Pole Dance Challenge

I have decided to set myself a pole dance challenge. I want to improve my flow and make my pole dance more fluid and graceful which is something I feel I lack at the moment. It takes me so long to master new tricks I just seem to spend all my time doing that and the overall art of it all suffers as a result, so I have decided that I need to do something about it.

I am going to do regular freestyle dances and video them and post the videos here (possibly. I might chicken out of that last bit to start with!). Hopefully if I manage to keep it up regularly I should start to see some improvement. I’m going to start simple, with mainly dance and floor work elements and then as I get more comfortable with it I’ll start adding in more tricks, although it’s not about seeing how many tricks I can jam in, it’s about making sure that what I do put in fits and flows and is well executed. Hopefully this will also help improve my stamina as well because at the moment the only time I dance to a full song is when I’m in training for a competition.

Of course I’ll still be learning new tricks as well and I’ll keep up the occasional posts on how that’s getting on (I’m currently working on improving my split grip Ayesha / Straight Edge and the Holly Drop).

I’d be happy to receive song suggestions if anyone wants to send me any. I mostly like rock / metal but open to most music really.

Also if anyone has any comments / suggestions / constructive criticisms on the videos feel free to send me those as well. Oh, and if you think I’m not sticking to the plan feel free to give me a kick up the backside and tell me to get on with it!

I'm planning on doing the first video after class tomorrow so hopefully I'll be posting it sometime on Wednesday.

Looking back at 2011 and goals for 2012

2011 started off badly, I was going through some tough times personally and it affected my pole. I managed to lose pretty much all of the progress I had made at the end of 2010 when training for Pole Divas which was disappointing. Things started picking up though and by the start of the summer I felt I was beginning to progress again. I was tempted to enter the UKPPC but decided I wasn’t ready and so just entered the Bristol Pole Championships (BPC) instead which gave me more time to train and prepare. Leading up to the BPC I was considering pulling out on several occasions but I’m glad I went ahead with it as having the competition to focus on really helped my pole training and I feel I started to make more significant progress. I was not that happy with my performance on the day, I messed it up in a few places and it should have been neater but I’m I did it and I will probably do it again this year! Since the competition I have managed to keep my momentum going and have still been improving. Most notably by getting my Ayesha and straight edge which I have been working on. They are still not 100% but I’m getting them most of the time now so I think it won’t be long until they are reliable. I managed to get in a bit of practice over the Christmas and new year break. Normally I end up doing nothing for two weeks but I only went one week with no activity this time. I’m hoping I can keep up the progress into 2012.

My pole goals for 2012 are –
Get my Ayesha / straight edge completely reliable and neat
Be able to lift my shoulder mount
Get more new moves (I’ve been doing quite well with this lately so hopefully that will continue)
Make everything neater, remember to point toes etc.
Do more routines to help with flow, grace and stamina
Do more work on moves that I tend to avoid (mostly layback related stuff)

I think they are all pretty obtainable!

UKPPC Final

Sunday 11th December was the final of the UK Professional Pole Championships held in Birmingham. We were there to support Robyn of 360 Pole Dancing in Bristol who was competing in the Professional Level having successfully made it through the video heat and the live semi final back in October.

There were so many performances that I was looking forward to seeing over the three categories and I was not disappointed.

First up were the instructors. These are people who teach pole but do not perform. There were lots of great performances but the two stand out ones for me were Emily Smith and Nicole McIntyre. Sadly Emily didn’t place but Nicole was awarded runner up. The category was won by Kristina Walker. You can watch her winning performance here –



Next up was the Professional category. These are people who teach and perform. This was my favourite category which I think on the whole featured the best performances of the event. Robyn put in a good performance but unfortunately didn’t place. Lauren Red was the runner up and Bendy Kate was the winner. Also from this category Sarah Scott was given the Sponsors choice award. You can Bendy Kate’s winning performance here –



Lastly was the Elite category. The competitors in this category are all winners or runners up in a national professional competition and are competing by invitation only with no video heat or semi-final. Again all of the performances were brilliant. Karen Chaundy was the runner up and Annie Norris won. You can watch Annie’s winning performance here –



As well as the competitors we also got guest performances by Tess Taylor and Jess Leanne Norris. Both of which were very entertaining. I had been looking forward to seeing Tess perform as I really like her style.

So it was a very enjoyable event. They are planning on running it annually so I am very much looking forward to next year’s event!

The Bristol Pole Championships 2011

Well, last weekend was the Bristol Pole Championships which I competed in. I have been training hard for the competition and it has been quite a journey to get there. I have suffered from terrible nerves weeks before hand and on several occasions came really close to pulling out but hung on in there thanks to the encouragement of my friends and pole students and in the end I’m really glad that I did go ahead and compete.

As I said I was training hard , making sure I practiced my combos every time I was on a pole and then as the competition got closer running through the full routine a lot. It was the routine run throughs that really kicked off my nerves. The combos that I was managing to do perfectly every time on their own were all going wrong when put into the routine! I think I actually only managed two successful run-throughs the whole time. The three days before the competition I was struck down with a nasty cold type bug. Luckily it was short lived and by the day of the competition I was feeling a lot better and was no longer relying on lemsip capsules!

On the day itself I was really nervous. There was a problem in my category with the pole being slippery and some of the competitors that were on earlier than me had problems and had to go on again and re-do their routines which wasn’t helping the nerves at all. Eventually it was my turn and luckily the pole was pretty grippy. I didn’t make any major mistakes and was reasonably pleased with how it turned out. Watching my video back I have decided that I really need to work on pointing my toes and that I need to hold the positions for longer. I held my hip hold for what seemed like ages at the time but watching it back that’s actually the only one that I held for the right amount of time so I will be working on those things for future routines.

You can see my performance here –


Robyn from 360 Pole Dancing was defending her title in the competition as she was last year’s winner and I’m pleased to say that she was successful. You can watch her winning performance here –


Before the competition I had said that I was never going to enter another one again but now I’m not so sure! I’ll see how I feel next year!

Pole Competition Training

The Bristol Pole Championships are just over two weeks away. I am competing in the advanced category and I’m already terrified! I feel really underprepared as I only wrote my routine at the beginning of the week (although I chose my music and had a good idea of what combo’s etc I wanted to include weeks ago and have been working on them for some time). I can do all of the sections (except for the spinny pole bit, but more on that shortly) when I do them on their own but as soon as I start putting it all together to the music I just seem to lose it completely and end up messing it all up! I couldn’t even manage to shoulder mount on Tuesday when I attempted a run through and my shoulder mount is pretty strong as it’s something I’ve been working on a lot.

The competition has two poles, a static and a spinny. Competitors have to use both poles in their routine for a minimum of 30 seconds. I will be doing the bare minimum of 30 seconds on spinny as I hate it! I really struggle with it. I suppose it’s because I’ve done very little spinny work. I had one hour long lesson as part of a workshop day with Jamilla a couple of years ago and have played around on it on occasions at pole jams or on my own but nothing serious so it just feels so different (and so much harder!).

So lot’s of work going into practicing my routine over the next 2 weeks. Hopefully I’ll be able to pull it together in time! I feel much more nervous this time around than I did when I entered Pole Divas last year. I think that is partly because I know what to expect this time. It’s silly but I enjoy all aspects of competitions except for the actual competing bit! I love the focus it gives me, when training for a competition my poling generally improves so much faster than if I don’t have anything to work towards. I like picking out music and writing the routine and I even quite like deciding on the outfit (although I find that quite difficult).

I know quite a few other people that are entering. They are mainly in the other categories. Robyn is in the same category as me defending her title from last year. Daniel who won the intermediate category last year (who I have never met but have seen perform a few times) is in the advanced category this year. I don’t know who else is in the same category as me but I think it is full so there will be ten competitors in total.

I’m likely to give up competing after this as I don’t think I can stand the nerves again! We’ll see if there’s another post like this one in a years’ time!

UK Professional Pole Championships

Yesterday I went up to Birmingham to watch the semi final of the UKPPC and to support Robyn of 360 Pole Dancing in Bristol who was competing in the Professional Level.

The journey up was nice and easy and we found parking and the venue easily. We got into the venue and had really good front row seats.

First up was the instructor category. The standard was really good and I enjoyed all of the performances. My favourite was definitely that of Emily from Emily’s Pole Fitness in Swindon. She did a fabulous Saw themed routine which you can see here –



After a short break it was the turn of the Professional Competitors. Again the standard was really high and there were some fantastic performances. You can see Robyn’s routine here –



In addition to the competitors we also got to see two guest performances which were doubles acts. Bex and Emy with their Tomb Raider themed routine and Dan and Steve with a vampire themed routine. I never used to be a fan of doubles but I do quite like it now (although I still much prefer singles).

Six competitors from each category were selected to go through to the final which takes place in the same venue on 11th December. I’m pleased that both Robyn and Emily made it through to the final which I am very much looking forward too. For the final there will be the Instructor and Professional categories along with the Elite category which consists of previous winners of national competitions.

Pole progress

It’s been a whole month since I last posted! Oops! I’ve been quite busy with my poling and feel that I am making progress (albeit a little slowly). My aysha is coming along. It still needs a lot of work but I’m getting it more regularly now and I know where I’m getting it wrong when it doesn’t work out right so that’s good. My genie is there now, I just need to remember to point my toes! The shoulder mount lift is coming along slowly. Sometimes I can manage to lift it all the way up from sitting but mostly I’m getting part of the way up. I had a practice session on my own at the studio on Friday night and was pleased with that. I videoed it all which was helpful as I can look at the footage and see how the moves are looking and spot what I’m doing wrong.

I went to a mini pole jam / practive at 360 pole dancing in Bristol on bank holiday Monday which was fun. There was a Chinese pole up as well as the normal poles which was good, especially as it was a 3 meter one. I haven’t had a chance to go on a decent height Chinese pole for ages.

Corde lisse is going well. I couldn’t go on Monday night as I was ill which was annoying but hopefully will be back to normal by Monday. I hate missing classes.

I have finished bootcamp for a while now as I am going into full pole competition training mode. As my Friday night practice worked out so well last week I plan on making it a regular fixture for a while so Wednesday has become my rest day.

My pole classes are hopefully picking up a bit now that August is over. I’ve had quite a lot of new enquiries over the past week or so, so with any luck the classes will get a bit busier.