poledanceromance
Forum Replies Created
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Some of this could be in choice of studio. If you are taking pole classes “for you” but you are in a studio where the teacher likes to get her student performing and show-ready, then you may well be continually frustrated with aesthetic comments you don’t care about.
That said, I know pole is personal for all of us. But my opinion is that a teachers job is to acknowledge her student’s successes but also encourage them to push themselves and improve. That must be done in a respectful way of course. But many, many times I have said “you got it, that was solid! You can do the mechanics of that move. Now point your damn toes!” with a smile, and the response is always laughter. And you bet if they do it again with great lines I am singing praises! If this really is about not taking things too seriously, as long as the instructor isn’t actually mocking you for a laugh to other students or being inappopriate, then seriously do not take a teachers correction or constructive criticism personally. It’s not personal, it’s their job. I taught control-minded technique, toe pointing was a big part of that for me not just aesthetically but because it indicates to me where a student is in developing control over a move-the flex foot is involuntary and shows me the student isn’t fully controlling the move yet. Basically do not be afraid to actually communicate with your teacher about your goals or these issues to determine if a studio or instructor will be a good fit for what you want to achieve.
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For home purposes I would totally do a system like that to pop my x up and down plus I remember reading here that the xpole doesn’t need as much tension with the vaulted mount so it spins more freely which would be nice.
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The light skinned/dark skinned divide is something that really fascinates me to study even though I have an outsider perspective. I wonder how much of it is influenced by the fact that some mixed race, women in particular, were able to pull off being south American or mediterranean or something else in America that wasn’t “negro.” In recent years I have moved from referencing black people as “African American” to simply saying “black” and I did that because I had a schoolmate correct me that she was Haitian, and that I shouldn’t be afraid to call people black since not every black person is African American. Obviously everyone has the right to indentify as they choose, but I’ve never had someone correct me because they didn’t want to be called black so this is really interesting to me and have me a lot to think about. I study equality issues with such interest, especially now that our society is getting so beautifully mixed up that you can’t assume a person’s heritage from how they look. Clearly that’s challenging a lot of people to examine how they identify themselves. Cool post, thanks for getting this topic going!
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I'm glad to hear they fixed the problem with the mount! If that applied only to their older model then anything I said about the mount working loose obviously is totally irrelevant to their new model. I also really like how their new spin mechanism looks. Seems like they may have found a simpler way to do it that looks like it eliminates a lot of the other problems with other spin/static mechanisms, like you can't loose pins or screws and there doesn't appear to be any way to damage the pole by "improperly" doing the spin/static switch because there's nothing you're screwing in. And it looks like a fast, easy change.
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Also I’ll say the only instances I know of where people had the single point mount come loose when screwed into a joint, that was with YEARS of having the pole in the same spot.
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I just had occasion to try lil mynx poles for the first time, they are installed at Maureen’s BLUSH pole fitness in Milwaukee (West Allis), WI. She has lil mynx poles that use the ceiling extender mounts on her hardwood dance floor, using the rubber pad. I felt completely secure on the poles. Joel (poledancefan) also uses those poles with no problem and he is not a small guy- taller than me (5’8″) with big muscles. He must weigh 250lbs though I’m bad at guessing weight, I’d say he’s easily over 200lbs. I weigh about 120, but at my height I can and have taken poles down just from the leverage a taller body can exert on a pole in extended spins and such.
Anyway, the lil mynx poles at Blush have been there for quite some time. She has students of ALL body types and sizes and everyone uses those poles securely. I am a pole safety stickler, those who know me know that I have NOT been shy or quiet about saying what I did not like about some poles I have used before and lil mynx poles are sturdy poles, some of the least expensive on the market, that will securely hold you for years if installed correctly.The only caveat I would say is that, for permanent mounting I see the value in using their four-point mout, as I know some others have had issues with having the home-mount that is single point work loose after some time, even if screwed into a joist. But I think that’s a matter of checking your rigging regularly, which we should all do, even those of us with permanent one-piece poles. 🙂
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I have used the ps one piece at 10′ as well as poledanzer static/spin one piece poles at 10′. I will say that at the 10′ mark, poledanzer poles are the most “solid feeling” I have used. They are also the fastest/smoothest spinning I have used…those poledanzers spin do fast and so smooth they will toss your candy ass across the room if you aren’t ready LOL
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Make sure you get the pole bolted securely to your proper anchor points. A permanent pole can fall too if improperly installed! I know Veena herself experienced a bolted pole coming down while she was on it, she’s related that story on the forums a few times before. It is so amazing to be able to have a nice permanent pole space, though! I so look forward to that day. 🙂
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I saw athletic adhesive used as a grip aid for the first time this week. It appeared to be very effective. It’s common brand name is “stickum.” http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0012RFP00
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I sadly have had the issue with friends being negative about it. My issue is also that the people who are being negative about it and not understanding it are the people who I thought were my best friends. It's one thing to just "not talk about it" for the sake of maintaining a broad social circle, but it's a little different when these are supposed to be the closest friends. I know some people would be willing to have their best friend come talk to them about anything even though they can't talk to that friend about everything, but that's not me. I can't call someone my best friend if I feel like there's things that are core to who I am that I can't talk about with them.
It's also difficult because I want to start stepping up my training to a more serious level, and that will take more of my time and energy away from people who don't actively support me in that.
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This hasn't been mentioned on the forums recently so I think it is worth noting that there are polers out there who get treatment for hyperhydrosis of the hands, botox injections into the hands to paralyze the sweat glands. If you do get a diagnosis of hyperhydrosis, insurance might cover the injections.
The second suggestion I have to offer is simply patience. I remember posting a dozen times about this issue if I posted about it once in the first year of dancing. Truth is I still sweat but it no longer affects my grip to as impossible of an extent as it used to…it may be a sign you are still "squeezing" to get your hand group rather than using push/pull mechanics that minimize the force your hands/fingers are using to squeeze the pole for grip. Working on your grip strength consistently can help.
My third suggestion is designed to help the second…try some "non-standard" or lesser known grip aids or other major ones you haven't tried to help you combat the frustration and do the practicin that will improve your grip. I have really excellent luck rubbing a bit of white toothpaste into the palms of my hands, then rinsing off with just plain water and toweling dry. Leaves my hands very tacky. I also find the grip aids work better when applied long before. Put on dry hands or some certain-dry roll-on antiperspirant two hours before pole, then an hour before pole. But I have the longest practices with clean hands. I get more benefit out of taking a break to scrub my hands very clean, like with dish-washing liquid, than I get by re-applying grip aid during practice when I'm sweaty.
I understand the frustration. Sadly the frustration can prevent you from finding the answer, so don't give up hope. It will get better with practice and experimentation. And there is a proven medical solution as a backup if you need it.
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I recently had somewhat of a falling out with. Presumed best friends. Made me realize my real friendship and support comes so much from the pole community. This weekend I chose to dance to radioactive because that’s how I was feeling about it. Pole unleashes us, but it unleashes a power so great that a lot of people can’t handle it. The empowerment makes us strong and gives us energy, but that energy is radioactive to the people around us who don’t understand. They can’t grab onto it without confronting all their own doubts and fears and that’s hard and hurts, so they push back. They make comments that try to downplay what we do, how difficult it is, the athletic legitimacy of pole training.
I know how you feel…I’m not sure I have advice for how to fix it. I am not always so good about things like this and have basically let go of otherwise meaningful relationships for my inability to handle it when people “close to me” don’t understand such a huge part of me.
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Discountdance.com, unitard section. If you find something you like style wise but it's not thick enough, also check their undergarment section because they have some flesh toned unitard style undergarments with thin straps that could easily be worn underneath another unitard to provide more thickness (trying to avoid silk burns?)
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I got curious so I googled. Here’s the wiki for ganglion cysts. Apparently they are pockets of synovial fluid that push out from the joints and are caused by repetitive stresses or injuries on the joint. “smashing” the cyst can cause it to recede by actually rupturing the cyst, causing the fluid to leak into the surrounding tissues where it is absorbed. I would say given what I just read, resting the joint and making sure you’re doing careful and thorough warmups is probably not a bad idea.
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If you hate thongs, try the "cheeky" style brief VS makes. The higher cut in the booty works better with the bikini/boy short style shorts you're wearing. But I like the cheap thongs target carries in a nice seamless style in plain colors, in wicking fabric that pulls sweat away from the body so I don't worry so much about the health risks associated with thongs (though I usually only wear them to pole so that's not so bad). Target is great in general to try new styles of panty cuts because they have awesome huge bins of panties, a lot of which make fab pole bottoms, and they're cheap so if I don't like the style I only wasted $3.
As far as changing pole shorts, I can wear cheeky bikini styles under my mika side scrunch bottoms no problem. If I'm wearing boy short or bikini style pole bottoms then I usually have to wear one of my thongs/gstrings and that's where target comes in. Maybe you can take your favorite pole shorts with you to target (or whatever similar you have near you) and just try on a bunch of different styles of thongs and cheekies on under them to see what works and is comfortable? I don't love thongs myself but I have realized there is more style and cut variety to butt-floss than I realized and they are not all created equal, some thong or string styles are way more comfortable for me than others.