fan kick

If it looks like I’m dancing through debilitating back pain in this video, it’s because LOL, I am. More on that later.

I was really into this choreo (and this SONG, mah gawd), but it’s super fast, so I sadly shit the bed with most of it. I mean, there’s only so much you can learn in 45 minutes. But I totally have this song on my ipod already and I can’t wait to practice it more when my pole is up, so, we’ll see if it gets better!

The pole tricks in this one are a fan kick, 2 gallops (variations on chair spins where you walk your legs), a juliet spin, and a “switch split” which I’d never done before–you lead with your outside leg and then kick it back as you bring your inside leg forward in one quick snap. Pretty snazzy!

Aside from that I was LOVING the locking (which I never get to do, wheeeee) and a little moonwalky-sequence. There is also some mild twerking in this video, so hide yo’ wife, hide yo kids! Again, I was dancing through some pretty intense low back pain, so, sorry if this looks a little geriatric.

Tatiana–the instructor filling in for Kelly and the choreographer for this bit–is the one in the white top, so please refer to her for how kickass this SHOULD look.

Hot weekend, wasn’t it?

Nothing is a better incentive for me to get into the studio, personally, than the prospect of sitting in my hot apartment all Saturday.

Morning is fine, and evening will probably be spent gallivanting about in sundress, but that stretch from 12pm to 3pm is brutal, oppressive, and more often than not, totally squandered.

Which makes it PERFECT pole time.

I hit the studio for the first time in a very long time this weekend. Not that I haven’t been on the pole–I have! For several hours every week, actually, but teaching the same 5 or 6 moves to bachelorettes every class.

That means blistered hands and pole burn out, but very little headway on new skills or strength. I like to tell myself that all pole time is good pole time, but, that’s not exactly true… judging from my greatly diminished ability to invert and climb. Whoops.

Case in point: I took a Level 1 class at body and pole (with the fabulous Shaina) and it KICKED MY ASS. A Level 1. And like, kicked my ass to an embarrassing extent.

Here’s a couple of practice vids I shot after the hour and and a half sweat fest (disclaimer: summer is only a good time for pole if the AC is full functioning), which include a spin combo (dip into a pirouette with a bit of a fan-kick leg into a one-handed backhook) and a carousel-kick climb/fan-kick/thigh grip combo that DESTROYED me.

Sorry for all the hyphens, but wow, I was loving the complexity. Shaina does such a great job of giving everyone options to embellish according to skill level, and it makes for a lot of fun experimenting, and never-ending opportunities to push yourself.

How’s the summer poling coming for everyone else? Are we all seriously dipping into the dry hands? (I just bought 2 new bottles).

XOXO

Cathy