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Time to freestyle?
I take two back-to-back classes once a week at my local pole studio, the first one is a novice-level class and the second is a really intensive acro-pole where we regularly do intermediate and advanced-level things. I get along really well with a girl who also regularly takes both, and I recently expressed to her a frustration with a lack of opportunities to freestyle and really get to know your own dance style. She said she felt similarly, and that this studio used to have a freestyle class but got rid of it for some reason (not enough demand maybe?). We’ll have little moments in the novice class where we compare and talk about stylistic things, but it’s (understandably) constantly interrupted by having to move on to the next thing in class. A couple months ago I did go to an open-pole hour at a different branch of the same studio, but I couldn’t get into the music they were playing and I felt self-conscious trying to freestyle in front of people I didn’t know at all.
At work I’ve been trying to focus on finding the beat and the flow of the song and dance to it. It’s just hard to do when I just really don’t like strip club music and I have to make my dance style a lot more sexual than it would naturally be. I really just want time to dance for me, to my own music, and find my own natural style, but it’s hard to find the time or opportunity when I don’t have my own pole at home =/
I don’t know, I guess this is a bit of a vent, but does anyone else feel similarly?
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3 Replies
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Well, I took a class a while back in NY (so not my regular studio) and they always play some music and give you the last few minutes (like 1 or 2 songs) to freestyle. In theory that should be good.
Well the music was just not my style. Some weird electric or techno stuff (i don’t even know)… I remember feeling like a fish out of water… Terrible way to end a class. It was an intro level spin class and everyone there clearly signed up just because they wanted to play or have an unlimited class membership or something… and were far beyond my level. I really felt so dumb. I can barely control the spin, and these girls were amazing. Then it got worse cause I was getting frustrated and I almost left in tears. It’s something I’m going to sit out from now on if I don’t feel comfortable… It’s my money and my time.
I’m going to add freestyling to the list of things to do at home. I know you dont have a home pole but I think if you watch some of the non-pole freestyles here (Veena and Stefana come to mind) it can be done without a pole 🙂
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If you’re a regular at the studio, maybe they’d be open to suggestions on music or to start an open pole class time at your location?
In my head, freestyle is made up of dance components that don’t need a pole, plus moves you do on a pole in a dance-y way. Maybe you can work on the former even at home (no pole needed, and you pick the music!) then the latter can be done in-studio by not just focusing on the mechanics of a move but deliberately trying several passes at it in a more dance-y kind of way. Or is that a very naive and simplistic way of thinking about it?
I get the self-consciousness aspect, I don’t even like watching my own videos when I film myself, and I showed them to my husband but didn’t watch with him! 😛 I know, it’s strange. All I’m doing is critiquing, critiquing, critiquing, while he’s looking at the big picture and saying things look smooth and graceful. Really believing that no one else is watching would be a very useful skill to have, I think!
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AllysonKendal – Ugh, what a horrible experience! I’m sorry you had to go through that. Yeah, they don’t do an end-of-class freestyle at the studio I go to – sometimes they’ll have a minute or two of choreography piecing together everything we learned in class – and the music they play isn’t terrible, but still isn’t anything I would choose to dance to. I will definitely check out those videos (video didn’t work at all on my phone, but I can watch them now that my laptop is back, yay!), thanks for pointing me to Veena and Stefana 🙂
kulotsalot – I like that idea of doing some passes at it in a more dance-oriented way, I guess that’s what the other girl and I were doing. That’s a lot easier to do in the first class than in the second, since the second class is so advanced and challenging that I’m pretty much purely thinking about the technique and doing it so I don’t injure myself.
The other girl I usually take classes with mentioned that she’s considered starting her own freestyle class at this studio, and I would definitely take it if I could or else talk about having an open pole at this location at a time when I could go (I have a feeling I would know more people there)… I’m just a bit worried about having enough rest days, since I pole 4 or 5x a week as it is =/ Maybe I could do that on weeks when I only have 3 days of work, then I’d consistently be poling 5 days a week and have the same rest days?
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