Starlight Pole Show: In Which I Accidentally Blog Hop

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

OH SNAP. So I went to a pole show yesterday. And it. Was. Awesome.

I dragged my shy, non-poling male friend, and I think he was scared. But witnessing his Imagecomplete bewilderment was half the fun.

I know none of you were about to take the R train all the way down to Bay Ridge for this, so let me tell you a little bit about the show. In alphabetic-als, because I’m really tired you guys.

A: Aerialists! There were two hoop girls, and they killed it. See, you can do stuff both near and far from the ground on a pole, but when you’re on a hoop, you’ve got the same odds of landing on your neck for the ENTIRE PERFORMANCE. Brass balls. These ladies got em.

ALSO, apparently you’re supposed to wear leg covering when you hoop, but one particularly bad ass girl decided to pole and hoop (Hey bro, I hear you like bruises…), so, she was bare legged. #Swag. The other is my girl Lauryn, who I’ve actually never seen dance before this, and she completely blew me away. The confidence… the grace… and of course, her amazing costume which actually wasn’t a surprise because I knew she was artistic like that. Anyway, I want to hoop now, except that pole has taught me nothing if not that ALL AERIAL ARTS SUCK AND ARE HARD.

B: BOYS: I’ve seen guys hit the pole once in a while, but dude last night KILLED it. Most guys do a lot of strength stuff and skip over the lyrical, but last night’s sole male performer was pure pole poetry… and he definitely did some shit I’ve never seen before, so hell yeah to creativity. He also showed up later in a Pole Threesome (TM? must be? because I have never seen this craziness before), in which he supported a girl by HER FOOT, by squeezing it with HIS LEGS. So many questions. Epic. Moving on.

C: Chair dance: So technically, this didn’t involve a chair, but the emcee of the event called her boyfriend out of the crowd, sat him Indian-style against a pole, and did quite possibly the most spine-tingly sexy dance I’ve ever seen in my life. True story. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. And I was close enough to the stage to see him mouth, “You are BEAUTIFUL,” and “I love you” during the dance, so, yeah. Way too much cute/sexy/poignant for me to even handle. Amazing.

D: Doubles: There were so many great twosomes and threesomes last night, including an incredible booty-popping number with ECP’s owner. I love when dancers are actually capable of crazy, crazy shit on the pole… but they can also break it down and have fun with the booty. Work.

E: Entertainers: So last night I learned that there’s a difference between being an incredible dancer/trickster, and being an entertainer. I realized this when a fairly new dancer (1 year, according to the program… that bitch) completely owned the audience with a few well timed pauses, smiles, and eye-bats during her (slinky, confident, gorgeous) performance. I find this totally inspiring, because I can’t do shoulder mounts and shit, but yes, I can flip my hair (!!!) I have a shot, you guys!!!!

F: Feedback: I also learned last night that you can’t just chill at a pole show. You need to yell, and scream, and encourage the dancers. This was new to me, since I’ve seen most performers on YouTube.

That’s all for now, because it’s been a busy weekend and I’m feeling lazy.

Have you guys ever been to a live pole show? What did you think? Did you feel discouraged or inspired?

Have you ever been in one? Is it as nerve-wracking as I’m guessing it is?

Fill me in!

Meanwhile, be SUPER jealous, because Pantera was at the show last night and she is both an incredible dancer and out of her damn mind. This is her. Really, how strong can a person be? Ridiculous.

Happy twirls (and hoops, and whatever the fuck else you guys are making look easy),

Cathy

It happened again…

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater
These are not shorts.
These are not shorts.

I forgot my shorts. I thought for sure I packed them, but I peeked in my bag on the way to the studio last night and found a pair of folded black tights instead.

With 15 minutes before my first class and two classes to teach, I did what anyone would have done: I canceled.

Just kidding. You’d have to put a wall of fire in front of my studio to keep me from teaching. So I found a pair of scissors and cut my tights into shorts. Very tight, moderately transparent shorts.

Great day to wear underpants with flowers on them, by the way.

So in closing, apologies to everyone who saw my ass last night, but thank you for taking my class, which was hella-full. I still have hope that my Jedi mind tricks prevented you from noticing anything odd though. ***THERE IS NOTHING STRANGE ABOUT THESE SHORTS. THIS IS NOT AN ASS YOU ARE LOOKING AT.***

Anyway, turns out the studio’s closed on Thursday (noooooo) and I’m upstate for Christmas next week, so hold off on sign ups until we’re off the holiday schedule. I’ll let you know when, promise.

❤

Cathy

Coming Out ;)

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Hey everybody!

I have a few minutes to kill before my 7:30 intro class tonight (y’all are coming, right?!), so I thought I’d address the Pole Dancing Blogger’s topic of the month: “coming out”–so to speak–about pole.

This is… interesting for me. On the one hand, because I teach pole, and part of my job is spreading the word about my classes and studio, I’m fairly open about dancing… in certain circles. My fitness and friends totally get it. A trainer I work with (I have a part time job at a fitness center!) has taken classes with my studio (holla, N!). And I’ve already written about a bellydance troupe-mate and close friend dropping into my intro class. Both chicas saw it as fun cross training and a great way to shake up a workout routine or dance rut. Risque? Meh. Please. Yoga can be more explicit.

My “real” job, though, is working in an office, writing about careers. In fact, I’m a huge hypocrite, because I give people advice all day about how not to mess up getting or keeping a job by doing exactly what I have done: having “inappropriate” stuff on their social media pages or god forbid, something like a pole dancing blog easily dug up on Google.

Go ahead, Google my name. I’ll help: “Cathy Vandewater” or “Cathryn Vandewater.” This blog comes up. As do rants about sexual harassment, crappy internships, and THEN, FINALLY, my career advice writing.

I’m not sure my employer would be pleased.

And yet, I kinda feel like this is the future of who we are at work and at home, because the lines are getting blurrier and blurrier. How do you keep everything separate? And if it’s all going to come out anyway, why bother hiding? It almost adds to the scandal factor if you actively keep it a secret, in my opinion.

So I don’t hide what I do.

I’m not exactly handing out my business cards at the office, but if someone asks where I’m heading after work, I tell them I teach dance classes. If they ask what sort of dance, I tell them pole.

Lucky for me, this has only happened once, and with a female colleague about my age. Her whole face lit up when I told her. Funny enough, she’d taken a pole class for a bachelorette party and had all kinds of questions about whether I dance with heels, if it’s hard to go upside, etc, etc. We had a very breathless conversation in the elevator on our way out of the building, and then that was that. She hasn’t asked me about it at work, and I haven’t given her my business card. (Although maybe I should… I’m a terrible, terrible businessperson)

My parents, on the other hand, have known–and disapproved– of my hobby and then eventual career path since my first pole class. But as much as I tell them about it, they’ve never seen me dance.

That changed during hurricane Sandy. My cell signal was out, and my mom Skyped me to keep connected. It wasn’t long before I was taking her on a virtual tour of my newly decorated apartment, then my pole, and then–because I never could resist an opportunity to show off–I showed her a couple of spins and holds.

Strangely enough, she wasn’t shocked or disgusted–she was angry! She didn’t like seeing me hang upside down by my legs. I got a very stern reminder that I don’t have health insurance, and if I have to go to the hospital with a broken neck, my financial future will spiral and I’ll die penniless and alone. Thanks, mom! Duly noted.

But even while she was yelling at me, my mom had the hint of a sparkle in her eye. She was proud. I’m sure she’ll never admit it, but I can tell these things. She also smiled when she said, “Well, you did always did like to play on the swings when you were little.”

(Funny enough, as much as I liked playgrounds, I hated firemen poles. Go figure.)

So I guess I don’t really have all the answers when it comes to “coming out.” But a teacher and friend of mine, Susan Shapiro, always likes to say “Live the most honest life you can.”

I think it makes things easier in the long run, no? And if not, at least no one can be made at you for lying. Hoo-ah!

But seriously, the more of us out there doing our thing like ain’t nothing wrong with it can only help reduce the stigma. It’s scary, but I think putting ourselves out there can only make things better for all of us. No lying, no hiding, no being ashamed. Pole or die, openly!

Anyway, I’m off to convert some NOOOOBS 😀 Anybody reading this who blogs, share your story too! I’m always curious how people manage their double lives… and jealous if they don’t have to compartmentalize.

Happy twirls!

Cathy

Dance fuel: what’s on your plate?

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater
…GET IN MY BELLY.

The weirdest thing happened to me this week: everything I ate and drank tasted like salt.

At first I thought someone was punking me. Then I thought something might be wrong with my tap water. Finally, I wrote it off as stress, or maybe dehydration, and vowed to just power down more (sea)water and try to mellow out more.

It sucked because I’ve been HUNGRY, but everything I put in my mouth made me feel sick. I threw out so much food! So sad.
And the most annoying part of all of this, of course, has been keeping my energy up for practice and classes when everything tastes… wrong.

The quick fix for me turned out to be peanut butter-banana smoothies (sucking those calories down with a straw like a soldier!), so thank god for blenders. But I’ve been missing my normal dance foods, hard.

Thankfully, I figured out what’s wrong, and it’s soooooo silly: my new mouthwash! Apparently this particular brand has had tons of complaints about messing with peoples’ taste buds, some for weeks at a time. So I’m off the stuff, and things are slowly starting to taste normal again.

Best part: getting back my favorite “dance fuel”! Oh whole grain bagel with peanut butter, how I have missed you! You too, peppers-and-eggs with toast (and way too much ketchup).

I’m not a nutritionist or anything, but I have done some trial and error with pre-dance foods, and I’ve discovered that my favorite pre-class meals have something in common: a mix of fat/protein/grains.

A bagel and jelly or butter alone, for instance, tastes great, and gears you up for like an hour. But… that’s basically my commute to the studio! When my stomach is growling two classes later, shit is not poppin anymore.

Thus, as cute as you want to look in your tiny pole clothes, you can’t skimp on small servings of fat and protein with your carbs if you’re going to really dance. They’ll carry you through practice long after that sugar has burned off.

The key is to keep it all in moderation (you don’t want to be sweating bacon grease or anything….ew). Also important: make sure your portions stay on the medium side, and finish them up two hours before you get moving. That should help stave off any tummy woes.

Finally: WATER. Omg, so important. It’s easy to forget how hard you’re working in a dance class because you’re having fun, but you need to be hydrating before, during, and after. It will help you digest your food better, avoid cramps, and NOT PASS OUT. In the summer months especially, that’s a risk, so take it seriously!

I’m sort of bad with this because I loooooove coffee, but I make sure to put extra ice in there if I’m drinking it cold–and to refill my bottle with water as soon as I hit the studio.

So what are your favorite dance foods? Any tips or tricks to keep your energy up?

Classes tomorrow–check the schedule!

Happy twirls,

Cathy