Kat Bula
Student since July 2017
What inspired you to try pole dance?
It scared the crap out of me, and that seemed juicy to explore. Also, I’ve been prone to shoulder and elbow injuries throughout my career as a fiddle player, and needed an upper body strength building activity to help combat that. (I still can’t believe how quickly these problems evaporated when I started poling!)
What are your other hobbies and interests?
I’m a professional musician and I moonlight as an astrological consultant. I also dig food projects that make people either say “why would you not just buy that at the store?” or “why would you want to eat that?”
You can track my musical shenanigans at katbula.com, and my astrology site is downtoearthastrology.com.
Why did you choose positive spin?
Honestly, it’s because there were men’s classes offered! Even though I’m not eligible to take them, it was part of an overall signal to me that the studio isn’t about teaching women how to get better at performing gender a certain way. I also loved the playful vibe I saw in the photos on the website.
How has Pole Dancing changed you and impacted your life?
Oh man. Well. First of all, it’s a lot of fun to be almost 35 and suddenly sprouting visible muscles for the first time in my life. More broadly: pole classes continually challenge my concepts of my body’s limits, and teach me to work with gravity and momentum in bigger, more courageous ways. Because of all that, I’m finally starting to feel more grounded and present in my body than I have since I was a small kid. That means I show up differently in all areas of my life. I get self-conscious about the evangelical tone I sometimes take when talking to friends about pole, but for me, it really has been transformative.
What has been the proudest moment of your pole journey?
I don’t know if anything will ever top the first time I managed to climb the pole! I had been struggling with that for what seemed like far longer than the other students who started at the same time. That’s been true of a lot of pole skills that came afterward, too, but that first climb showed me that I really could accomplish these things if I stick with them–it’s not just “other people” that can do stuff like this! And the beautiful thing about non-competitive dance fitness is that it is, you know, not a competition.
What is something people are surprised to learn about you?
I think once you’re a pole-dancing astrologer who earns a living as a musician, people stop being surprised very often by further quirks.
What advice would you give to new polers?
YouTube is your oyster! There is so much variety in the pole world, far more than I ever imagined when I started. Pole can of course of be very sexy and a certain type of feminine, but to me it’s also super inspiring to see funny pole, sad pole, aggressively masculine pole, elegant pole, narrative pole, and on and on.