OMG you guys, I had a pole play date!
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).
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?
XOXOXO
The Spin Diaries: Your Guide to Everything Pole and Aerial 