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Group lesson structure at a studio
Hello all, I have been visiting some studios in my town searching for a suitable one for me and was really unhappy with how the lessons were carried out. I used to take private classes, so that perhaps influences me, but still would be interesting to know how the classes are built in other places. What I did not like:
1. Beginners class was a warm up and an easy routine, every time a new one. In my opinion you need to practice the existing routine couple of times, otherwise what is the point?
2. Advanced class- warm up and tricks. As there is no level between beginner and advanced I found beginners too easy and advanced too hard for me. Is there a middle level in your studio?
3. Mixed level class- I thought it was a time waste-one instructor teaching a bunch of girls how to walk and another bunch some tricks.
4. Is the knowledge of each student registered at your pole studio? It is probably time consuming, but how would you know what this person is capable of? What is the next step?
5. Is there a separate class for tricks and routine for advanced students or is it all incorporated in the same lesson?
6. Is there an exam to go from level to level?Thank you in advance!
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5 Replies
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Oh good questions. I do lessons at my instructors home studio. It’s either just me or me and one other person. If there is one other person then it is a mixed level class.
My instructor will usually try and keep our lessons related. For example, last class she worked on superman from the ground with me… and with my more advanced classmate she worked on different aerial entries into superman.
While I really like the format… I do wish I had the social aspect of a big class.
However, I do often wonder how the big studios work. Pole is so individualized… while some people can invert quickly, others cannot. Some people have trouble with spins, and others with climbing (me). So, I’m not sure how a big class deals with all of that.
We have no levels or exams, we just kind of work on what we feel like working on… but I agree that little routines she teaches usually get lost, and not picked up again (unless I video tape it so I can practice it again), but it usually doesn’t make another appearance in class unless I ask for it. But that is usually preferable because I want to use my class time trying new things!
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At the studio I pole at, there are 3 levels: 1, 2 and 3, where level 1 is for the beginners, 2 is for the ones who can do the basic spins, sit poses and basic invert moves, I have an impression that what you learn on level 2 is combos and harder moves, and level 3 is intermediate/advanced, where we practice even harder moves, combos and also a lot of those tricks which takes a lot of flexibility. I’m not a 100% sure about the level 1 and 2, since it wasn’t like that when I first started with pole, there were only 2 levels, which was beginners and intermediate/advanced.
To go from level 1 to 2, you’ll have to know and be able to do all the moves from a special list, while to move from 2 to 3 you’ll have to get permission from one of the instructors, and their decision is based upon your general flexibility, strength and technique.Our classes is an hour and consists of a 10-15 warm up, which includes for instance squats, lunges, pushups, mountain climbs and some stretching. Then the instructor starts showing one move or a combo or something like that, which we will all try to do a couple of times, while the instructor walks around helping those in need, then she shows another one and so on for about half an hour. The number of moves you learn each class is different each time, because it depends on how many of us needs help etc. We won’t use a lot of time on a spin/move all of us already know and can do almost perfect. Around 4-6 moves each class. Then we will get 5-10 minutes to just practice whatever we want, which can be one of the moves we learned during the class, a move from last time or maybe ask the instructor to show a move we found on the internet and then practice that. Then we use the last minutes on stretching and then the class is over.
We also have flexibility classes, pole routine classes, open pole, tease/chair dance classes and some others. Open pole is, as the name might say, where you can just come and practice whatever you want, ask the instructor some question, get help and so on, but each class still includes the 10-15 minutes warm up.Wow, this got a little longer than I thought it would.
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Where I pole we all started at a level called ‘basic 1’. I started in the first group so we are now doing basic 2, 3 and 4 (to have some variety). If a new person starts they will start in the ‘basic 1’ group and then go to our group if it is to easy for them.
We only have two groups but we are trying to get more time in the gym so we can have more groups and adjust the levels to the groups. -
I’ve had two very different experiences
I started at a studio with many levels (I think 4 plus an intro class). These classes were structured much like the ones Cecilie describes. And I loved them because everyone was about at the same level and the instructor could always give more advanced variations to practice for anyone who was ahead. They started with a good warm up and ended with the chance to freestyle. The studio offered a class that taught a whole routine separately – the levels focused mostly on tricks and combos. All my instructors at this studio had gone through the X-pert Pole Fitness Instructor program.
I’m currently at a studio where there is only an beginner and an advanced class. The beginner class is basic spins, the advanced class is pretty much an guided open pole based on who’s in class. I’m more advanced and always have a list of tricks I’m wanting to work on – so it’s sometimes frustrating when the advanced level includes people just learning to climb/invert. The instructors here don’t have formal training. But it’s a small town and they don’t have enough interest to make it worthwhile to have additional level breakdowns. It’s also significantly less focused on the sexy side of pole and I miss that 🙁
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This may be slightly off topic, but I was wondering about pole dancing instructors. If you are wanting to take classes locally, what certifications should the instructors have? I was reading below where it said some of the instructors might not have had “formal training”. I have always looked on YouTube and luckily I have found this site…but if I wanted to go take classes somewhere, I want to know how to go about finding a good studio. I know some amazing pole dancers, but for people to open a studio to teach classes, do they have to have a few different certifications? I think classes would be a nice way to meet people in my area with common interests, but I want to make sure it has qualified instructors. Any ideas on what to look for? Thanks.
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