I was bored today so I made a video of the various odd ways new polers have walked around the pole in my classes.
No hate… I definitely was a #3 in the beginning myself. But a cute walk adds SO much to your dancing. It’s worth practicing!
Extended butterfly: trials, errors, and falling on video.
Hey guys!
My friend Irene came over this weekend and we had a pole play date!
She was working on her butterfly, which motivated me to challenge myself too and attempt an extended butterfly. And also, with Irene there, I had someone to spot me/take me to the hospital if I busted my ass, so that was an extra incentive. (Spoiler alert: I did indeed bust my ass, and it’s on video. See below).
So I tried and failed a few different ways, and I’d love to get some poler feedback on technique here. (drop it below!)
On my first few failed attempts, I did my usual butterfly (top leg on the pole from ankle to knee pit, upper body turned out for opposition), but when I straightened my leg and slipped out to my ankle I lost the tension and… well… yeah.
Then I tried an (ugly) version where I hooked my knee first, which WORKED. I think it’s because the hook forced me into a straighter, more squared butterfly where my weight ended up directly overhead (instead of at an angle). With my weight pulling straight back when I stretched out into the extended version, my ankle locked in with the tension on my Achilles, which felt great, and shockingly, SECURE. (Before I was feeling the pull more on the side of my ankle, which felt (and obviously was) much less safe).
So I guess now I need to go back to the drawing board on my plain o’le butterfly and learn how to square it off WITHOUT the knee hook (because it really is ugly).
Aside from that we also working on cupids, and some cute Dirdy Birdy transitions that Irene brought clips of (and a notebook of moves with instructions because the girl is on her game. Seriously, I felt like such a slacker).
Don’t you hate when something that looks simple and easy takes more strength than going upside down?
(That thwacking sound is me hitting my knee, ps).
Irene of course did this beautifully, with much more an arch in the upturned, planky position. Which leads me to believe that hoopers have WAY more shoulder flexibility than the rest of us, and I should get on that.
Here’s DB working the trick: (or click this link to start at 2:03 in case the embed doesn’t take you there!)
What are you guys working on?! Any exciting new bruises?
Happy spring :D!
A few stretching tweaks that can get you past a flexibility plateau
Hey guys,
I’m hoping to get some pics up soon (especially since I got an awesome new bluetooth clicker thing that enables my iPhone to snap photos from across the room, holla!), but basically, I’ve started taking flexibility classes at B&P that have been GAME CHANGING.
I know, I know, I was all “lol I can stretch at home, why would I pay for this” too, but trust me: the prompts that you will receive from a good teacher in these classes are everything. Here’s a few key, simple things I’ve learned so far that have my flexibility game on serious fleek.
(Accompanied by pictures I stole from the internet for explanation purposes)
1. In back bends: think of opening your chest, NOT about crunching your back
Not only did this make back bendy stuff feel so much safer and more comfortable, focusing on opening my chest and getting it up and over my back activated all the muscles in my upper back–which are what make that nice, rounded, SAFE (have I said safe enough yet?) shape in a backbend instead of that “hinged at the lower back” look.
2. In hamstring stretches: pop your booty out and arch your back
This creates that nice burn of opposition, making the stretch so much deeper and more effective, while keeping it totally in your control.
3. In lunge stretches: think 360
It’s easy to just cycle between lunges and hamstring stretches, but if you’re struggling with splits, hitting those hip flexors from new angles may be just the thing to get you into deeper territory.
A few things to try:
-Back bends in a deep lunge stretch (just make sure you’re squared off to get the most out of it). And try arm circles: sweep into them with one arm at a time, up and over, front to back, side to side.
-Pushing the inside of the front knee away in a deep lunge stretch (so that your knee opens and the weight shifts to the outer edge of your front foot). Turn away from the front leg for a little added opposition.
-In a bent over hamstring stretch (one leg straight in front, the other kneeling): turn the front leg out from the hip (so that the pinky toe is closest to the ground), and turn your body to face it, planting hands on the outside of your extended leg as you lower your torso to meet it. (You can allow your kneeling leg to pivet into a “knees together” position). You should feel a deep stretch in the inner thigh.
Do you guys have any flexy tricks up your sleeves? I’ve honestly made so much progress in my back in a few months that I think I’m going to attempt a crescent again! (For the first time since failing at it and swearing off it forever 2 years ago).
And huge shoutout to Emily Sanderson at B&P who teaches flex and is fabulous. Just saying.
XOXO
Hey guys, I’m writing for Bustle now!
Super excited because I have READ Bustle since it was a thing.
Here’s a blog they let me write about pole dancing and dating 😀
HELLLLLLL
Divina Comedia aka The Hell Show came and went, and good times were had.
Here’s a few photos!
Beyond rehearsing for this and two other shows, a lot has been going on… but nothing worth talking about.
So instead, here’s a couple videos of me playing on spin pole and trying not to barf.
(Spin pole is REALLY not my thing as of yet but I’m working on it).
Here’s me:
Attempting an angel spin. (LOVE this song, it’s Active Child, Hanging On)
Attempting a simple thigh grip and being thwarted. (The Weeknd, Earned It, which is of course a cut off the 50 Shades soundtrack which was an ACCIDENT. I’m sorry).
Oh and then my music cut out at one point but I kept going, and when I watched the video later it was kinda funny. (Cee Lo’s Fool for You, and I’m linking to the version with Melonie Fiona because it’s da bomb dot com).
What’s new with everybody?
❤
What’s a dance video that makes you smile?
Any kind of dance! Please share it 🙂
Here’s mine:
Personal Hell: The Musical!
I’ll be you guys thought this was going to be about depression but no–it’s about a show I’m getting ready for that’s based on Dante’s Divine Comedy, and guess what part our piece is about?
THE INFERNO.
Full disclosure: I have kind of hated every minute of learning this. It’s hard on your body (lots of stomping, neck circling, hunching, flopping, and spasming), and our “motivations” are really disgusting.
At varying times in the piece, these are the cues we’ve been given:
-“You’re puking in your hands here.”
-“You’re being electrocuted”
-“Satan is throwing you.”
-“Something is impaling you here (*gestures towards crotch*) and the it comes up and out of your mouth.”
-“You’re being stabbed.”
-Etc, etc, etc.
We’ve also been encouraged to think about our own version of “personal hell” for extra emotional motivation.
Of course Dani, who’s a friend as well as a teacher, called me out in class: “Cathy’s version of personal hell, for example, would be an eternity of hearing “Hey Cutie” on OkCupid.”
I had to agree with her.
(Quick slideshow of my personal hell: men in NYC.)
Anyway, we all feel kind of awkward acting this stuff out, but we taped the piece for the first full run through last night and I have to admit–it looks pretty creepy.
In other news: my favorite pole teacher has been on hiatus, so, after another bad intermediate class, I decided to focus on ballet barre and flex training as well as this Bellyqueen show for the time being. I hope she comes back soooooon!
And if you’re in the New York City area on March 29th/are really into demonic interpretive dance, here’s a link to more info on the full show! https://www.facebook.com/events/522870131186017/
Mansplaining at the gym.
Saw this and choked on my tea: http://www.xojane.com/issues/gym-mansplaining
Not much I can say any better than Pia did (she really sets the scene for the rage well haha), but something similar completely happened to me a couple of months ago and actually caused me to stop stretching at the gym for a few weeks.
I was on my back using a towel to pull one of my feet for a hamstring stretch. I like to use a towel because it gets a lot of grip over a sock, and if you position it right in the arch of your foot, you can pull both sides of the towel help rotate your leg in and out of a turn-out from the hip (something I’m always working on!).
So I’m on my back, don’t-talk-to-me-earbuds firmly in place, crotch fully exposed to the world because yeah, I’m trying to pull my leg to my face, it happens, and I see this dude.
He does pretty much what Pia described: this obnoxious arm wave like he needs to tell me the building is on fire.
I drop the towel, sit up, and take an earbud out of my ear. “You should use a yoga strap for that,” he says.
Um.
um.
Like Pia, I also had a waaaaaaah moment and checked his shirt thinking he must have been a trainer. Nope. Just an entitled white dude who felt the need to insert himself into my day.
I think I just kind of choked out a “no thank you” (because, why is this person invading my space to insert their opinion on my stretching technique?) and he shrugged and walked away.
But my fear of stretching in publicremains.
Someone tell me: WHY IS THIS A THING?
It’s bros like this that scare me out of doing anything on the pull up bar, even though I really want to.
Have you guys ever had an experience like this? How did you handle it?\
Are men just being helpful? Trying to flirt? What’s going on here, for real?
Dance Moms is on Netflix, so there goes my week.
I just discovered this show. Not really feeling the fake mom drama/bickering/blahbityblah, but the dancing? The pressure? The real talk on technique? Yasssssssss.
Deep thoughts I had while watching Dance Moms for the first time, in no particular order… with some Abby Lee gifs to help illustrate my feelings.
1. Fuck you, mom, for not putting me in dance classes from age 3. I could have had my splits 20 years ago.
2. Actually I’m sorry mom, dance classes like these probably would have made me hate dancing and would have crowded out all other interests in my life. 7 hours a day? Like seriously?
3. If I were a child, I would find it really confusing to see two authority figures screaming at each other in front of me.
4. Maddie. Wow. It’s beyond technique. This kid just speaks movement, fluently.
5. I feel like there’s a lot of life lessons happening on this show, that I wish I would have learned earlier. For example: corrections aren’t personal–the move should be what the move is intended to be. If you don’t perform it properly, you’ll get corrected. No reason to catch hurt feelings.
6. I feel like it’s the job of families of kids who perform like this to remind them that they’re important as a person outside of dance–but not to contradict corrections they’re getting (ie. “You’re dancing PERFECTLY, your teacher doesn’t know what she’s talking about”). I think kids are tough enough to handle picky corrections on one thing (like dance) if they have a strong support system reminding them that they’re worthy and loved for 100 other reasons (outside of how well they do that one skill).
7. Like, Maddie though. Are you serious? And her attitude is so killer too. I feel like I could learn a lot from how this kid operates–rolling with the punches, trying her hardest for simple the love of doing it right (not to win approval, etc), being fearless.
Let’s take a moment and appreciate her.
8. Don’t argue with your teacher. She’s right. Even if she’s being mean about it. Kendall, you ARE sticking your rib cage out.
9. Accept what looks like a loss gracefully. When Maddie was passed over for the starring spot of a music video (one that required more posing than dancing), she actually won the opportunity to dance her butt off throughout the whole thing–which was a spotlight on her true talent. Because she kept a good attitude, she danced beautifully and in my opinion, totally stole the show.
10. It’s a long game–win or lose competition to competition, dedication to clean technique, hard work, and pure enjoyment of dancing wins over time. Again, totally obsessed with Maddie and it’s showing, but, you can tell watching this kid that dancing naturally feels great and right to her. You can’t hold that kind of talent and attitude down. It’s just too fun to watch.
Other notes from the week: I tried spinning for the first time. My ass is KILLING me (those seats are really hard) but so are my quads, thus I’m thinking this might be good cross-training for improving my extensions.… a never-ending project.
How’s everybody? Did we all catch Leigh Ann killing it over at PopSugar? Totally doing this workout at home on Saturdays when I’m too lazy to go to the studio.
Also, love these guys proving that just because we make it look easy doesn’t make it so.
XOXOXO
Intro to Hoop “Flip”
Needed a break from pole so I tried an intro to hoop class at B&P. So much fun! We ran out of time for videos of the combo we learned, but our teacher Brenna was nice enough to let me get a clip of the flip we’d just learned!
The Spin Diaries: Your Guide to Everything Pole and Aerial 