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Nasty comment from beginner pole dancer
So I just wanted to share a funny story that happened to me recently. Feel free to share your stories or comments if any of you can relate!
So I've been pole dancing for over 2 years now, and I've been going to the same studio that I took my very first class at. My instructor (the owner) is an awesome girl who I've become good friends with. The classes are small (8 poles, nobody shares one) and we all get along great in class. She teaches a lot of beginner moves since there is no 'beginner' class, but I have no problem being on my own in the class and doing my own thing.
Since I have been pole dancing for 2 years and am working on harder/more advanced tricks that require more skin, I wear shorts and a sports bra in class like I'm sure many of you do. Well one day during a class that I wasn't in, a girl who had just started taking classes made a nasty comment about the fact that I "always wear short shorts and a sports bra in class" as if my clothing was slutty and it bothered her! The room was completely silent and the instructor said to her that this is a judgment-free zone and if she wishes she could leave and not come back, there is no tolerance for rude comments about other students. So she left right in the middle of class! I was shocked when she told me. I'm not offended by what she said at all, I actually find it hilarious. Obviously she's never seen a professional pole dancer or anyone who does more advanced tricks, they wear sports bras all the time. I'm happy that my instructor stuck up for me. I just felt like sharing this little story and thought some of you might find it entertaining! For those of you who take classes somewhere, have you ever experienced something similar from another student?
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10 Replies
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I was told by a studio owner that I needed to go back to beginner classesbecause I couldn’t do a sit. In a climate I was not used to, during rainy weather. I had been pole dancing for about 10 months, could do Janeiro, shoulder mount, and aysha. She was rude and I almost got my stuff and would have had I not attended with a friend. Oh, by the way, said friend fell out of an unspotted shoulder mount. The teacher knew she had never done it and didn’t spot her anyway. The worst studio experience I have had by far
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Good on the owner for realizing that enforcing the "judgement-free zone" was better for her business than the rude girl's money!
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When I was visiting a studio 2 hours away to test out their unique poles, I had a brand new girl look at me and say something like "why are you even here?" or "you shouldn't be here." All because I was advanced, and she was under the impression that the mixed level class was for beginners only…*eye roll*
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What a fantastic instructor you have! Kudos to her for taking control of that situation!
We've never had that happen in our classes yet but it would certainly be something I'd address right away too.
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I had a similar experience recently in a gymnastics class that I go to. It's a mixed levels adult class, so there is everything from cheer girls, to acro, to absolutely no experience (myself), to former competitive gymnasts, and a ton of guys there for parkour. To start class, we all warm up together and go through tumbling passes. I have no tumbling skills beyond dive rolls, cartwheels, and roundoffs. A large portion of the class is much more advanced in tumbling than I am. So when we get to the more advanced tumbling passes, I continue working on cartwheels, front limbers, roundoffs, etc. In the last class I attended, someone made fun of me for continuing with cartwheels, in a very catty snobby voice, to another member of the class (who didn't respond) directly in front of me as I finished my cartwheel pass. This kind of floored me. I haven't been a class that wasn't supportive and positive, with constructive critique in a long time. Granted, I don't think the teacher would have been ok with that had he heard it. But water off a ducks back though, because no point in propagating that kind of negativity. It did bother me that it bugged me so much though. I don't want to care that much about negative people's opinion on things of such small importance.
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Ha…Corby cartwheels, front limbers and round offs sound advanced to me!
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I thought I was doing pretty well myself! Haha, maybe that's why it bugged me so much.
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I went to a studio once where the teacher would ignore me and chat to the regularsor when the studios ‘superstar’ teacher came in. I can’t be doing with ego’s and not actually learning anything in a class ive paid for so I left soon after and taught myself. I’ve heard comments directed at me before but usually it’s just someone that is insecure and covers it up with bitchiness so I just let it go because it’s kind of expected when there’s so many women in 1 place lol
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I've never experienced this negativity in studio, fortunately! However, when I watched the playback for my Ooh La La performance, I noticed some girl on the side laughing at me to her friend. It shouldn't bug me, especially because that performance was such a great experience for me, but it does.
I think our pole community spoils us into forgetting how unsupportive other women can be of each other.
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I haven’t personally experienced negativity towards me in pole, but i have observed it twice, in the same class by the instructor. We had a guest instructor in a mixed beginner/intermediate. She told my pole buddy that the reason she couldn’t get a particular move was because her ‘bow legs’ were preventing her from gripping! I was in shock at what she said so I didn’t challenge it, I often think about it and wish I had! Needless to say my friend does not have bow legs and was very annoyed.
The same instructor told 2 other girls who were new starters (8 weeks in to pole) that she couldn’t understand why they would let someone who has only been doing pole for 8 weeks into her class. She did not teach them a step back in level she ignored them for the rest of the session. One of the girls disappeared to the loo upset. That’s where she told me what the instructor had said. I was furious!! I told both girls to ignore her shitty attitude, that it was the instructors responsibility to teach according to level of learner. None of us were advanced students!
I understand jealousy from other learners, that’s not to say I accept it but from an instructor that attitude is appalling.
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