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Jenyne Butterfly was the first pole dancer whose style I really connected with, so she’s definitely up there, as is Veena (hi Veena ). At the very top of the list for me is a Japanese pole dancer named Haruna Matsunami – I can’t find as much about her as the other pole dancers I really like, but I absolutely LOVE everything I’ve seen of her. She competed in Miss Pole Dance Japan 2012 as well as the World Pole Dance competitions (not sure which years, I’d have to look it up). She’s energetic and graceful and weaves advanced techniques and gymnastic floor work in with music beautifully without being sexy per se (I’m not a fan of overtly sexual styles myself), and I connect more with her style than anyone else I’ve seen so far.

Also, Kenneth Kao – I’m lucky enough to get to take classes with him. I’ve seen him freestyle a bit, and I’m always blown away by the effortless way he does moves that require so much strength. And he always looks like he’s having so much fun – I love the combination of youthful enthusiasm with mind-blowing strength and technical skill.

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I love drops! They can be a challenge to get at first, but they’re so fun and exhilarating once you do. I’d say it’s more psychologically than technically challenging, because I’ve found that you can do a drop in pretty much any move that you know how to tighten and loosen the hold of, but the biggest difficulty is getting over the fear element. I’d say start with a position that you’re really comfortable in, experiment with loosening the hold and tightening it again. Work on shorter distances first and build your way to bigger ones as you get used to the feel of a drop. Maybe this is just me, but I’ve also found it easier to do on a pole with better grip, since I feel more confident doing a drop if I feel really confident that I can catch myself.

The main drop that I do is in a Jade split, but I had to get realy comfortable and familiar with the basic Jade before I could even think about doing a drop in it. I’ll also go into split grip up on the pole and drop into splits (or, well, nearly-splits) on the ground or land on my feet. I haven’t tried any drops in a transition from one move to another, but I’d really like to try one like that.

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OMG, congrats on getting the spatchcock! That’s a “someday” move for me for sure. Good thing you have the grip now too, since that would be a bad move to fall during o.o

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Every time I try to do a short Scorpio (on static) my body somehow rotates and I end up in a long Scorpio =P I should really look into why that’s happening so I can do both…

I definitely aesthetically prefer the long Scorpio, and because of the rotating issue I haven’t really gotten a short one. In any case it seems to be easier for me to hold a long Scorpio. I haven’t yet done combos or transitions that require the short, but I feel like I should work on it so I can do those.

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Your thought of “I get objectified anyway, might as well get paid for it” makes complete sense to me and is actually a part of why I work as a stripper myself. I second the warnings about alcohol and other substances – I can confidently say I’m one of the only dancers at my club who doesn’t drink on the job, and I get offered drinks all the time, telling them I’m underage doesn’t deter them from offering to slip me a shot or part of their beer. Whatever your boundaries are, you have to keep them rock-solid, with substances and touch alike, because people will push them.

I feel like you know all that, though, so I would rather warn you about other dancers. As PolieOlie mentioned, there are so many horrible two-faced women that you will be working with. I have been sexually assaulted by other dancers multiple times throughout my time as a stripper. I received a rape threat from another dancer at the first club I worked at. The woman then followed me to the next club I worked at, and there she would do creepy shit like follow me into the dressing room when it was likely to be empty. I left that club because of her, and I am *extremely* lucky to know at least one manager at my current club who actually takes dancer-dancer assault seriously, but I know not every manager does, because I know one other manager who basically gave me a blank stare when I tried to report a dancer who just approached me and grabbed my breasts.

I’m focusing on sexual assault here because that is NEVER talked about, I am literally the only person I know who has ever discussed this issue. I’ve also heard screaming matches in the dressing room, but I feel like that kind of thing is talked about at least a little bit. I know your biggest problem so far has been unwanted touch from men, and I empathize with that very strongly. If you do decide to try working as a stripper, don’t expect the women at the club to be any different (including customers, female customers are often worse than the men when it comes to unwanted touch).

I would also reccomend working at a big club in a big city if that’s possible for you. That way you can utilize your pole skills, get good stage money for that, and therefore spend less time one-on-one with customers, which puts you at greater risk of being touched/grabbed/assaulted.

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For inversion tricks, I’ve worked my dominant side so heavily that it’s ridiculously imbalanced now… I can do hip holds, leg switches, and drops on that side, but on the other side I can basically just do a messy chopper invert and slide slowly to the floor. Because it’s been that way for so long, it feels like my body has developed muscle memory based on one side only, and working the other side feels bizarre and unnatural. It’s like my body just expects me to be on my dominant side for those tricks and throws a fit if I’m not.

So yeah, it’s definitely way easier to master a move on both sides if you really work both sides early and often. I’m trying to avoid this mistake with new tricks I learn, and I’m going to keep trying inversion tricks on my non-dominant side, but I know it’s going to be more difficult now.

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“The stage they were talking about stage”

*facepalm*
Pardon my iPhone, everyone >.

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@Veena Thank you so much, I will definitely be checking that out soon! And thanks, I’m glad you like it

@Iani Ancilla Thank you I definitely try to eat and sleep really well (maybe just a bit too much chocolate *hides* ). I have a pre- and post-work stretching routine, pre-work is pretty soon before my first stage set of the night and takes ~10 minutes. I should probably add some warm-up before that, since I’ve read multiple people on here saying that it’s best to stretch after your muscles are a bit warmed up.

@TropicalVertical I wish my club had spinning poles! I actually overheard the topic come up between a manager and a few dancers a few nights ago, apparently the ceiling over the stage they were talking about stage wouldn’t be stable enough to hold a spinning pole or something =/ I have a few hip holds and leg hangs I use in my stage show, but I’ve found a few others that I’m definitely going to use more. I got a decent Scorpio and pike hip hold the other night

P.S. I love your street pole videos!

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Just wanted to say that I empathize. It took me a year of dancing 3-4 times a week before I could do a basic invert – a ridiculously messy one, with a huge kick, hooking my leg around the pole early, and hauling my butt up with the hooked leg =P Granted, I wasn’t doing any strength training on top of that, so it will probably come to you sooner than it did to me, especially if you’re coming into pole dancing with some upper body strength already there (I started from zero). It sounds like you’re doing the right things, so keep at it and don’t get discouraged

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Oh no, I’m sorry that happened to you! I would definitely go to a doctor/other medical professional about this. If you get it improperly treated it would probably keep you off the pole for a while, not to mention make it hard to walk =/ I’ve never gotten stitches for anything, but deep glass cuts sound pretty serious.