ok, so, BALLET. Here are my before pictures! They are not great, which is the point! I’m doing now what I always wish I did six months later, which is: record how shitty I looked before working really hard and improving.
A few points on what I’m hoping to achieve, and how it relates to pole:
Stronger feet–and better balance while on up on my toes. I think this will improve pole lines, and also help me with push offs and floor moves like pirouettes. Also, PURPOSEFUL FEET, SON. I don’t remember who wrote about that (Nina?), but, that post kind of changed my life and made me a slightly OCD dancer. I love it. I just want more physical control of my feet (and hands!) to match my obsession with them.
Extensions, Extensions, Extensions. Thinking you did something with beautifully straight legs and then seeing bent knees all over the video is TRAGIC. I’m hoping ballet will get my quads up to par, and of course, give me a greater range of motion.
Flexibility, especially in my back and arms. Seriously, T-Rex arms… not cute. And I’d love to get my arch game up so I can do the Figure Skater on spin mode and take my layback into a Crescent.
General grace, elegance, and body awareness. I want more control, in everything from poses and holds to just plain walking.
So, 10 classes, starting now. Garnet, my friend who made this video for me, came up with this nonsense about weekly updates (I NEVER SAID THAT GARNET), but, it’s in print now and it will keep me accountable, so, SIGH, I’ll probably do weekly updates. PROBABLY. Don’t get mad if I can’t!
photographer stepping on my back. thanks, G!
the closest thing to yoga you’ll ever see me do, SOAK IT UP
Left leg, front extension
Left leg, back extension
Right leg, front extension, WITH BALLERINA ARMS!!!11!!
Okay, cat’s out of the bag: I’ve been watching too much Dance Academy (Australian TV dramas, why you so compelling?!!) and now I’ve decided I desperately need to take ballet classes.
Lest you think it’s a whim, this is definitely happening. I have the Groupon, the slippers… it’s on. And soon to be popping.
I’m thinking of taking some before and after shots of a few things to see if 20 classes makes a difference in my flexibility, strength and extensions, so, let’s make that my goal for the weekend. I don’t have any illusions about getting on pointe in 3 months, but I’d love to be able to lift and hold each leg out gracefully at waist-level. Goals!
Anyway, I’m excited!! And my mom was so. fucking. thrilled. After years of belly and pole she’s so glad I’m doing something in clothing. This is for you mom!
Is this the worst idea ever? Have you guys ever taken ballet? I’m hoping to get more control on spins/turns for belly dance too, so I think this is going to mean 360 degree improvement on my dancing, even if I hate every minute. And I have a feeling I will. (This is going to be a lot like yoga in the pain/boredom departments, isn’t it?)
Now, who actually USES this pole? Twice a week? Once a week? Once a month?
Yeah, guilty.
Until very recently, the most contact I’ve made with my pole this past month has been crouched over, looking for a lost earring. I hit my head on it.
Which is a shame, because I’m always annoyed at myself for blanking out during freestyles. Whyyyy do I keep visibly pausing can’t I think of anything to do? Why are my transitions so rocky? Why do I space out and do the same moves over and over when I know lots of of other stuff (that I need to practice!!)?
The reason, obvs, is lack of practice.
Don’t get me wrong–I’m on the pole a lot. But, teaching. Stop and start. The same moves every class, for the most part. It’s great for refining technique in general, but not so awesome for stringing together an inventive freestyle.
Here’s what I’m working on–I think it might help you guys too. Even if you just spend 20-30 minutes on your pole once or twice a week, I think if you stay focused, you’ll get a lot out of it.
Elements of a productive practice session:
1. Attempting to do the stuff I hate and can’t really do yet (5-10 mins)
It’s really tempting to just to the fun, easy stuff, but there’s only one way to have more fun, easy things to do: master the hard ones you hate now.
If I can’t fully get into a move, I get as close as I can and hold it for several seconds, a few times.
This can mean holding an invert move with your hands still on the pole (or maybe testing one hand off… then maybe the other… just for a second), trying push pulls just for a second before grabbing the pole again with your feet, or holding a pole crunch if you’re not choppering yet.
None of us are going to wake up magically falling into fabulous tricks we’re lusting after, so pushing our boundaries (safely!) in increments is the only way to get there.
2. Inventing combos (10 mins)
I try to dream up two or even three move combinations per session. Maybe a fan kick into a pirouette, into a fireman? A chopper into a one leg hang into a superman? A dip into a back hook spin into a showgirl?
Do this expecting only a few to work, but stay creative and keep trying. You might hit on some really cool new ways of transitioning what you know—and at worst you’ll be practicing staples. Find something you like? Drill it so as to commit to memory for a freestyle.
3. Building strength and control (5 mins)
Try modifying a few movements you usually do while dancing to make them harder–voila, EXERCISE! But like, specific to the muscles and moves you’re going to use while dancing, which means better pole-results than boring old push ups and crunches would get you.
For example, you can try an arm-only climb. (It’s just like the transition you make from a climb into a sit, but over and over–with straight legs and straight arms, you pull yourself up the pole from a sit and then immediately clamp your legs, all the way up). Sound hard? Yes, it is. But dang is it effective. You’ll notice an improvement in your control pulling into aerial moves, and also form: I’m finally kicking my bent knee habit with these, in addition to building upper body strength. (I CAN DO A PULL UP YOU GUYS).
Death lay crunches are good too (just, ya know, close to the ground and with a rounded back and tucked chin, because your neck looks sexier not broken), and so are straight leg choppers, which I’ve been working on to hopefully make my regular choppers a lot stronger.
4. A “Just Keep Moving” song or two (5-10 mins)
The best way to keep from blanking out during a freestyle: freestyle regularly. You hate me, don’t you?
Every practice should include freestyle time in which stopping is not allowed. It doesn’t matter if you forget everything and body wave for two and half minutes, just keeping moving until something comes to you.
The point of this exercise in frustration and fear is discovery–you might find yourself flowing new moves together that work especially well, or hit on a pose or transition works great for a dramatic moment in the music.
It’s also good preparation for this Oh Shit moments in pole when you mess up and have no choice but to recover, or completely ruin your dance. Dancing through awkwardness and mistakes (like botching a pirouette) and not stopping, in my opinion, makes the difference between the dabbler and the Dancer with a capital D. Freestyle a lot. Be a Dancer.
5. Strictly business (5 mins)
Pick 2-3 tricks per practice that you’re going to drill, the simpler the better. Do a set number on both sides, in a row. Make the transition into the moves as clean and consistent as possible, aiming to improve extension, control, and overall form each time you repeat the move. This is “make everything look better” time. Use it wisely and be strict with yourself. If you mess up the move, do it again, maggot! ARMY/POLE STRONG.
6. Floor work/stretch
I use floor work to trick myself into stretching. If I do a few hair tosses or kick my feet around, it makes it a lot easier to do boring old flexibility training. But yes, this is important, because, like everything else in pole, splits are not magically happening for me. No one is exempt from those annoying floor lunge things.
What do YOU do every practice? What do you want to work on? What’s your current archnemesis? Do you have a pole at home, and if you do, are you kind of scared to do hard stuff on it in case you break your neck and then starve to death because you can’t get to your phone and you live by yourself? (This is my new fear. Thanks mom).
Anyway, I have so many questions. Fill me in!
New schedule on classes! My 4-week is filling up fast so grab a spot! Schmedule here.
Uhhhhhh…. dedicate 5 or 6 years of your life to pole and develop a taste for pain?
…not quite Natasha Wang yet, is it?
For somebody who’s literally never been on a pole before, I felt like it would be mean to let her think getting to that level is anything but extremely difficult and physically painful. (Think back to your first pole sits–remember how much that hurt? And how annoying it was that it didn’t even look impressive?)
This is what bugs me about pole, kinda–I’m really, really glad people like JB are rocking out and getting respect for our sport. But, people like her are essentially Cirque de Soleil performers. They’re freashishly masterful. FREAKISHLY.
And I feel like people don’t understand that. So you’ve got the people on one hand who equate pole with stripping, and the people on the other hand that see Jenyne Butterfly and think, oh, okay, she’s a few classes in.
I mean, I have a pole at my house, I teach beginner classes 3 days a week, and I practice on my own at least 3-4 days a week. And only now am I getting my knees straight on aerial stuff. After a year and a half of total obsession. A clean climb and nice, straight layback are the only things I have in common with JB’s aerial stuff, and I freakin’ teach (though, to be fair, my classes are completely on the ground, and I’m quite proud of my clean, consistent spins, transitions, flow, and floor work… or I wouldn’t be teaching it).
But I don’t think a new student wants to hear about that stuff. They want to skip walking and go straight to inversions like Jenyne Butterfly.
Oy.
On somewhat related note, do you guys feel like there are two camps of pole: spin girls and strength girls? If so, I’m definitely the former. Are you one or the other? A tasty blend of both, but with a secret favorite? You can tell me, I won’t say anything, I swear.
It’s funny, I remember watching a lot of Leigh Ann Orsi (I think she has a new last name now…) on YouTube before I started dancing, and being totally bored with the upside down stuff. I just wanted to see her walk and pirouette. Even though she’s at a serious competitive level now, I still like her early videos best because she flows like a MOFO. For me, it’s really the distinguishing characteristic of pole from other forms of dance… the way you move around it is just hypnotic. Gah, still gives me chills.
Is that weird?
(Yes, probably).
(I’m okay with it).
Anyway, I can’t wait to post a video of me busting my ass trying to teach myself an iguana hold, but I left my camera cable at work. So until tomorrow…. here’s a video of Recent Leigh Ann Orsi doing her thing. Which is apparently a shoulder mount flip into a split. Jesus Christ I hate everything.
The Spin Diaries: Your Guide to Everything Pole and Aerial 