Just wanted to apologize for going a bit dark lately. I’m a little short on time, but I guess I’d rather be dancing than writing about dancing! (While not actually dancing, haha).
I’ve just started my master’s degree (J school at Syracuse Newhouse, HOLLA), resumed rehearsals with the Fire Blossoms (Maki’s back from Japan, yay!), have been writing several pieces a month that embarrass my parents for Bustle, and am of course still working full time! I’ve also been trying to into the pole studio at least for my flexibility classes if nothing else, but honestly, I have not been on a pole for a while. I can’t even complain though because my lucky ass has a gym attached to my office with great classes around lunch time so I’ve been able to keep my conditioning up regardless of what I have going on after office hours. I guess I just need to worry about losing a few callouses and some grace when it comes to pole, haha.
I love being busy and I feel like I get a lot more done when I have a lot more to do–that’s a thing, right? But check back in with me in a month and I might be on the verge of a breakdown, we’ll have to see, haha.
Oh and also I have a boyfriend and I’ve tricked him into taking a flexibility class with me this week, muhahahahahahahahaha. #lifechanges.
Hey y’all. No real news, except that I got to do a photoshoot this past week with Body & Pole for their promo materials and website! Actually it was two separate shoots: one for poleography, and one for flexibility (good thing I walked to the studio because I was warm enough to split on command without popping anything, eek).
I’m excited to see the pics, but also concerned about how crazy the smiling looked when combined with long, painful pose holding. I’ll share ’em when I see ’em!
Hope everybody’s enjoying this gorgeous September. Is there really any better weather than “light blazer over your sundress” season? Yes please.
My mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year (tomorrow) and this is the list I gave her (from which she could pick an item or two):
-Ballet slippers
-OR just a package of black socks. Exactly the same thing, practically.
-An over the door pull up bar (like, self explanatory).
-Ear buds.
This is an accurate reflection of my interests this summer.
I signed up for “summer school” at Body and Pole, which, in hindsight, was a mistake.
For one thing, I didn’t calculate how many weekends I’d need to be out of town this summer–camping trip, wedding shower, wedding-wedding, special visit home to visit the Lil Stinker who looks like this now, CAN YOU STAND IT??
Julia 😀
My favorite classes–and frankly, the only ones I’m fit enough to do in a row–are all on weekends: ballet, flexibility, and poleography.
The classes available on weeknights are too early (5pm???? Body and Pole you need to calm down, you’re a half hour away and I get off work at 6), or too freaking advanced (we all remember my foray with “floor fusion”).
😐
The upside is, without feeling guilty about spending precious pole $$$ on flex classes, I did definitely did get super into flexibility this summer. And that is (sorry, I have to do it again), 100% due to the lovely teachings of Emily Sanderson, who was just made flexibility director/czar/empress/etc at Body and Pole. Coming back from that low back disc issue, I could weep tears of gratitude at the zero-pressure atmosphere she creates in her class. With her cues and notes on where things should feel “interesting” and plenty of modifications, I always know HOW to push a little harder if I want to, but I never, ever feel shamed into doing stuff that doesn’t feel right. I only wish this was true of all of my fitness classes. #SHADE.
Okay stopping gushing now, I also had a blast with Polegraphy–and omg, I discovered so much amazing music. Body and Pole had a studio-wide “Glass Animals” movement and now that’s my whole stretching playlist.
Here’s a sample of how sick this music is for pole (this is Emily from flex dancing to Gooey. BTW, COULD YOU JUST DIE at her fluidity???):
I could post a shitton of videos here, but, I just did a dump on instagram, so click the the link to the laptop-friendly version of all those. (Re: instagram: yes, I have one, yes I’m still intimidated by other dancers, and yes, I’ve decided to embrace mediocrity and put it out there. We need more examples of what “intermediate” looks like, or MARION CRAMPE WINS).
Huge ups to Tatiana, Kelly, and Irmingard of B&P for their beautiful choreo which was unfortunately butchered by my willing, yet not terribly able body. The struggle is real, but so is the progress!
What have y’all been up to?
Are you on insta? Can I follow you? I don’t know anyone. Come find me at @thespindiaries!
Now enjoy these pictures I took from”Movies with a View,” plus other miscellaneous summer picks. Movies with a View is basically free movies under the Brooklyn Bridge, and the night I took the pics we saw “Dr. Strangelove.” It was motherfucking hilarious. PROTECT YOUR PRECIOUS BODILY FLUIDS.
Oh, and after that, I’ve dropped a few choice yummy jams from Glass Animals. I HIGHLY recommend you use them as Pandora/Spotify inspiration, they’ll turn up some great pole music.
I discovered orange lipstilck… while I was supposed to be getting ready for the movie.
shockingly wearable!
Like… are you kidding right now.
Other stuff that happened: I met this guy whose banter game was ON POINTE.
And another one!
I went to my best friend from home’s wedding shower with my mom and my sister 🙂
And I did my hair/put on eyeshadow for the first time this summer in real life (ie. excluding shows).
Speaking of shows, we had one!
oh yeah and then it was just the usual suspects on Tinder. #brooklyn.
Glass Animals Songs I Like (presented without comment because this post is already hella long).
I’ve been taking some time out to do summer stuff and generally chill in my time off, instead of spending it hunched over my computer as during the work day. So pardon my hiatus!
I did want to drop a quick line though because I haven’t stopped training (though I’m mainly doing flex, ballet barre, and poleography–no hardcore pole right now because my favorite teacher hasn’t been in in a while and I’m STILL having bad experiences with other peeps. *SIGH* Just want to get through a Level 2 without wanted to cry y’all). Anyway, I love my other classes, and as usual when I take class with my utterly fabulous, professional, knowledgeable, infinitely patient, etc etc teachers I I LEARN SO MUCH.
Our flex teacher (WHO I LOVE, OMG YOU GUYS, SHE’S THE LITERAL BEST) asks for requests sometimes, and I recently issued a weird one: butt stretching.
Here’s the background: I have a horrific time with frog/straddle stretches. I’m used to some intense stretching, but while other people say they feel these stretching in their inner thighs, they make me feel like my outer thighs as well as hips are being broken. Like, wishbone-being-pulled-apart style.
This cannot be normal, I thought, so I googled “are straddle splits impossible for some people.” Because it feels that bad to me, and I have seen NO progress, despite making visible gains in all my other flexibility–including shoulders, aka fixing my dinosaur arms. (whaaaaat? I know! Miracles happen.)
This is a T-band stretch.
What I discovered from a gazillion message boards is, sometimes the issue with painful straddles is not necessarily the muscles that straddles stretch (inner thighs) but the opposing ones: hips, outer thighs, and glutes. By targeting these muscles with stretches like figure four or T-band stretches (I don’t know the name for them but they usually involved turning your leg out and pulling it across your body), you have a better shot at getting to the muscles you actually want to stretch: yo inner thighs!
Class was mostly the typical order of operations, with straddles at the end. I don’t notice anything different, except that our figure fours and T band stretches (I admitted to the teacher when I asked for “butt stretches” that I actually didn’t know any besides these, the ones we were already doing) came right before we went into straddles.
This is also a T-band stretch.
Then a miracle happened. My straddles/froggies hurt like a bitch (lol what else is new), but for the first time ever I felt the pain in my inner thighs!!! Then we did some rolling of the hips and weight shifts and sure enough, I was able to go a little deeper. ie. I MADE PROGRESS.
I asked the teacher after class what did we had done differently (because that was MAGIC), and she said nothing–we had just changed the order. We weren’t doing any additional or different stretches, we were just doing those outer hips and glutes ones right before center splits. The teacher said she felt a difference too, and that she going to do her class like that from now on, which made me feel like less of a wackadoo for asking for “stretches for your butt” while others were requesting classy things like “heart openers.” #elegance
King of the Butt Stretches: Figure Fo’
So what’s going on with y’all? I definitely didn’t bother with the flow challenge like I thought I would because my air conditioner has just not been keeping up with this heat. When I get home I just sit on my couch and pant like Jabba the Hut, it’s pretty attractive.
I have been learning some cute combos in class though–I’ll post some poleography clips in another blog. But for now, look at this HAWT routine I saw at “Shtick a Pole in It.”
Shtick a Pole in It is a combo pole/comedy show. No, the dancers don’t tell jokes and the comedians don’t pole haha–they alternate! The comedians were surprisingly hilarious and the dancers were top freaking notch. Like, SICK.
I had two favorites performances but in one of them the dancer (terrifyingly) fell so I don’t think they’ll post it. She was fine and actually resumed the routine after a quick break to wipe the pole down, but it was really too bad because she was obviously a pro and her performance was out of this world until her fall. To her credit she was doing an insane trick combo at the time, so I guess it just goes to show that a slippery pole can strike anyone at any time.
Anyway, here’s my other favorite. My friend said she’s a NY Poler and her name is Anna. You can’t see it in the video, but she had a really lovely ease to her dancing and cute facial expressions which took an already sick routine to the next level. I’m fangirling here but I don’t even care because it was perfection.
Check her out!
And if you’re New York in September, catch the next show! I think they said it would be the last Sunday of the month, but that have yet to post. Check the Facebook group, I’m sure it will be up soon!
So anyway, I was messing around on my pole this weekend (hence this gif), and decided to try a handstand.
And I was like… wow, okay, that went better than expected! It was definitely hard (you can see me shaking!) but I didn’t feel as scared or as disoriented as I usually do in an upside down, free-standing movement. Progress!
Note: this may seem obvious but it was helpful to me: I just started (literally, one class under my belt) this floorwork/capoeira-inspired class, and the teacher tells us to PUSH against the ground through hand-based movements. Really helpful for handstands on or off the pole! (LOL as if I have ever done a handstand off the pole, but I’m using my imagination).
I also got yet another failed try at taking my leg warmers off without stopping a dance. Listen, I don’t care, I WILL NEVER STOP TRYING TO MAKE THIS WORK. I’m convinced it can be done, somehow, someday.
Oh and here’s a still of my shirt flying up in a handstand with a filter, because why the f*** wouldn’t I put a filter on this? Filters on everything.
Here’s a photo of how red my thighs were afterward–without a filter because my thighs are majestic on their own and don’t need one. (Sorry that this is also a closeup of my crotch, the proximity of thighs to crotch could not be helped. I made it small so as to be less offensive).
For real though, my thighs really hurt.
How’s everybody? Anyone want to do a music swap? Here’s what I’ve been listening to. Share something!
1. Otis Redding, Stand by Me
This version has the perfect amount of lilt for pole. #Classic
2. D’Angelo, Feel Like Making Love
D’Angelo on one of my playlists? Not a surprise. I don’t mind being predictable when it comes to consistently perfect pole music tho…
3. Jah Khalib, Out of My Head
I don’t know what language this is in. Russian? Give it a chance because the hook is hot fire.
4. ScHoolBoy Q, Collard Greens
This beat is really different from everything else on my playlists.
So as you guys remember, I have been bitching and moaning a lot about intermediate teachers.
Basically, my problem has been being stuck between “way too easy advanced-beginner” and “holy shit I can’t do any of that yet intermediate.”
This would not be a problem if the intermediate classes were friendly to newcomers (ie. breaking down new moves instead of just having students do combos including a string of them… as warm up).
But, yeah, the opposite.
So, my basic strategy has been to go to these scary intermediate classes prepared for failure and embarrassment. I’ve been sucking it up, checking my pride at the door, and giving every move my hardest and most ignorant attempts (which inevitably lead to total failure). I figure even if I’m not hitting any of the poses, at least I’m working the muscles trying to get into them, and maybe one day I’ll get there.
This approach still sucks though because 1. it’s pretty humiliating, 2. the teachers I’ve had so far seem repelled by my failingness and prefer to assist students who are instead 80% there, and 3. ouch. (I’m hitting the ground a lot).
So imagine my utter delight at ending up in this one fantastic teacher’s class. I almost don’t even want to give you a name because I don’t want to blow up my spot, but Rica at Body and Pole, you guys…. yessssss.
I just stalked her for you guys and found this video, which is her first place performance at Polesque (a show I HIGHLY recommend seeing this year if you can).
But let me be real: as bad ass as this performance is (and as much hair and flexibility envy as I am experiencing), I kind of could give a shit this point about dance or choreo skills from an instructor. I care about a person who can TEACH. And that’s why I love this chick.
First off, she’s hilarious. She describes the posture for pencil spins by having you “imagine rainbows are shooting out of your vagina through your feet.”
She’s also tough (pull-up climbs, uggggggggggggh), but reasonable. She breaks things down. She gives you different components to a move so that if you can only climb and get into the first position, that’s okay–just work on that. She doesn’t shame you. (I’ve noticed a lot of teachers throwing around the “by this level you should know this” line, WHICH IS REALLY OBNOXIOUS BECAUSE WHY DO YOU THINK I’M HERE? I AM TRYING TO LEARN AND YOU’RE JUST SHAMING ME FOR NOT ALREADY KNOWING ARGHHHHHH).
And here’s the best part: she comes around to everybody as you work on stuff.
Not just the people she’s friends with.
Not just the people who are doing well and want style suggestions.
Every. Body.
And again, she’s tough. I did a shitty chopper into a pose and she called me on it, but was also like, “I wouldn’t let you get away with that except I know you’re tired” (which I really appreciated because yeah, it was an hour and 10 minutes into the class, my 10th or 11th invert in a row, and I had been giving my literal all. My arms were throbbing hours after that class). But I like being pushed! Don’t let me get away with anything!! Yes. I’ll do better next time!
Oh oh oh, and then this happened: she called us to the middle of the room to cool down and she put this song on.
Like, I feel as though Jesus has directly guided me into this class. Seriously.
Anyway, thank you Rica!!!!!!! After such a rough patch, I’m remembering why I liked pole again (even when it’s challenging). I’m extremely grateful and more motivated than ever. Cheesy, but true 🙂
How’s everybody else doing with training?
Are we planning some poling for the blizzard?
I’ve honestly been too sore to freestyle with all the classes I’ve been forcing myself into but I’m hoping to sneak some time in tomorrow. Maybe some good stretching too!
Turns out, my friend Irene who’s an aerialist (she’s been on 8 apparatuses and counting) and a poler lives somewhat nearby to me! (though honestly, nothing is truly nearby Bay Ridge).
Since she has a photoshoot coming up, she wanted to come by and practice poses. So we had a POLE PLAY DATE (PPD).
I snapped a few pics so she could see which moves were photographing well, but honestly, the slaying-ness is undeniable and I just had to post, poor photo-quality be damned! (I shot these with my iPhone from where I was lazily stretching on the floor)
Check this out, and feel ungraceful by comparison:
She can also flag, so she also taught me how, kind of!
I shocked myself by getting a variation of it on my first try–my legs wanted to go into a stag position and I was feeling it, so I stuck with it. I can also do it with one leg straight, but, it looks less dancery.
The trick is to support your rib cage with your lower arm. You have to create a shelf with your tricep/elbow area to rest your upper body on. Then just hang on tight with the top arm (locking the pole in your armpit) and push away with the bottom one, and amaze yourself by being able to lift your legs. It’s really not as hard as it looks, shockingly).
Ugh, I miss my normal-sized ponytail.
NB: I sent this picture to my dad, who thought it was a spin (because how else would I hold myself up unless momentum was helping, THANKS FOR HAVING FAITH IN ME DAD).
I wanted my dad to think I was a boss, so I shot this video of the trick while working on the freestyle I promised you guys (no, I didn’t forget!). It’s over on Facebook because I didn’t wanted to get muted/in trouble on YouTube or Vimeo.
Oh, speaking of freestyling… I shot like 7 or 8 full song videos from the other night. I just hated all of them.
Why? I’m very disappointed in myself with the lack of variety. I think this is a clear sign that I need to be taking classes at a new studio and expanding my repetoire of moves, because the ones I have are TIRED.
Anyway, I did do like a 10 second or so sequence to a Sam Smith song that I ended up liking, so I’ll include that below.
A word on Sam Smith: I saw the “I’m Not the Only One” video a few weeks back and was absolutely gutted by it. While I was dancing to it, I didn’t really have a word in mind–instead, I was trying to capture that push and pull of a bad relationship: it’s making you miserable, but you need the moments of happiness more than ever because you’re so unhappy. The cure is the poison, etc. (If you know me, you know I have a lot of experience with this.)
If you haven’t already, go watch the video, if only for Chris Messina (moment of silence for the bad boy hotness he has going on here.)
And finally, here’s a clip of me remembering that I hate men:
I actually shot a few takes to this song, but the others are on my iPad after my phone ran out of space. So maybe I’ll find something I like to post later. (Though chances are I will hate literally all of those videos too).
What’s new with you guys? Staying motivated or feeling anti-exercise right now with all the fitness hype in the air?
My beauty routine now involved wetting a q-tip and polishing the stone after I powder my face.
It’s cute though, right?
I should note that I only got this because, on a trip to the mall to get my glasses adjusted (an appropriate activity for someone who is almost thirty), my little sister announced that we were making a pit stop to get her nose pierced. And she did (she’s 25… I protested a little, but hey, she’s an adult and it’s her face). The thing is… it looked so cute that I got mine done on the spot.
Spoiler alert: it does not feel like a “little pinch” to get your nose pierced.
It feels like a metal rod is being pushed through your cartilage, and it takes several excruciating seconds.
Nobody told me that it wouldn’t hurt, but, ya know, I figured I’m Pole Strong (TM) so it wouldn’t bother me. Lol yeah it hurt so bad.
Again, cute though, right? I was thinking that I would immediately regret it, but actually, I’m in love. It’s pretty (SPARKLES) but a little edgy, just like me. The edgy part anyway.
Okay okay, so here’s some obligatory Thanksgiving pictures of The Baby, who now says the word “Cat” which I’ll go ahead and assume is an attempt at Cathy (IN YO FACE, “mama” and “dada”!)
Please note her exasperation with my sister’s posing as she waits for more yogurt to enter her face. This kid. Love her.
…MOAR YOGURT.
Everybody have a good thanksgiving? Are we all getting appropriately, seasonally fat?
Here’s a song I just found and can’t wait to try on the pole, ps–acoustic version of Running, Jessie Ware. DAMN can this woman sing.
Couple of things: 1. I made an invert video even though I’ve been hella sick! I shot it 10 minutes before I ran out the door last night and haven’t looked at it since, so it might be crap at worst and will definitely need editing/uploading at best. So sit tight!
2. Oooooooh my god, dating.
Dating.
I have been rejected a lot in my life. Most recently, twice in the past month–both times by guys I had two great dates with and had tentatively set up a third with. Until they changed their minds.
Guy #1 told me he was “emotionally unavailable right now.” Okay, fine, whatever. But he elaborates, and eventually reveals that not only is he boning another person right now, he did so the night/morning of our last date. #class. This hasn’t stopped him from trying to backpedal a few days later with, “We’re in an open relationship–but she wants me to date!” Uh, yeah. I’ll think about it.
Guy #2 had asked me out again after an awesome 2nd date, but then decided he was too busy with work and that maybe we weren’t compatible. Again, fine. Whatever. Did this hurt my feelings? Yes. Do I understand that this type of thing is out of my control and I just have to eat it? Yes.
It would have been fine if we left it there. But no, we didn’t. He went on to explain that the reason we were incompatible was that he believed that I wanted something “serious” and he did not.
This isn’t quite fair because I don’t even know him enough to know whether I want to be “serious” with him, but I said “okay” to it because ideally, I guess I do want a real relationship. So fine.
And then he invited me over.
Like, 10 minutes after explaining why he doesn’t want to date me.
This is bizarre and offensive for many reasons–the most pressing of which: he had just dumped me, and I had just finished crying over it (I’m very sensitive about this stuff at this point, leave me alone).
I told him I thought this was offensive (being upfront, heyo), and after some feeble backpedaling, he called me. I was disgusted with the entire situation at that point, so I did not pick up.
What felt like several minutes later, my phone buzzed. I had a voicemail. A long, long voicemail.
Again, too disgusted with the situation to deal with it at the time, I listened to it on my way to the laundromat the next day. And oh. My. God.
It takes a lot to piss me off to the point where I will go to the trouble of learning how to turn a voicemail into an mp4 file, and then how to turn an mp4 file into a video format that YouTube or Facebook will accept, so trust: this voicemail really, really pissed me off.
I’ll go ahead and let it speak for itself. But remember: this guy had just dumped me. Then he asked me to come over to his house at 10pm on a Friday (I have never been to his house and I don’t even know where he lives). Then, after reading texts where I explicitly told him off for confusing me with a hooker, THIS is what he had to say:
So, dating.
Invert video coming soon, hope y’all had a better weekend than I did!
Also, feel free to commiserate if you’ve had close encounters of a douche kind, it always makes me feel better.
OH, totally unrelated but important: I saw an incredible fusion bellydance to this song last night and I walked three subway stops out of my way getting home from the show so I could listen to it on YouTube and mentally choreograph. That’s how you know it’s good. Enjoy!
The Spin Diaries: Your Guide to Everything Pole and Aerial 