I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t a tad nervous when I found out pole dancing would be my first Sunshine Coast Health and Fitness assignment. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE dancing and I love to get in touch with that sexy side of myself, but to be honest that’s generally after a champagne or two and these days it’s more often than not within the confines of my own four walls. Nonetheless, I braced myself and my abdominal muscles (assuring myself that the application of my tried and tested yoga cue to ‘draw the belly button towards the spine’ would prevent me from sliding straight down the pole like a firefighter on their way to an emergency).
I arrived to class early and took a seat in the car park out the front of the studio with a handful of pole dancing regulars, who were all really warm and welcoming. This relaxed me a little and I started to reassure myself that everything was going to be just fine. ‘I’m a yoga teacher, I not going to have a problem with this whole pole dancing gig’, I mentally repeated to myself. Caught up in my new found positive self-talk, I failed to notice the teacher as she pulled into the driveway where I was sitting and the next minute I found myself clumsily gathering up all of my belongings and tripping over the regular pole dancers to find a safer place to wait. The positive mental mantra immediately switched to ‘this is a bad omen… this is NOT a bad omen… this is a bad omen… this is NOT a bad omen’.
With the studio doors open, the dancers quickly began to file inside and this gave Jo Harding (our teacher) the opportunity to introduce herself to me. Pole Dancing for 10 years, she said that the sport/dance had changed her life is many ways like gaining self-confidence, friendships, fitness but most importantly it was FUN! We had a chat about my exercise history and I filled in some paperwork, with that done I tentatively edged my way into the studio. (A purpose built warehouse with about twenty poles, wall-to-wall mirrors and a cranking sound system). As I observed the other girls getting ready for class by cleaning their poles (with methylated spirits to get a better grip as it turned out) and starting their warm up routines, it dawned on me that I had clearly missed the memo on the necessity to wear extra short bike pants to class. I was sure my trusty pair of ¾ length leopard print yoga pants could never let me down, but turns out they could because you can’t grip to the pole properly unless you have skin to pole contact (cue the firefighter drill and unintentional sliding off the pole). Lesson learned.
The class began with Jo reassuring myself and the other newbie that we would be absolutely fine and to just give it a go. She informed us we would be doing a Rollin Routine by Limp Biscuit, that some of the other girls had been practicing earlier in the 6-week term that was fast coming to a close. Jo CRANKED up the music and we started the class with a warm up that saw us kicking our legs, circling our hips and getting up close and personal with our poles. While the other girls effortlessly circled around the tall, metal bars, I felt anything but graceful as I tried my best to copy the movements without bumping straight into the pole that seemed to be strategically placed in my way.
Never a quitter and always up for a good laugh, I persevered and found that as Jo began to break the routine down into bite sized chunks, it allowed me to practice more slowly without the music and little by little I began to pick up some of the moves. Gradually, I became more comfortable with my pole and actually started to enjoy rhythmically moving my body around its centre. Slowly we learnt more and more of the routine, alternating between the learning phase and the dancing phase (in which we played the music and seemed to dance MUCH faster than rehearsals).
Sadly, its a little dark up in here... But it gives you an idea :)
All in all the whole class was actually an ABSOLUTE blast! The nerves melted away with every passing moment and although there was some moves (like sliding down the pole funnily enough) that would probably take a few sessions to get the hang of, I had moments where I REALLY felt like I was embracing that sexy side of myself, dancing around the pole and getting lost in the music. Like anything it would take a couple of classes to get the hang of it, but as all the regulars kept saying me, it doesn’t take long. I highly recommend giving it a try and maybe even signing up for a 6 week course which allows you to practice at both scheduled classes as well as other times if you would like to. I will definitely be back, so pull out those bike shorts, don’t worry about how your thighs look and I might even catch you there!
Angelique
Keen to give it a try?
Website: http://sunshinecoast.thepolegym.com/
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