[Rouge_LAmour]

Another vote for Pleaser here. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

I have 7" heel ankle boots which are great.
demonia are also another good brand, with slightly more edgy looks.
I have a 5" pair of knee high boots I’ve worn for work a bit.

[Rouge_LAmour]

and I’m sure Neke will agree that those friends you can sanity check with are also online.

I’m always concerned about girls who choose to dance as I’ve seen it go very bad for some; I’ve had some friends end up working for their habit (both legal and illegal substances), hence my concern.

If we had clubs in NZ that were there for the dance and beauty, not for the titillation, I’d probably feel different.
Anyway, there’s enough of us here with life experience that you can talk to, and do talk to us.

Most importantly, don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with.

Aunty Rouge has spoken!!

[Rouge_LAmour]

I was trying a spin, hold on, hook leg, lean til go off balance.. yup fine.. take leg off floor to join leg on pole.. Ha! body says no. It’s like someone has glued me to the floor, am I just wimpy or will it just take a bit of confidence with playing with the pole to get that foot off the floor?

If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say this… so yeah, this is completely normal.
As you get more experience, you’ll feel far better about taking your foot off the floor.
It’s usually a fear of falling, therefore, take the spin slowly with control, then if you fall, its only onto your tushie and it’s not far to fall. Concentrate on your grip and keep your toe pointed, the heel operates as a good strong spur that prevents the foot from slipping.

Also, once you’ve had a minor fall, the fear goes. Once the laughter subsides.

[Rouge_LAmour]

I’m going to second everything Neke said and add what I’ve come across.
I’ve had a flatmate who’d danced and was completely screwed up because of it. She lost any self esteem she had and ended up hating herself and others. However, I know others who have no issues.

I do know of a feminist who does it as a backlash against men: they can’t have what she has. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif
I know of others who’ve done it for enjoyment and have had a ball and made money, however, from what I’ve come across, they’ve been in the minority. However, these are clubs in New Zealand, where some aren’t run that well and they consider explicit spreads normal. One I know of even encouraged some "non-dance" tricks too.

All I can say is to be careful. Choose your club wisely. Ensure you are comfortable with it. Get sanity checks with friends frequently, just to make sure you’re mental health is good.
After all that lecturing, I really hope you have a great experience dancing in a good club where explicit spreads aren’t normal and the place treats you well. I’m concerned as I’ve seen it go bad for some and wouldn’t want it to go bad for anyone else.

[Rouge_LAmour]

I’ve learned from other tutors, Jamilla lessons, Veena videos and other youtube videos.
(and my GP when I’ve done them there injuries… )

I constantly strive to better what I’m learning and I have other tutors that I’ve learned lots from.

The certification we’ve looked at is vertical dance, it’s KT Coates who is a big x-pole promoter.
Still trying to decide as it’s about $2000+ NZ dollars for us to do it.

[Rouge_LAmour]

I had a 3.05m ceiling height last night, but the pole needed 2 x 1000mm, 1 x 500mm and a 250mm to make it work. It held fine (husband ensured it was all tight and good) and held up for me teaching kids, adults and playing on it myself. (Accountants new years party – end of tax year, she asked me to come along and play / teach).

Make sure it’s really tightly against the ceiling, I checked one today at the studio, tight, then it came crashing down. We’ve cracked the tubing in the middle of the dome, bruised my leg and I damaged the wall… https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif
Thankfully I have a spare dome at home, but we’re waiting for x-pole to advise if we can get a new dome / tubing. Thankfully I married a mechanical engineer.

What I have noticed is that ceiling measurements can be deceptive, I usually go down 125mm from the ceiling height.

[Rouge_LAmour]

Vodka!! It’s an old rockers trick for blisters on fingers after hard practise sessions. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif
Soak the blisters in vodka to reduce and harden the skin and drink the vodka to minimise the sting.

[Rouge_LAmour]

Ditto, still no use…
heyelp, heyelp!!

[Rouge_LAmour]

That’s not Moronic, I’d call it a brain fart.

[Rouge_LAmour]

we have 8 permanent poles at our studio and 2 xpoles.

Elite is the lowest we recommend, although x-pole is the way to go.

My husband trained as an engineer and he is really impressed with the x-pole from an engineering viewpoint.
I wouldn’t get anything that is spring loaded, most of these do not support spins and are only good for prancing around. Which there’s nothing wrong with, but that’s not what Pole is solely about.

I think your instructor gave you some very bad advice re the pole.
I would ask them why they think the x-pole is overpriced and bring in the pole they recommend for them to do some spins on to show you how safe it is.
Anyway, since when has safety and quality been overpriced???

For NZ, the xpole is $1100, which is about 300quid and $5 – 600 USD. They are still popular and our girls are still keen to buy them. 60 quid is nothing in comparison to what we pay and I’m pretty sure tescos had those poles on sale about 2 years ago for 24.95 quid… you may have been ripped off.

[Rouge_LAmour]

Another West Islander!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif Welcome to the site
How was the race today??

Pole Divas?

[Rouge_LAmour]

So you’re in New Zealand’s West Island!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif

Jamilla has her studio in Stanmore and readily takes students. She’s lovely and a wonderful teacher.
Pole divas in Melbourne has a good rep here too.

Welcome to the site from another antipodean. There’s a great Australasian community here.

[Rouge_LAmour]

as my husband teases me, I loved the sport so much, I bought the company.
So yes, I got my poles the crazy way, I part own a studio… but we have 11 poles for me to play on!

It’s a great workout and is way more fun than the gym, as an avowed exercise hater, I happily pole anything up to 10 hours per week. On top of chair routines, dance fitness and Bollywood dancing. My previous exercise was walking the path from the road / bus stop / supermarket to my house.

Pole is fun, it builds great strength (physical and mental) and is very good for toning the body.
The most toning I’ve noticed is in the puku (tummy), the tush and my arms.

[Rouge_LAmour]

Does your college paper have an email so we can all complain about the article being biased and stupid and dumb etc (formula one on tv now, brain going into overdrive with nnnnnnneeeeeeeeyoooooooowwwwwmmmmm)

Can you post the copy of the article on here so we can all make intelligent complaints? Please.

I made cupcakes today and am sending you a metaphysical one to make you feel better.
(Glitterhips, they are chocolate banana with peanut butter chocolate frosting. All vegan and very yummy.)

BTW, a friend who is a sports journalist is going to cover the NZ champs this year as serious sport.
He knows that if he does a crap coverage, I’m going to chop off his dangly bits and wear them as earrings then make him do a lesson and post the resulting photos to all our mutual friends who are journalists. And I’ve not even had to say a word…

[Rouge_LAmour]

Irrespective of being married and having kids and a house and a mortgage ("death grip" in french, I think that’s too cute) you are an adult women who is capable of making her own decisions and stuff like that.

Ergo, as someone who is over 18 she should just keep her venomous comments to herself.
Unfortunately, she sounds like she’s not the kind of person you could teach a couple of basic spins to show her that it’s not all about sex.

Failing that, show her this amazing tango http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=47392654283&h=IQsI2&u=KgHy1 it’s on the pole for the Grimaldi family in Monaco and is on a pole.
Tell her you found an amazing tango you’d like to share. When she’s saying it’s incredible etc, point out that that is what you do. Ensure you have the camera ready for her reaction…

I wouldn’t show my mother what I do on the pole, she’d comment on cellulite and anything else that wobbles, my mother in law is a different kettle of fish – she’d love it and would enjoy the performance.