[Rachel Osborne]

My shin, after doing a power climb on a new, slippy pole this week spinning too fast!
Be careful and extend a leg or arm out to slow yourself if going too fast – tucking in makes you go faster, like a figure skater in a spin.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0oStQg4kNMA

[Rachel Osborne]

Shortie
What about Luna Belladonna?
Belladonna means beautiful lady; it’s also a plant which causes the skin to flush, heart to race and pupils dilate – mimicking the effects of sexual excitement. Elizabethan ladies used it to look beautiful – it’s a deadly poison in large doses.
🙂

[Rachel Osborne]

V cool by the way 😉

[Rachel Osborne]

Great thread.
Barley Keswick is pet/st – hmmmm.
If I was a drag queen I would like to have 2 personas: Juanita Maneater, a feisty Latina housewife and Helena Handcart, an upperclass Englishwoman who doesn’t give a rat’s ass and is always drunk.

[has discussed this too much with camp gay friends]

If I had a performance name? Liberty Spinner.
Because I feel freedom when I’m flying and spinning round.

[Rachel Osborne]

Top one looks like closed Scorpio (variation)?
No idea second one!

[Rachel Osborne]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_dance

You’ve probably seen wiki…
You could also look at hootchy cootchy dance popularised at 1898 Chicago World Fair: this was more belly dance style but influenced early pole performers….

[Rachel Osborne]

I was taught
Carousel kicks
Head/elbow stands against pole – legs closed – then straddled – touch floor touch pole and down
Lie on back, hold pole bring knees, ankles up to touch pole without arching back
Plus good old Pole pull ups
….Are your 101 climb training

And pole tucks/crunches/pole holds
are your 101 straddle invert training

Basically do not invert til you can climb, sit, spin, pole hold, use all your grips to spin and lift yourself off floor and back
with strong core and total control.
Inverting is not safe if you aren’t ready.
And I have to reiterate why:

I cracked two bones in my neck falling from an inversion before I was ready and strong enough; I was lucky not to be paralysed.
I was in pain for a year and didn’t get back on a pole for several years.

Please… Don’t worry if you’re not inverting yet. You will know when it’s right for you.

Do the strength training.
Take your time.
Be strong and safe and beautiful.
It’s a dance, it’s a flow.
Not a race.

[Rachel Osborne]

I agree with that, we can’t all expect to be spatchcocking away like Felix Cane, but I really ought to be able to do a basic Scorpio properly by now. I am strong enough and experienced enough to do much more complicated things ffs. It is just fear.

Then again, I couldn’t do Gemini properly til last week but I [downed a glass of wine and got out the crash mats and watched Veena vids like mad] and made myself do it over and over and bruised my knee pit to holy hell but now I can do it.

I think I get moves when my irritation at myself and embarrassment at being the one person in class who can’t do it gets too much and then I get spurred on through the fear and pain.

Moves I pick up easily are more fun to do but somehow less satisfying in the long term than nemesis moves.

Superman can wait however. It’s not essential like Scorpio so it can jog on.

[Rachel Osborne]

I can’t do it at all [takes notes]. Applause to everyone who nails it despite the pain. Does the pain ever get better? (Have loose skin inner thighs after weight loss and it literally rips, ow)

[Rachel Osborne]

Oh cool can’t wait!
A very good reason to work on my not-graceful side climb and frankly rubbish left hand basic climb. I cheat and just do performance climb all the time because I think it looks nice.
As for inverts I’m only just getting my nerve back after injuring myself falling out of butterfly several years ago (and then stopping pole until restarting last autumn) so I’m going to really try to get comfy and smooth with the basics: bat, butterfly, CKR, CAR, Gemini, Scorpio and Chopper. As they are all so important to get right.

Looking forward to seeing vids. Thanks Veena!

[Rachel Osborne]

I bruise super easily too, and am at the stage of being completely over excited by my new pole and my strength returning so am on a roll of trying to get back all my intermediate moves and learn new ones and try hard advanced-intermediate stuff. Which is a recipe for looking like I’ve done ten rounds with a boxing champ!

I know I should stop but I can’t stop! Rediscovering things I thought I’d never do again plus stuff I couldn’t do before is so exciting! (((My new pole ))))

I will just have to wear maxi dresses for a bit…

[Rachel Osborne]

Thank you all! I can’t stop doing knee hangs now lol.

[Rachel Osborne]

Well there’s iguana mount but that’s a bit of a pole in-joke…

I think swan into tuck and drop looks very dramatic.

Caterpillar climb is quite reptile.
And anything where you wrap round the pole: corkscrew spin, maidenhead with drama arms, inverted crucifix into bat and caterpillar up…

Floor work: sexy crawl, wavy legs, body ripple lying on back…

Split roll with scorpion kick…

It sounds very awesome. You must post a video!

[Rachel Osborne]

I get this! Are you remembering to BREATHE? If I hold my breath I look like I am about to expire…

[Rachel Osborne]

Have you tried contacting xpole? They might have ideas….