Pole dance like there's nobody watching

[Katie Kowalski | ptleader]

“It feels like there's this big movement right now about how women need to lift each other up and stop tearing each other down.”

Working out wasn't working out for Karen Anderson.

She'd tried kettlebells, running, Brazilian jiujitsu and more, but she kept straining her back and hurting herself.

On a whim, she tried pole dancing.

“When I started, I had this very specific image of Gene Kelly twirling on a lamppost; that's all I wanted to do,” Anderson said, referring to the American dancer, actor and singer of 1952 “Singin' in the Rain” fame.

“You know, like Gene Kelly in booty shorts.”

Now, more than two years later, the 41-year-old Port Townsend woman has yet to suffer an injury from pole dancing, and said the workout has helped her to love her body and appreciate its full potential.

“Nothing's been able to click with me and make me stay with it as long as this has,” Anderson said.

POSITIVE FEEDBACK

Because of the stigma that surrounds pole dancing, Anderson said she didn't tell anyone about the weekly class she attends at Dolphin Dance in Port Orchard – apprehensive about how it might affect her friendships and her job.

This spring, she performed in her first studio recital, overcoming anxiety about dancing for an audience. That performance motivated her to come out about it to her friends.

“I have not had one negative reaction,” Anderson said. Instead there's been an “overwhelming amount of really positive feedback.” Now, people ask her how she does it and tell her how strong she looks.

In October, she again faced her fears, dancing at the Seattle Erotic Art Festival.

WOMEN HELPING WOMEN

While there is a sexual element to the dancing, Anderson said, everybody takes what they want from the class.

“There are definitely advantages in the sexual world to learning how to do this, but I would say that pole dancing is so much more than that,” she said.

Building camaraderie among women is a core goal of the studio she attends.

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Pole dance your way to good health

[Krutika Behrawala | Mid Day]

“Being on a pole is like flying. It is meditative and one of the most beautiful ways to connect with yourself,”

“Being on a pole is like flying. It is meditative and one of the most beautiful ways to connect with yourself,” says 27-year-old Aarifa Bhinderwala, as she caresses a 10-feet high steel rod under the dim glow of yellow lights in a mirrored room.

Like poetry in motion, she firmly grips it with her hands and a leg, pushes herself off the ground and spins on it mid-air. Donning a black two-piece, she syncs her lithe movements to a soulful melody in a four-minute video uploaded recently on Culture Machine's digital channel, Blush.

She gracefully twists on the pole - stretching herself in a way that she is parallel to the ground and even defying gravity by turning upside down. The video aims to break the stereotype that pole dancing is a thing of strip clubs. It celebrates Bhinderwala's journey with the pole that helped her deal with Pre-Menstrual Syndrome (PMS) and shed insecurities about her body.

On top of things

Bhinderwala discovered pole dancing three years back, when she visited her sister and newborn nephew in Perth, Australia.

“I was looking for things to do in Perth and came across a class on pole dancing at Shemoves Pole Dance Fitness Studio. There wasn't anything like this in our country,” says the Malad resident, who took to the pole in the first class itself. “I had never considered myself to be a strong person since I wasn't much into fitness. In the first class, I learnt to hold my own body weight because we had to try aerial movements using the pole. The motion of spinning on it reminded me of my childhood when I would fling my arms and twirl, feeling a buzz in my head,” says the artiste.

[READ MORE]

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10 Ways Pole Dancing Prepares You For Motherhood

[Kimmie Fink | Romper]

Let's play a little word association game. I say pole dancer and you say, stripper? That's my guess, and it's a problem because our society has presented a limited view of the aerial arts. (Not that there's anything wrong with exotic dancing - no stripper-shaming here). Pole dancing, however and thankfully, has recently become more mainstream. People (women and men) are checking it out as a fun way to exercise, express themselves artistically, and get in touch with their sensual side. As it turns out, pole dancing prepares you for motherhood, too, so the benefits truly are endless.

I was first introduced to pole dancing at a bachelorette party. When the celebratory group showed up to the studio a little early, I watched a bit of the advanced class taking place before ours. Now, I wasn't very interested in the sexy stuff (just not my speed), but I really wanted to learn those badass Cirque de Soleil tricks the advanced class members were pulling off. I took the intro class and, well, advanced through several levels. I bought my own pole to train at home (I even took it when I moved to Honduras) and started performing with my studio's troupe, eventually competing. I loved seeing my body get strong, my teacher and mentor who pushed me beyond what I thought I was capable of, and my pole community of badass women.

Courtesy of Kimmie Fink and Alloy Images

Once I got pregnant, I decided to quit pole dancing. Some women continue to pole while pregnant, but I was too sick and worried about potentially falling. Still, throughout my pregnancy and later as a new mom, I often found myself reflecting on the many ways pole dancing helped me prepare to be a mother, including the following:

It Gives You Strength

http://gph.is/1GIjlul

It's not an exaggeration to say pole fitness (if you really commit) can help you tone and strengthen muscles. That was certainly the case for me. All those muscles you're building while poling? Totally helpful in this mom business.

Your abs of steel will be a huge asset during childbirth, and you'll need those core muscles when caring for a newborn while simultaneously recovering from labor and delivery. The upper body strength it takes to haul your ass up a 16 foot pole? Yeah, that'll come in handy as you carry that sweet baby around (and the things that sweet baby comes with).

[READ MORE]

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This Irish pole dancing mannequin challenge required some serious strength

[Megan Roantree | Her]

This is very impressive.

The mannequin challenge has well and truly taken the internet by storm.

Celebrities including Adele, Ellen DeGeneres and Beyonce have all tried their hand at the trending challenge and Blac Chyna recently even did it while giving birth.

An Irish house party recently created one with various characters you meet at every party such as the selfie girl and person who always falls asleep.

[READ MORE]

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Il Pole Dance Passport come usarlo al meglio

L'anno scorso ho lanciato il Pole Dance Passport, la prima guida alla pole dance divisa in 7 comodi livelli con tanto di foto e nome di ogni figura. A me sembrano passati già 10 anni, vista la mole di trick che nel frattempo sono usciti. Ma ci sono alcune figure che non si può non saper […]

OG Trickin' - the chopper

Say hello to the helicopter/chopper/inverted V/inverted straddle

The chopper is the hobgoblin of many a poler. I struggled with it for a long time before I built the strength to go into it with control and hold myself there.

A basic that's not so basic

First and foremost, bear in mind that this is not necessarily a beginner inversion–it's a difficult move because you are supporting yourself fully with your hands/arms/shoulders/back. Hear a lot of polers talk about rhomboid and intercostal strains? Yeah. Much of the time those come from incorrect or uncontrolled inverted V work–or from repetition without rest.

Get your body ready

Some conditioning moves that are primo when it comes to nailing your inverted V: knee tucks with your grip in invert position on the pole (knees to SHOULDERS, think froggy legs), knee tucks into tuck-and-tip while holding the pole as though you're going to invert. Another good one is the yoga plow done slowly, using your core to control every inch of movement.

Check yer form!

Bad form can trouble you even if you are strong enough. Keep your arms bent until you're inverted and your hips are close to the pole, then straighten them a bit. I prefer to keep some bend in my arms the entire time because it's much (MUCH) easier to keep my back and shoulders engaged. If your arms are completely straight, it's very possible that, in straightening them completely, you've also “roached” your back slightly, meaning you've rounded out in your upper back. If you're doing that, you're not engaging your shoulders–it's almost impossible to do so, in fact.

What's good form feel like?

Here's a test that you can do, right now. Grab something stable and capable of holding your weight–a door frame works well for this–with both hands and hang your weight back from it until your shoulders round forward. Now try to pull your shoulders back and down into a position of strength. Tough, eh? If you want to move your body at this point, it'll have to be through your biceps, because your core, back, and shoulders are all being stretched to the point where they're basically useless to you. If you were to roll out of an invert from that position you'd probably do so quickly and without any ability to control your descent, and those muscles would all snaaaaaap back into position. It wouldn't feel good, not at all.

Now take the same position while keeping your shoulders back and down and engaged the entire time. Do you feel stronger, more stable, more secure? You should. BlogThis!