Meet Alexandria: Positive Spin Student of the Month

Alexandria

Student since October 2017

What inspired you to try pole dance?

It looked like a really freeing and fun way to get fit!

What are your other hobbies and interests?

Theatre, singing, and game development! I love anything that has the power to be art.

What is your career?

Software engineer!

How has Pole Dancing changed you and impacted your life?

I’ve gotten so much stronger, emotionally and physically! I can do things I never thought possible and I feel braver than I ever have before.

What has been the proudest moment of your pole journey?

The moment I could do a figure 4! (pictured to the right)

It may not be the most complicated thing I can do now, but that was probably the first moment I felt really beautiful on the pole.

What is something people are surprised to learn about you?

I’m actually super clumsy when I’m not on the pole! I’ve been known to fall going *up* the stairs!

What advice would you give to new polers?

Find what it is in pole that draws you, and go with it. Ask questions, and figure out how to reach whatever it is you’re drawn to. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes or sounding silly!

 

In conclusion, I want to say thank you to everyone at Positive Spin for being so kind. It’s really helped me to learn to love myself.

Get 2 Weeks of Unlimited Classes

Meet Jamilah Williams: Positive Spin Student of the Month

Jamilah Williams

Student since January 2018

What inspired you to try pole dance?

I’ve always been impressed by pole dancers and thought it would be a fun skill to learn!

What are your other hobbies and interests?

Crocheting, eating good food, trying to make my cat Instagram famous @jezebel.the.tortoiseshell.

What is your career?

Digital Communications Specialist for Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii.

Why did you choose positive spin?

I saw an ad on Facebook for a trial week and after looking at the website, it seemed like a fun, empowering, and positive 🙂 studio to try!

How has Pole Dancing changed you and impacted your life?

I am so much stronger and more flexible than when I started. I’m proud to tell everyone about what I’ve learned each week and I love getting to see just how strong my body really is.

What has been the proudest moment of your pole journey?

I want to say everything ha! I’m proud of myself for sticking with it. Pole is hard ya’ll! But I love getting to see the progress I make each class.

What is something people are surprised to learn about you?

I was born in Canada, eh!

What advice would you give to new polers?

Stick with it and know that everyone is at a different point in their pole journey.

Get 2 Weeks of Unlimited Classes

Meet Kat Bula: Positive Spin Student of the Month

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.

Get 50% off your 1st class

Meet Katrina Kimzey: Positive Spin Student of the Month

Katrina Kimzey

Student since May 2017

What inspired you to try pole dance?

I wanted a fun way to get in shape and had always heard of the body positivity in the pole dance community. Little did I know I’d find such a great studio and awesome friends to go with it.

What are your other hobbies and interests?

I build robots, create chainmaille, and love on animals. Someday, I’d like to do all three in the same project. If you want to see my chainmaille, you can find me on Facebook and Instagram at @AuroralArmory

Why did you choose positive spin?

Honestly, Positive Spin was the best value. Small class sizes and a wonderful first class, it was a great fit from the first spin.

How has Pole Dancing changed you and impacted your life?

So far, I’ve been more confident wearing what I want and really take pride in my body. I’m sure with some more work, I may find some muscles I didn’t know I had.

What has been the proudest moment of your pole journey?

My first climb was my proudest moment! I spent several classes slipping unsuccessfully down the pole and was so damn excited when I finally got up there! Next goal: my first inversion!

What is something people are surprised to learn about you?

I was born in Japan. 😁 My dad was Navy, but still.

What advice would you give to new polers?

Stretch! Especially after your first class. It makes a world of difference the next day.

Get 50% off your 1st class

Meet Kody Molitor: Positive Spin Student of the Month

Kody Molitor

Student since April 2017

What inspired you to try pole dance?

I was always in awe of the performances I’ve seen, and how beautiful they were and it was something I wanted to take a stab at.

What are your other hobbies and interests?

I love to get outdoors with whatever little free time I have. Hiking, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding. I also enjoy photography.

Why did you choose positive spin?

I liked that the class size was intimate, and that it was a more personal experience.

How has Pole Dancing changed you and impacted your life?

I’ve definitely become more flexible, and it helps me exercise in a way that doesn’t feel like exercise because I have so much fun doing it. It’s also a great conversation topic!

What has been the proudest moment of your pole journey?

Being able to climb. I never had been able to do that my whole life. Never thought I would be able to, but now I can and I’m so happy!

Get 50% off your 1st class

Meet Will McMillan: Positive Spin Student of the Month

Will McMillan

Student since January 2017

Pole Dance Class

What inspired you to try pole dance?

Alyssa invited me to class, I decided ‘Why not,’ took one, fell immediately in love with the sport, and have never looked back.

What are your other hobbies and interests?

I play tabletop games, write, and do 3d modeling. You can find my work on Thingiverse under Avian Galactic.

How has Pole Dancing changed you and impacted your life?

I am in the best shape of my life and have actual body confidence and a positive physical self image for the first time since I actually started caring about that stuff.

What has been the proudest moment of your pole journey?

My first successful inversion was manna from heaven, and everything after that is mostly me trying to chase that dragon again. I’ve caught him a few times since, but you never do forget your first.

Get 50% off your 1st class

Should Pole Dance be in the Olympics?

As a pole dancer, I always defaulted to”yes, of course!” After all, pole is as physically challenging as gymnastics, and beautiful to watch. Plus, being included in the Olympics could help legitimize pole to the general public, who often still stigmatize pole. However, lately I’ve come across a few compelling arguments against adding pole to the Olympics. 

Pole Dance in the Olympics

Pole Athletes Are unique in their demographics

Notice the average age of Olympic gymnasts. They start training as young children, peak as teens, and often retire by age 20. This isn’t uncommon among sports in general. Even at a recreational level, many adult sports expect that you have some experience or basic knowledge to participate. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with kids learning pole, but I really appreciate that pole is one of the only activities that you’re expected to start learning as an adult. In fact, I started pole because I could not find a gymnastics gym anywhere near me that offered adult classes.

Stigma, Stigma, Stigma

We pole dancers are always fighting stigma. On the surface it seems inevitable that Olympic status would alleviate this stigma, but some dancers offer another perspective. The fear is that it could actually further stigmatize certain styles of pole dance. Since the Olympics are family friendly, exotic pole dance would probably be prohibited. This could increase the divide between sexy pole and athletic pole. If you’ve ever gone down the rabbit hole of YouTube comments, you know that they’re full of misguided suggestions that one pole dancer is more respectable than another, or accusing exotic style dancers of ruining the sport. The Olympics is the most respected athletic event in the world, and if it only features a specific style of pole, it could further perpetuate the idea that other styles of pole are inferior.

Dancing for a score

Furthermore, Olympic performances are judged on points systems and strict regulations. These regulations are arguably much stricter than many pole competitions. The concern is that pole routines will become a means to gather points, rather than an artistic endeavor.

When you go to a pole dance competition, you often find a huge variety of routines- funny routines, lyrical routines, sporty routines, sexy routines, and more. It is unlikely that this variety would carry through to the Olympics, with its specific expectations.

In Conclusion

Realistically, we can’t be certain how much the Olympics would effect pole communities at large. It seems reasonable to assume that such a monumental event would have significant impact on a sport, but it also seems unlikely that the majority of studios would transition into Olympic training centers.

Even with all these things considered, I still think pole deserves a place in the Olympic Games. However, these arguments against the movement do bring up important reminders for the larger pole dance community. Let’s all work together to preserve the variety of things that make pole beautiful, empowering, and fun!

How to put together a routine!

Have you ever been stumped trying to put together a routine? You know the moves,
you have the stamina, but how do you make it all come together?

  1. The most important tip of all: Come to class!!!

    We have plenty of time to prep, but coming to class each week is super important in building your skills and putting your routine together.

  2. The second most important tip of all: Start a pole journal!

    Sometimes when I’m intentionally trying to put together a routine, I suddenly forget most of the moves I know. It can be tough to remember all the things you’ve learned, especially since we aren’t able to revisit everything every week, so I recommend bringing a journal to class and writing down all the moves you learn AND all the ways you know how to combine moves. I look forward to seeing more pole journals in class!

  3. What tone do you want for your performance?

    Some pole dances are smooth, beautiful, and lyrical, some are silly, theatrical, or over the top, and everything in between. There are ways to vary the style within the routine intentionally, but you probably don’t want to be all over the place.

  4. Start Simple

    Some pole dances are smooth, beautiful, and lyrical, some are silly, theatrical, or over the top, and everything in between. There are ways to vary the style within the routine intentionally, but you probably don’t want to be all over the place.

  5. Choosing music

    Do you want to chose a song the audience will be familiar with? How long do you want your routine to be? You can always cut down a song if it’s too long. You’ll probably want to pick a song that goes well with the type of movement you feel confident executing, but you can also do the opposite and pick movements based on the song you want to use.

  6. Vary the intensity

    It can be tempting to pack your routine with all the most challenging and impressive moves you’ve learned, but remember that just because you can do those moves doesn’t mean you can do them all one after another while still maintaining good form and fluidity. Give yourself time to rest by doing floorwork and transition moves so that you can really execute the challenge moves.

  7. Be Creative

    All pole tricks were created because somebody did them, so why not create a new one! You all bring different skills and experiences to pole, so make the routine your own.

  8. Take Your time

    Sometimes it feels like you’re going really slowly through a routine, because, let’s face it, pole isn’t always the most physically comfortable sport, when in actuality, it looks like you’re going pretty fast. Slow things down and hold each pose for a few seconds, especially if you’re on a spinning pole.

  9. Vary your Levels

    Even if you’re not inverting or doing many aerial moves yet, you still have moves on the floor- lying down and sitting up, and of course standing spins, and maybe a climb or 2.

Spring Giveaway! Win a Free Portable Home Pole!

For every class purchased or attended between now and April 30th, 2017, students will get 1 entry into a drawing for a free megabrand home dance pole!

Buy a package of 6 classes, and not only get a cheaper rate per class, but also get 10 entries into the drawing!!!

 

The pole will fit most standard ceiling heights 7.5ft to 9.3ft, with extensions available for purchase. It is gently used but still has a lot of use left in it! When installed properly, the pole does no damage to the floor or ceiling, and leaves no trace when removed, making it suitable for rental spaces. Entries are given for beginner classes, private, and semi-private lessons!Ashley

 

Single classes can be purchased online, class packages can be purchased via email or in person.

Sign up now!

Questions? Send me a message at alyssa@positivespinpoledance.com

 

Positive Spin Pole Dance Fitness LLC is not responsible for any injury or malfunction that may occur when using this product

 

Who we’re watching: Olga Trifonova

Olga Trifonova, still only 13 years old, began pole dancing at age 8, and won Russia’s got Talent at age 11.

Her interest in pole dance started at the age of 6, but she was turned away and told she was too young. Today, she’s happy to be an ambassador paving the way for kids to practice the sport of pole dance.

Join the pole dancing movement, sign up for a class today