Music Monday: Amy Winehouse in Six Songs

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Holy crap, I just looked up and realized Amy Winehouse has been gone for 5 years.

Damn.amy 3

Amy was The Ideal Woman for me as sensitive 20 year old enrolled in art school (circa 2006). The smoky voice, the tattoos, the black and white videos, the sass and sadness in equal amounts… She had the tough exterior I always wanted, with all the vulnerability I always seemed to be feeling.

Listening to her now, the music and persona feel like the perfect match for pole: gritty but pretty; painful but graceful.

I’m sure I’ve included some of her songs in playlist posts before, but I’m on a listening kick today and wanted to share some of my favorite songs of hers to freestyle to.

Things to note:

  • How rare is it that we hear a female vocalist expressing herself on matters of sex and men without seeming to be performing some bizarre male gaze version of sexuality? I look at Ariana Grande with her huge hair and tiny shorts batting her plastic-ass lashes and talking about being a dangerous woman and I’m like…. k. Amy always seemed to own herself and her point of view in songs. amy
  • Actual instruments (!!!). My god… I appreciate this so much more after years of electronica crap.
  • The warmth and soulfulness in dat voice. Dat VOICE. It sounds like a cup of coffee and a cigarette on a partially sunlit balcony in London at 6am. Which is probably not far off from the manner in which these songs were recorded, now that I think of it.
  • Her lyrics have No Time For Your Bullshit. They can start out vulnerable but they always find strength at some point. Amy can be heartbroken in her songs and at the same time still absolutely not have the time. For. Your. Bullshit.

You have to love it.

Okay now that you’re ready, here are my favorites songs:

1. Unholy War

God this song is fucking dark. Excellent jam for a moody freestyle.

2. Help Yourself

Sass and a relaxed beat. Sunday freestyle’ for the win.

3. Me & Mr. Jones

What kind of fuckery is this? This song is jazzy and dope.

3. Love is a Losing Game

Vulnerable, emotional, ethereal, beautiful. Perfect for lyrical choreo.

4. Round Midnight

ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS. Juicy AF. Are you rolling around on your floor yet because you should be.

5. Take the Box

Delicate at first—but it gets tougher and more soulful as the lyrics get angry. Nice emotional range to this one.

6. Wake Up Alone

Devastating. Let’s finish this up with something live:

RIP, Amy.

Got a favorite AW song I’m forgetting? Drop it below.

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The Weekend, As You Are… (#MusicMondayOnAWednesday but also how I’m feeling)

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Hey y’all!

So I was looking at Nina’s FEATURED spot on this blog and had a dumb realization: other people are poling on social media with hashtags and ish, and I’m just completely missing it.

Like… #realpole is a thing. #realpole, where have you been all my life?!!! This hashtag (for other uninformed people like myself) is for people showing the pole struggle… which is 99.9% of pole, if we’re being honest. So like, that wiggling you do to get into a leg hang, flexed feet, fear faces… it’s all there.

It’s my own damn fault for avoiding pole-related social media and missing this, I guess, and that’s mighty ironic because I usually avoid pole social media to escape the FOMO and pressure to be kicking my own head upside down while hanging from my pinkie toe. But lo and behold—there was a movement there for me the whole time!

I fully encourage you all to post and share your sweet, sweet struggle with #realpole because I’ll be looking and resharing. Also, what other hashtags am I missing? And while you’re at it, please let me follow you on IG/Twitter because I want non-pole celebrity pole peeps to interact with. Share your handle in the comments!

Anyway here’s my song (and mood) for this non-Monday music Monday post!

Side-eyeing This BeSpun Flow Challenge

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Screen Shot 2016-06-20 at 4.54.38 PM

Maybe I’m just being grouchy because I’m in finals hell, but this shit is way too athletic.

When BeSpun first announced these flow challenges I was like YASSSSS, something I can participate in that doesn’t require a Fonji or a cartwheel onto the pole or whatever other gymnastic trend is happening in the pole world.

And then I watched the videos.

“Oh okay… yeah I can’t really do a split where I touch my front leg to my face but okay, maybe there’s more I can do.”

“Oh okay I can’t really do that thing where you balance on your head while doing a layback bridge thing, but maybe there’s something else I can do.”

“Oh, okay. I literally can’t do 80% of this.”

“:|”

Again, am I just being grouchy? Is the whole point being challenged and I’m missing that?

Anybody else get annoyed at pole moves that only look good with extreme flexibility and 9 inch heels?

#mood

mood

Drumroll: It’s called a Capezio!!

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Harriet came through for me on this one–the weird move I was trying to describe (and did so very poorly) was called a Capezio (at least by my instructor, the hilarious and cool Rica at B&P) and possibly a dolphin by Angela’s teacher.

As Angela pointed out in the comments for the last post, this one’s great for intermediate beginners because there’s so many points of contact–but you do have to be comfortable enough in a thigh hold to lean back and regrip below your legs. Definitely a bit of a spooky experience the first time.

Here’s a video I shot 10 minutes before leaving for a belly show this weekend (hence the false eyelashes and pin curls). Yes, I arrived sweaty and late.

If you want to try this one at home, I definitely recommend practicing first 1. thigh grip sits with straight legs, then progressing to 2. leaning from one side to the other and noticing how you can lock in your legs with a “push pull,” 3. leaning back in this tilted “push pull” position with your top hand gripping near your waist and your bottom hand grabbing under your bum, and finally 4.  opening your legs into this jazz split/half stag position (but remembering to push against the pole with your top, bent leg).

This WILL hurt a little, and I have the crotch bruise right now to prove it. But it’s so cute!

If you try it send me a pic or vid!! I wanna see!

And speaking of pics, here’s some of the show the pin curls were for! We were channeling some Britney vibes circa Me Against the Music. Very fun 😀

The fabulous Maki moves created something called “cha-cha fusion” for us set to an Arabic version of “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.” We got to throw our hats, so obviously I was thrilled.

XOXO

Photos by Michael Ortiz: (except for the backstage shot, that’s someone’s iphone 😉

#hair
that moment when you think you’re smiling but it’s barely a smirk

 

What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you before a pole class?

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Please let me know. I think I just made my own hall of fame last night: I knocked over a bottle of scented diffuser oil while changing and successfully soaked my pole clothing in oil.

In OIL.

Recap: Oil-soaked pole clothing 3 minutes before class.

It wasn’t a total disaster because I was able to run up and buy a new ($30, ugh) tank for class, but I’m sure my pole mate didn’t appreciate the stench of some sort of floral bug spray or whatever TF that oil was supposed to smell like.

Runner up: that time I was supposed to TEACH a class and realize that what I that were pole shorts were actually a pair of balled up black tights. I thought I had saved the day by cutting them into little shorts and doing my thing but it wasn’t until after class that I caught a glimpse of my floral underpants showing directly through from behind. Whoops.

What’s the worst thing YOU ever had to deal with right before a class or performance? Did you soldier though? Ain’t nobody got the money to skip class and still pay for it because of cancelations policies, please tell me you soldiered through.

But luckily, this particular pole class was awesome! I learned this thing that I didn’t get a picture of and also don’t know the name of but let me try to describe it?

You do a normal pole sit with straight legs, tilt to the side so that your top leg is making contact with the pole from the front (like, not the side or back of your leg, right on the quad). Then you lower your top hand (same as top leg), sweep your bottom hand out and around, opening your chest, and grip below your butt, and—pushing your top leg into the pole from the quad–bend the top leg, and straighten and open the bottom one. As you start to feel more secure, open your chest and arch your back more, trying to touch your top foot to your head. So pretty!

It looks super spooky and hard, but actually the more you open your legs (while making contact with the inner thigh of your lower leg and quad of your top leg), the better and more secure the pose is. Very pretty, and not that tricky or painful!

I’ll have to upload a photo/video, but please let me know if you think you know what this is called!!

Music Mondays: Like a Fool, Kiera Knightley

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Yes THAT Kiera Knightley. She can sing! Who knew!

I just saw Begin Again, and boring gender and Adam Levine stereotypes aside (he really does play exactly who we all expect him to be in person), this was a cute movie with lots of great music. Watch Instantly on Netflix, DO IT.

Anyway this is a sweet little number that kinda devastated me (and aforementioned douchebag Adam Levine) in the context of the movie, and  I would definitely do some faux-sweet choreo to it.

Below are also two versions of Oscar-nominated “Lost Stars” (also on the soundtrack), just cause I like ’em!

(The order is Adam Levine’s version first and then Kiera’s, but please know–again, in the context of the movie–that Kiera’s came first because noted douchebag Adam Levine STOLE HER SONG. That douchebag.)

“Leg Tightening” Exercises, Courtesy of Child Gymnasts

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Yup, I’m back at it again, watching auto-plays of gymnastics conditioning for things I’ll never do like “back limbers” and anything on the uneven bars.

Yet I cannot. Stop. Watching. And sometimes that comes in handy, because I’ll occasionally stumble upon something relevant!

“Leg Tightening” in gymnastics basically means conditioning to build the strength required to keep legs perfectly straight during skills. I’m sure a lot of you aren’t really honing a beam routine right now, but you probably DO want to get your legs a little straighter in pole sits. These exercises are for you!

And the best part: they require no equipment, and are  a great little warm up or cool down addition to stretching. I’ve been doing the “taps” without anything under my feet because I’m weak, but if you’re going to go that route, I recommend a folded towel.

For a “barre” try the back of a chair, a counter, or if you’re brushing your teeth like I usually am during any kind of ballet nonsense, your sink.

Happy tightening!