PoleChamp
Forum Replies Created
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That sux that you had this experience! I haven’t heard of anyone having this much trouble w/ the products!
Let us know if Platinum fixes all the issues!
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I thought this thread was closed by the time that I read it, but it seems as thought it is not. Give me the opportunity to respond to all of you, and thank you for giving me this opportunity!
:"Miss Pole Champ USA is a SCAM. The girls who work at the clubs perform nude and win regardless of talent. It is a STRIPPING contest NOT pole dancing"
It really sucks that Erin Hogan had such a horrible experience that she has to react this way. She was so upset after the winners were announced that she said many things to the other competitors, the venue management, and myself that I hopes she regrets. I have worked on the details of these events for a long time and put a lot of hard work into them so for someone to have that reaction is so deflating, I am so sad for her.
:"The girl who won deserved a prize, but her win was cheap because of the rauchy, disgusting display of this so called "competition."
I honestly believe the right person won. I don't know how her performance was raunchy or cheap? I do also believe that Erin should have placed, but it wasn't her night.
:"The judges with pole experience magically couldn't come, so they were replaced by 4 guys who run a party bus company. None of the judges knew anything about pole dancing and even commented to customers that they had no idea what they were supposed to be judging."
I hate to throw a sponsor under the bus… but the owner and instructors (4 were scheduled) at icandysonoma.com were supposed to judge along with some gentlemen that the club selected. That afternoon iCandy informed me that they were unable to make it. The venue stepped in to replace them with business owners that were not customers of the club. They did not know the men (yes they were guys) that judged. They were friends of business owners who did not frequent the club. All judges were walked through the process and given guidelines. Although the men did not have dance backgrounds, they did an acceptable job in selecting the correct winner. Erin is mispeaking when she says that there were only 4 and they were all party bus owners. There were 6 judges and 2 of them were affiliated with a party bus company, 1 owned a contstruction company, 1 was the orchestra coordinator at theater, and other random professionals. Although these gentlemen weren't ideal in Erin's mind (or mine), the bottom line is that they know what they want to see. Since this competition is about finding someone who can do a national tour in strip clubs, I need to find someone that will wow a strip club crowd. I invited pole fitness competitors because I sincerely hoped that if I can find a pole dancer to knock the socks of a strip club crowd without even taking her clothes off… then she definitely deserves to be there!
: "Then she had the audasity to tell me I looked nearvous and my moves were poorly executed. At least I HAD moves. But this isn't about me, its about the five LEGIT pole dancers who didn't even place. I was also informed I probably didn't place because I "didn't climb to the top of the pole." A pole 16" tall"
I did tell you that, because that would be the only reason that you didnt place. The top 3 girls had major confidence and looked like pros. I watched Erin do some fabulous stuff, but she didn't look comfortable. That affects overall performance scores. Erin, you are misspeaking again: when I mentioned that the top 3 girls climbed all the way up the pole, I said that in response to you telling me that "they didn't even touch the pole", it was merely proof that they touched the pole without naming the tricks they performed. The pole was 16', not 16".
"By the way, the owner of the club gave the judges "gifts" at the competition. We were also not allowed by the venue to see or walk on the stage beforehand, but clearly the girls who worked there would already know the stage."
Yes, it is customary to provide gifts to those that help you out. I have judged many competitions where the host venue provides gifts. I have recieved crystal, monogramed bath robes, gift certifcates etc. I have given gifts to every pole fitness person that has judged my competitions. I had prepared gift bags for the judges who were supposed to come from iCandy Dance Studio, but these gift bags were full of pole related items that were of no interest to these gentlemen so the club offered their T-Shirts, mugs & such.
Also, the contestants not getting time on stage beforehand was a mistake that I wasn't informed of until the competition was over. The general manager of the club announced that you would get to check out the stage. I left him up to that since I had my hands full with other duties (like making sure the judges knew what they were supposed to do) and the many other duties I need to handle. I assumed it was taken care of and NOBODY said anything to me until AFTER the competition was over! I didn't know BUT, I should have made sure that it happened and I didn't so I will take responsibility for my shortcoming there.
: "IF YOU HAVE REAL POLE TRICKS AND ANY ONCE OF DIGNITY AND SELF RESPECT, DO NOT ENTER THIS. YOU WILL ONLY LOSE TO GIRLS WHO GO NAKED AND RUB THEIR VAGINAS IN THE JUDGES FACES, YET ONLY KNOW ONE POLE TRICK."
This is outright slander. No one rubbed any vaginas in anyone's faces. The 2nd & 3rd place winners didn't even take their bottoms off and the girl who one 1st took her panties off while upside down on the pole at the very end of her show, with her legs crossed. Be careful, as another poster stated… liable.
– "Aside from this, I am absolutely disgusted that a so called "pole champ" wouls want to portray pole dancing this way, and basically confirm to all our critics that we are all strippers with no artistic or athletic ability."
Erin I earned all of my pole dancing titles on the strip club stage from 1994-2008. With the exception of NBC's 'America's Got Talent', I never entered a mainstream pole competition. I would NEVER confirm that a stripper or non-stripper pole dancers have no artistic or athletic ability. I have spent 16 years pole dancing to know better!
– "Veena this is called MISS POLE DANCE not Miss Hottie stripper. This would imply POLE DANCING is required."
No, it is called 'Miss Pole Champ USA'. Yes, pole dancing is required. The name was selected from my biz name. My biz name was selected from the nickname I received from years and years of winning competitions. Within the feature arena ( in short; feature dancing is like being a burlesque headliner in a strip club), there are not many pole dancers and I definitely made it my niche so I got the nickname and it stuck. I chose it as my biz name when I began teaching because it fit. I chose it as the competition name because I wanted the connection to my company and I already had TM rights.
– "Yeah, fuck you people. You're all talentless and borderline retarded apperantly."
This is the Erin that was shown to me, the other competitors, and the club staff after the awards ceremony. I hope you can all recognize this type of behavoir? It seems to me that you do, so I will only say that the Erin that showed up for the competition was a completely different person! I was very proud to see a well prepared, professional, well spoken and beautiful competitor enter the competition. It was such a shock to have this monster appear lashing out at everyone afterward. I was so sad for her and sad that an event that I coordinated would bring that out in someone..:-(
Don't get me wrong, I have felt that way many times after competing! I have entered over 35 different types of competitions and I only hold 24 titles. There have been many times I have placed blame on others but I never did it in the fashion that she did.
: "While I can appreciate that the roots of pole dancing come from stripping, the two things are not mutually inclusive. As the technical skill level of pole dancing has increased and many pioneers have taken it to a new level of art that requires an amazing amount of strength, flexibility and coordination, pole dancing has evolved into an art form that parallels many other extreme acrobatic sports.
As many have tried to legitimize pole dancing as a sport, the need has arisen to at least moderately distance it from stripping. I have absolutely nothing against stripping, but there's a huge difference between "pole dancing competition" and "amateur night at the strip club".
With all due respect, why would you think that exotic dancers couldn't have "strength, flexiblity and coordination"? I am deeply offended that you have never attended one of my competitions and you compared them to "amateur night at the strip club"!
1. House girls should not be competing in an event like this. Most legitimate competitions exclude house girls from competing because they are given an unfair advantage. I think this is a pretty standard rule that most competitions that are held at clubs seem to follow.
The venue has to pay for the event and send the winner to the national competition. There is no way I wouldn't give one of their own the chance to represent the club! Consequently; the NE regional an outsider won, E regional all 3 top places went to outsiders, N regional 2nd place went to an outsider, SW regional 3rd place went to an outsider.
2. Any competition that claims to judge based on several criteria that require a deep knowledge of the proficiency required to execute complicated pole maneuvers should be judged by knowledgeable and experienced dancers who know what to look for. The fact that the judges were laymen with little understanding of what makes a move challenging significantly cheapens the quality of the competition. The fact that they were also friends of the club owner is even shadier.
I was disappointed that my pole pros canceled. I am proud that the venue stepped up in such a diplomatic way and no they were not friends of the owner… as stated above.
To summarize, regardless of how many of you know "Nic" on a personal level or have worked with her, or know her history, this competition really should not be called "Miss Pole Champ USA", because it doesn't seem to draw on the actually skill of the pole dancer as anything more than a minor category in the overall performance of an exotic dancer.
It is really sad that you let one person's experience sway you. As far as I know (sorry if I am forgetting anyone), I have never met anyone on this board. They may know my background and have heard of me because it is all over my websites, myspace, twitter etc… but that is because they did research and I have widely promoted who I am.
P.S. Miss Pole Champ USA is here to stay!
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Hey smokingangel!
Great questions! It is customary to tip in a strip club competition. However, you will find that most of the competitors will not stop their show to take tips… in fact, I will advise against it to make sure that their performaces are smooth. However, most tipping is done in the form of setting $ on the stage or 'makin it rain' (which really amps up the ladies performances!). I can't tell you how many times I have seen a competitor take it to the next level with the crowd gets her going!
Usually competitions dont start exactly on time. I have not run a competition at Dreamgirls ( I dont know if this is the event you were planning to attend?) before but this company has run many of them so they will know what will be best. However, the start time will depend on how many competitiors we have. We will most likely start on time if we have 10 or more competitors as we will need to fit them all in.
Hope that helps!
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Sarah comes from a Romanian acrobatic family. She told me stories of her mother’s influence & longing to have her talents.
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The good news is that the club is setting aside a block of discounted hotel rooms for traveling contestants!
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I have worked closely w/ this venue for years. I gave them the opportunity to host this event out of loyalty! Its good biz to do biz w/ those you trust!
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Thanks Charley you really summed it up!
Yes, this is the strip club competition! We would love to have any if you come out and watch the show!
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^^thanks for the clarification. Yes, if you are doing your Janet Jackson moves ( https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif, you will need those knee pads!
I don’t think there is a possible alternative to socks when on carpet? Lol, I am picturing strapping those furniture sliders to your knees for easy carpet movement. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif
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You guys are doing things incorrectly if you need knee pads! Have you ever seen an exotic dancer wear knee pads? NO, because we don’t put pressure on our knees. Nobody wants to see a bruised up exotic dancer. That’s not sexy. You guys need to invest in a teacher who knows how to prevent knee bruising.
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Just make sure to tuck your neck to the opposite side! Take it step by step and you won’t hurt yourself!
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Started at 18. I am now 33!
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I also did a workshop with her a couple months ago. She taught me this one too.
She calls it a twisted ballerina with the lower leg still supporting but then it becomes a flying ballerina when the lower leg is extended off the pole. I am pretty sure that is what she said.
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As a 15 yr stripper vet, I applaud all of you who have mentioned that stage isn’t where strippers make their money. Of course, there are a few of us that rely on stage to make any $. However, most strippers will do what they can to get off the stage rotation to spend more time doing lap dances, VIP or champagne rooms. There are few of us that can make as much on stage as a 15, 30 min or 1hr VIP ($50-$500).
Yes, as Carol stated- stage performers are a dying breed and those that really excel at it can’t help but do a full show whether there is 3 ppl or 300 ppl in the crowd. BUT, this is NOT the norm for strip clubs. When I began stripping my mentors were ALL stage performers. In fact, you couldn’t really be a stripper if you didn’t have some ability to be sensual and erotic on stage. Nowadays, you just have to be willing to do the job. It’s unfortunate but true. Stripping is so mainstream now (yes the pole fitness community has attributed to this), that everyone wants to be a stripper and it is acceptable. MOST clubs will hire anyone willing to do the job because the more dancers they have- the more house fees they will collect and the bigger profit the club has. FYI, a house fee is similar to what a hairdresser has to pay to rent her space at a salon. I am so happy when I have a potential dancer contact me before she begins because in general- dancers ARE lazy. This is why they choose the job- they work for themselves and decide how much $ they make, they are not responsible for other co-workers, most can come and go as they please, and if they have a problem with one club- they just go down the street to work at another. The freedom the job represents is the main attraction- NOT stage dancing. Although the industry gets its fair share of former dancers and gymnasts, that isn’t the majority of strippers.
it’s expensive as hell just to be in there! Drinks are $10 and up and you have to keep drinking or they kick you out!
So how many lap dances did you buy and how many bills did you tip? Lady, you are exactly the reason why strippers hate when women come into the club. Do we come to your job and tell people how much you suck at it?
Sissy – so next time are you goin gto get up on stage?
I am pretty sure she would get a beat down if she tried. AND, you should think twice about that kind of attitude. Strippers belong on the stage, not customers. How would you think about a man on stage? If any of you want to strip, go audition- don’t think that you can take our precious stage $ away just because you THINK you could do better.
I just feel like if our attitudes don’t change, why should we expect strippers to embrace us? After all , this really is theirs. How can we be offended when strippers call us bored house wives. And some of them do.
Yes, that is the general feeling about non-stripping polers and thank you Charley. MOST studios won’t even let strippers in their group classes. Many like myself, will recommend private lessons. I think Empyrean mentioned this. Its not to separate the strippers- its because they learn on a completely different level. 90% of my students are not strippers. I LOVE that, because they truly take the art more serious than 90% of the strippers out there and it is MUCH easier to teach someone who cares! I prefer to teach a more fitness related class and I am pretty good at weeding out those that won’t really take it serious. I also refuse to do parties. My best student does all my parties because pole party goers are not serious and are exactly what you state- just women trying to look like strippers and it drives me NUTS! You might as well stab me if I have to watch people demolish my art. HOWEVER, I make sure all of my students are aware that they are learning from a stripper vet and they will learn from a stripper’s standpoint. What that means is more open discussion about why movement is done in such a way and my students respect it- which is a huge thing for me. They don’t mind my terminology and they don’t mind me calling them prude to get them to open up their hips. MY students have respect for strippers which means that many of them know that they are better at it, but would never heckle or even THINK about performing!
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^^^OMG good point! never thought about that!
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Mighty Grip sent me some samples. I tried them out with my best students. At first they said that it was just like the gymnastics chalk but after sweating a bit more they said it was a little grippier. Hope that helps!
