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Who’s your favorite ‘Pole Star’ Instructor???
Hi,
I'll be at the International Pole Convention in LA this summer and I have enough to take from from 2-3 pole instructors. So I'm wondering who is your favorite 'Pole Star' instructor?
I'm looking for a good pole INSTRUCTOR, not just a good pole PERFORMER! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif I wanna learn as much as possible https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif even if I can't do all the moves at the time, I wanna get a good verbal breakdown of moves for me to know and practice at home ; ) Given that I can't take all of the workshops/privates… what would you recommend?
Some of the pole performers that will be there are: Felix, Jenyne, Natasha, Kelly Yvonne, Cleo, Anastasia, Oona, Steven, (zoraya, karol?)
Feel free to tell me about your experience… I'm up for any privates in the LA area also. Who have you learned the most from? Even if they're not listed, I'd like to know for future reference!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif
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13 Replies
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i would say the right instrucvtor depends A LOT on what you're working on and how strong you are…
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Mmm.. I'm adv but not super duper adv. More interested in trick technique 🙂 Still trying to figure out how to do a proper tumble/inside leg hang switches (where ur body goes all the way around the pole?)/scorpio to TG aysha/ proper deadlift techniques/ how to werk w/ the spinny pole…
Mostly interestedin ppl's experiences too…
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My fav Ive taken workshops w by far was rebecca butcher- she made everyone comfortable- whatever level broke it down like clock work and showed variations. She was the BEST teacher. I wasnt going to go cause I thought it would be too advanced and she encouraged me to come and promised she would be ble to teach me and she did!
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Lou landers will be at the convention and she is the most amazing teacher. Her troubleshooting of tricks is amazing. I guarantee you would come out of a private withe her having learned heaps. You could all do a lot worse than to take her polesations workshop there too, her workshops are always fantastic!
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Out of that list, I've had:
Jenyne – Love her. She breaks down moves in her own language. Doesn't know much of names but the way she breaks it down, it's like magic. I got my TG lift, SM lift, and deepest pencil fang with her.
Oona – OMG my favorite. SHE IS NUTS! I LOVE HER! Very out of the box creative and will make you do things you never imagined. So innovative. I swear I had bruises for 2 weeks but WELL worth it! Haha!
Steven – Mostly choreo and combos. He does strength moves too but the way he explains it doesn't click as well as the others. He's still super awesome though.
Karol – She breaks down the common int/adv moves really, really well. Tells you what muscles to engage, what to use, etc. I've learned a lot from her as well.
I highly recommend Oona and Jenyne. The ones in that list who I haven't had and would def want to try is Pantera, Anastasia, and Natasha. And Jeni's Liquid Motion.
I'm gonna ask this week who's teaching Body & Pole's headstand/handstand workshop b/c that's where I practice them the most.
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My favorite instructors ranked in order by instruction and content: They are all worth every penny and wonderful in their own right. I learned so much from each one. You will not be disappointed by any one of these extraordinary pole stars.
1. Zoraya
2. David Owen
3. Marlo
4. Skittles
5. Jenyne
6. Estee
7. Alethea
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Definitely zoraya… Just amazing and makes everyone feel competent! Also pantera very knowledgeable about anatomy and how to work our muscles for pole training!
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More votes for Zoraya, David, and Karol!
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I highly recommend Wendy Traskos from NYPD – girl knows it ALL and she makes you burnand sweat from beginner stuff – if I lived in NYC I would do climb and spin regularly.
Pantera is awesome! She makes you use your muscles which I love!
Karol is super fun and hysterical – I like her classes and I've learned a lot of great things from Karol.
Alethea – is AWESOME!!! I did a private with her and she freaking schooled me – I love her!
David is really great and has a lot of unique moves – I've only done advanced work with him and he is very good at breaking things down.
Also recommend Michelle Mynx, Natasha Wang and I can't wait to train with Aerial Amy – and what I know from speaking with her and watching Tuesday tips – she gonna be friggin' amazing to work with and learn from!
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I had many workshop but I'm totally in love with Amber Richard and Phoenix Kazree because they are really sweet and a very good teacher witch is very important.
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Amber, focuses on technique and musicallity. Made me think more about the dance than the tricks!
David Owen, made me bend in ways I didn't think I could! I've noticed great increases in my flexyness since his workshop! He is very good at explaining and spotting on hard tricks 🙂
In a perfect world I would train with these two every day!
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Amber is awesome, particularly if you’re not just thinking about doing the tricks, but how you move into and in and through them. If there’s a few tricks you’re fumbling with or that you can get into but it just doesn’t look very good, she will clean it right up and make it a functional part of your dancing. She’s also a really, really excellent spotter. She doesn’t hold you up there, or force you into a movement, but the way she lays on hands guides your movements to the right positions–you can just FEEL her presence in a way that makes you feel secure. She also has beautiful form and concentrates on minimizing impact in tricks; part of this is because she’s tall, and that’s part of why I love working with her. We have very similar body types (as you can see from my profile picture) and she understands the kind of impact that’s exerted on the body, particularly tall bodies. Many of the world famous polers are really, really tiny. Body weight is body weight regardless of size, but if you’re trying to work bracket holds, there’s going to be more impact on the shoulders of a 5’10 person than a 5’0 person.
David Owen is a fabulous teacher, super relatable, can break down a move both in terms of muscle engagement and in terms of what you should be feeling; he can say “engage the quad” as well as “kick your knee outward.” In other words, he can both give anatomical directions and “cues” that will get you engaging the right muscles if you’re having trouble just engaging a specific muscle on command. He also has just textbook beautiful form, like Amber. But in terms of just tricks and teaching ability, he’s probably the best person I’ve personally worked with when it comes to really advanced tricks.
Karol is a great person to work with. She has a wonderful, light-hearted energy in the classroom that puts everyone at ease. She’s been dancing for a long time and has cool perspectives on applying different styles to tricks. For example, she demonstrated different ways to do a side climb, depending on whether you’re going for a classical club-style look or a more polished and graceful look to match a more traditional dance oriented style. Very comprehensive repertoire-she’ll be able to help you do anything AND do it in heels.
Alethea is another movement focused instructor, and she’s also obviously big on heels. She doesn’t have the world’s hugest trick repertoire, but that’s not for any lack of ability so much as it is that she’s got a well-defined aesthetic and focuses more on developing that aesthetic within the context of the tricks than just learning an endless list of tricks with no style. If you don’t appreciate or embrace her aesthetic, you might not get as much out of it. She’s also very focused on making sure you get your money’s worth. You will leave with concrete instructions for how to proceed with the training at home. AND-this one is important-if you are not comfortable doing tricks in heels, if you want advice and conditioning to safely be able to work even new tricks in heels, she’s the person you need to go see. She’ll get your ankles so strong, you’ll probably never in a million years roll an ankle in your shoes.
Kelly Yvonne is not a trickster–leaving aside for the moment that she’s a freak of nature and iron x’s come naturally to her LOL–she will make you forget completely about learning new tricks and make you think–HARD–about WHY you do what you do when you dance. If you want your movements to be purposeful, to reflect a narrative story, to truly express what’s inside of you, work with Kelly. Pick her brain about the choreography process and you’ll have months’ worth of work to do. She’ll show you how to put together the best routine you’ve ever done using only the three most basic tricks in your rep. She’s awesome.
Last but not least is Michelle Mynx. She’s an awesome teacher who had also been doing this for a loooong time. She’s seen it all, and no matter what issue you’re having with a trick, she knows how to fix it. If you’ve got moves that you’re just unsure why it’s not working for you, run, don’t walk, to go take a private with her. She will fix your issues in about four seconds. I’d been able to do a cartwheel but not a handspring…couldn’t figure it out and was getting stuck trying to go from cartwheel to extended butterfly. She looked at me do it, spotted what was wrong, got it instantly on the first try. Haven’t missed a handspring since. And I’ve seen her give other people similar corrections and get instant results. You should know going in that she has a completely different set of names for tricks, but that has never yet interfered with my ability to learn from her. All of her students have SICK upper body strength. If you look at the amazing abilities of her students, that’s proof enough of her ability right there. And if you’re looking at starting to perform in the near future, definitely work with her. Many if not most of her students perform regularly and are damn good at it. She teaches specifically with performance in mind, always teaching tricks in sequence with transitions so you NEVER learn just the trick itself; you walk away knowing exactly how to put that trick seamlessly into choreography.
Keep in mind these are my personal opinions, reflective of my experiences with these people. Every teacher has their own individuality. Don’t be hesitant to work with someone just because their style is different than yours. You’ll be surprised at what you learn. A good teacher knows that not every student shares their background. For example, I’m not a classically trained dancer, but I walked away from training with Amber with good foundations to work on pirouettes and turns because she knew how to explain those movements to someone who wasn’t a dancer. Don’t just think of where you are now in relation to each instructor-think about what they have that you want.
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I've only had the oportunity to learn from a couple pole stars, but Zoraya totally changed they way I pole and think about pole dancing. I dare say she's also responsable for my desire to start teaching.
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