. I don’t make this point to suggest that your pole family are lying to you, but it is sometimes very difficult to find someone who can give you constructive criticism. In a competition scenario, the judges are most likely seeing you dance for the first time, and their feedback can offer valuable insight into areas for improvement or to highlight things that you might not know you were doing so well.
2) Motivation – Training for a competition is hard work. But once you commit, you’re locked in. With enough time to prepare you are more likely to nail that trick you’ve always wanted, or polish that transition. You’ll be more focused and more motivated to succeed.
3) Networking – Once again, unless you train in multiple studios, it is sometimes hard to meet other pole dancers. Your competitors, despite also wanting to win, are generally super friendly, and already love pole as much as you do! They might also be able to teach you a new trick, let you in on the latest grip aid secrets, or let you know of other performance opportunities and workshops coming up.
4) Photos – who doesn’t love professional shots of yourself dancing! Many competitions have a photographer to shoot your routine, and the cost of the shots is often included in the competition fee.
So I’ve got about 10 weeks to prep before the comp. I’ve already chosen my song, now I just need to train some new tricks and get creative with the choreography.
Watch this space!
Having always been involved in some form of physical activity, be it now pole, yoga, or athletics and hockey back when I was younger, I have gained a fairly thorough but basic knowledge of anatomy.
I know that the hamstrings are the large muscles at the back of my thigh. I know that I have calves, quads, three types of glutes, hip flexors, psoas, etc. etc.
In more recent times I have learned about fascia, the tissue that is almost like a second skin surrounding the muscles, tendons, and joints. Fascia can be released through massage and foam rolling, which is an amazing way to begin stretching or soothe muscles after a performance!
I know that protein helps you build muscles, and severe DOMS can keep you away from another workout for days!
But it wasn’t until I tore both hamstrings (a misadventure from 2013), and started doing my own research into flexibility and how the muscles, tendons, and joints function collectively, that I began to understand how my body works. And, perhaps more importantly, how my body needs to work together.
Take this exercise from StudioVeena (one of my favourite forums for all things pole related!).
Veena explains:
“This exercise may not look like much but it’s important and helpful, in understanding the scapula and how to properly engage during training for pole or aerial work. If you are new to this exercise the movement may be very small, the more you practice the better control you’ll have. Avoid raising the shoulders up the ears, keep them down and trapezius relaxed.”
After you Google where your scapula and trapezius are, please take heed of another avoidance warning.
Avoid flaring the ribs, articulating the motion from the shoulders and not from the chest and back.
It took me about 5 re-tapes to finally get a consistent shot of me doing the exercise properly. I was transfixed! Why did my version not look like Veena’s? And after unpacking the motion, turns out it was rib flare. Caused by what? By not activating through my abdominal muscles.
This was a revelation to me that my shoulders were connected to my abs! It makes sense now, of course I need to stabilise my torso as I articulate my shoulders back and forth. I need to keep balanced! But my body also seems to have the bad habit of flaring my ribs and arching through the lower back, keeping me balanced, but compensating for each other’s bias.
And this is the crux! I could articulate my shoulders further backwards if I allow the movement to continue through my chest and abdominals. This movement when viewed from the side would create a curve, starting at the top of my back, coming forward over my sternum, continuing across flared ribs, and exiting my body as it arches through the lower back.
But a more stable movement, and one that will actually support shoulder strength and mobility, is one that isolates the movement to the area of the shoulders and upper back. For now, it may look less impressive. But for the longevity of my body (particularly my lower back!) it’s a step in the right direction.
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.
One of my pole instructors started a hashtag, promoting an honest and heartfelt space to share your pole journey – #whatpolegaveme
This was my contribution with a few photo memories of some powerful pole moments from the last four years.
“Four years ago I stepped into the studio at Art of Pole. Pretty ghetto, no foyer just a room with brass 50s, floor to ceiling mirrors and poster sized photos of some fierce women flying through the sky on a pole. What was I doing here? It was a far cry from the blissed out yoga space of my previous obsession but something deep inside of me wanted to stay.
It’s such a cliche but it’s try, pole has given me confidence. A fearlessess to be myself and say “hell yeah I can!” I am still on a journey out of my shy little box but pole has opened the lid!
It’s a space to be creative and try something new, be accepted for being a bit outside the box and be pushed to make whatever it is the best it can be. To make me the best me i can be.
Pole has also taught me about being a woman! How to own my body and move and dance to how I feel.
And on a lighter note, pole has also given me a reason to shave my legs in winter and walk around with no pants! Best ever!”
Check out the #whatpolegaveme to read some inspiring stories from Aussie pole dancers. You may need a box of tissues for some.
© 2024 Mel Nutter as Baudelaire
