Category: Uncategorized

So you wanna be a stripper?

There’s more to stripping than being good on a pole, but very few resources for those who are starting out. We’ll teach you what it takes to be a professional ass shaker, from clothing, to hustle, and to knowing local Seattle laws.

This class is great whether you’re serious about stripping, or just want to learn more about the experience.

For clothing, bring two pairs of shorts layered, a shirt, and some sort of nipple covering for when the shirt comes off. We will learn a routine geared towards performance at a club. In addition, bring a notebook and a pencil to this class; part of this will be in lecture format.

$5 from every ticket sold will be donated to SWOP, (Sex workers outreach project)

$20 Positive Spin Members
$40 Non Members

Register Now!

3 ways pole fitness is changing the narrative of toxic fitness culture

If there’s one thing you can count on in January, it’s every gym being suddenly packed with folks who have resolved to make this the year they finally exercise regularly. This is a fantastic pursuit, if the exerciser is loving themselves through the process. All too often, exercise and the resolutions that drive them are paired with self loathing, regret, and shame.

Fitness culture is unfortunately cluttered with toxic messages that portray health as one size fits all images and numbers. These uniformed standards lead many to shame and self scrutiny if they don’t fit these images, or if they don’t manage to follow the strict fitness regimen they’ve been led to believe is their moral responsibility. Health is an incredibly broad concept, and this way of thinking minimizes it in a way that erases the big picture and, at its worst, leaves the subject less healthy.

What about self love, connection, and emotional well being? Aren’t these at least as important as the size of your biceps or your jeans? Many fitness icons have started to recognize the importance of positive messaging, but I’d argue that many of their efforts fall flat. Have you ever seen a photo of a thin, white woman’s six pack abs with an inspirational caption like “love yourself at every part of the journey”? While the message is objectively important, I’d argue that such posts aren’t doing leaps and bounds to boost the confidence of the average person.

So what is the alternative? Pole fitness is making huge strides in changing the narrative of health and fitness by emphasizing these 3 principles.

1. You Don't owe exercise to anyone

Why is there such a widespread sense of obligation to exercise, to look a certain way? Who exactly is this obligation to, and why do we feel guilty when we don’t follow through? Psychotherapists have decided that guilt is a “destroyer of emotional energy,” which “leaves you feeling immobilized in the present by something that has already occurred.” So if guilt is motivating our exercise pursuits, this can be counterproductive to our overall health.

So what is the alternative to guilt driven exercise?

2. Exercise as celebration, not punishment

Have you ever eaten a delicious meal, only to be flooded with guilt afterwards, making a commitment to run for at least an hour at the gym tomorrow morning, even though you hate running? If you’re like over 75% of the population, you might go through this thought process regularly.

But are we really meant to live our lives in a vicious cycle of “eat something that tastes good, become filled with guilt, do something you hate to feel a little better about it”? Is that what health looks like? It’s certainly not the health standard I want to live by, and not the standard I try to instill in my students at Positive Spin.

Instead, we come together as a community to celebrate the unique abilities of our bodies. Pole class is a time to enjoy and take pride in what your body can do today, while getting excited about what it will be able to do in the future. It’s your favorite part of the day, not the part you dread!

3. Every body looks, and excels differently

Science has long known that our bodies are diverse, and that healthy bodies can come in many shapes and sizes. Yet that hasn’t stopped most of us from feeling like we need to meet a very narrow standard of beauty.

Pole fitness isn’t about changing what your body looks like, it’s about discovering what your body can do right now. Your body will absolutely change and get stronger in the process, but the focus is on all the amazing things that you’re already capable of.

One particularly unique element of pole is that different body types will excel at different moves. Thinner polers might have an easier time gaining the strength to climb the pole, but thick thighs are helpful for holding onto the pole in sits and laybacks. Stomach fat can help you grip the pole in cradle spin and certain elbow grip moves. A very muscular dancer might be able to easily pull themselves upside down, but they might lack the flexibility that another dancer has to do more bendy moves. Pole allows you to discover what your unique body excels at.

As we move into 2019, I hope you’ll consider what a healthy, happy life looks like to you, and don’t feel obligated to meet someone else’s standards.

If you’re interested in trying pole fitness and joining a community that will support you in this journey, we invite you to try Positive Spin for 2 weeks for our January/February New Student Trial Membership Special.

Sign up here for more info!

6 reasons your teen needs to try pole fitness

Positive Spin is offering trial classes for summer session!

Fill out our interest form to get on the list for early access to new session information!

Is pole fitness suitable for teens? While pole fitness was once a controversial activity for minors, the industry has evolved into something that is not only appropriate, but highly beneficial for youth!

If you haven’t been tuned into the evolution of pole fitness, a little research will show a very wide variety in styles of pole. Sure, there are adults who practice exotic style pole, but pole fitness has expanded to include an athletic practice that isn’t any more sexual than the kids classes offered at your local gymnastics gym.

So why pole fitness, when there are so many activities for kids out there?

1.Pole is one of the only strength based sports that puts women and other non-men in the spotlight.

Even as our culture has evolved, and Title IX guarantees that folks of all genders can participate in sports, many sports programs still place men’s leagues in the spotlight. Men’s sporting events are usually more heavily attended and glorified, making men more likely to pursue and continue in sports. As a result, most femme folks do not grow up thinking of their bodies as strong and powerful.

Pole dance is culturally associated with women, has a large gender queer community, and takes a tremendous amount of physical strength. I cannot tell you how many adult women I come across that do not think they can be strong. One of my favorite parts of owning a studio is that I get to show them otherwise. It is an extremely empowering realization! I often wonder how their lives would be different had they been exposed to pole at a younger age.

2.Pole dancers have created one of the most supportive communities.

Pole dance culture has evolved to be non-competitive. Even though competitions are increasing in popularity, dancers are expected to cheer each other on and work together. 

Almost anywhere you go, pole communities share the same core values of body positivity, celebrating one another’s successes, and building quality relationships. There is a culture of respecting everybody’s unique journey, so students who aren’t traditionally athletic are treated as equals at the studio.

3. Pole can become a lifelong hobby and fitness practice.

As we age, both exercise and community become more likely to fall by the wayside, and pole is a great place to meet both of these needs at once. Many sports offer less opportunities as you age, but pole is the opposite. Most studios cater to busy adults, offering a variety of classes and flexible scheduling.

Additionally, pole isn’t as hard on the body as some other sports. Take it from Greta Pontarelli, 67 year old pole star. “Older people can still do amazing things (on the pole) because it doesn’t stress the joints…so it really has tremendous longevity. I think I opened a door. There was a glass ceiling there that broke and I realized this is something that we can do well into our senior years. I hope to do it as long as I live.”

4. Pole is incredibly body positive.

Pole dancers learn to love their body for what it can do, rather than obsessing over what it looks like. Our adult student, Tiffany, explains “I wish I would have discovered it as a teen, who wasn’t even comfortable wearing shorts, to learn to accept my imperfect body and be excited that my body allowed me to do awesome pole moves!”

The world lacks safe spaces for plus size folks to exercise. The pole community is making strides in changing this by offering classes for every body. Roz the Diva is an industry leader in promoting body diversity in pole. 

5.Pole is both athletic and artistic.

Before starting pole, I was not an athlete. In fact, I never played a sport growing up, since I favored music, theatre, and art. Pole is great because it is both artistic and athletic. It provides an incredible workout for artistic students, while allowing athletic students to explore their creative side.

6.Pole teaches men to respect women.

All of our classes are gender inclusive at Positive Spin, and students of all genders are given the same opportunities. Since pole is a female dominated sport, most of our instructors and our most experienced students are female bodied. It can be rare for boys to have female sports coaches, and it is our hope that this shows them that women can be stronger than them, and that this is totally okay.

Our teen pole program started in the 2017-18 school year. Our first teen student, Cayden, shares a little bit about her experience with pole.

“I got started with pole dance because my friend brought me along to her pole class, and then I was totally hooked. It’s made me feel proud of my body, confident, and like I can beat my brother at arm wrestling! More teens should do pole dancing, it’s great!”

 

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