first visit to Body & Pole

friday, june 25, 2010

5pm pole choreographer class w/Kyra

I went to see Michelle Stanek and Kyra from Body & Pole perform during the Femme Totale show at RBar on thursday, june 24th and their performances were great. ever since I met Michelle through Pole Superstar, I wanted to take class with her (and am signed up for tomorrow actually, tuesday, june 29th). Kyra I met at the Pole Convention and she just seemed like a lot of fun. after talking to Jill Anne and Kyra, I told them I'd be at the studio for the 5pm class the next day.


the studio is beautiful and very wide open, lots of mirrors. Lian checked me in and my first class was only $20. the class consisted solely of Jill Anne, Kyra and myself, so we got a ton of attention. their classes are 1.5 hours long, and I get it b/c their warm-up is so intense. which was great! I was sweating and ready to go home for dinner by the time I was done stretching and doing abs! Kyra also reminded me to breathe and not hold my breathe. constant problem I have.


we played around with a choreographed routine to a few different songs and we worked in a chair spin (which I wanted to work on), but I couldn't seem to get a grip on the pole and kept messing them up. perhaps this is because the studio has thicker poles than I'm used to at NYPD. the routine was slow and sensual and fun to work on. and then... we got to the climb...


while Jill Anne was inverting, working on her butterfly move, Kyra asked if I knew any tricks, to which I responded no. she asked me if she could show me one and I was game. let's try this! she had me climb up the pole, then basically get into a guy sitting position. you know what I mean. if we are climbing on the right, the left leg is hooked around the pole, and you bring your right ankle to cross overtop your left knee. not very ladylike :) but for a reason. she then had me grab my right ankle with my left hand and then lean/fall backwards. this was not easy. as soon as I crossed my legs (b/c I was afraid of going backwards and also b/c I was all sweaty), I started slipping down the pole... at a pretty rapid rate. if Kyra wasn't there underneath my body to spot my back, I would have slipped all the way to the ground. but she was there and had me just do it. it definitely felt weird, but after a few run-throughs with the routine, so just made herself known to me when I needed that spot and I finally got it down with the music. which felt great. knowing that you are hitting those marks in the music where it makes a statement, while at the same time, you're about to do a move that will emphasize it even more.


don't get me wrong, it was scary. and I do not have the strength to invert yet. I know that, but it was fun o try that little piece. however... as I was leaving the studio, I did feel horrible. I think during the beginning stretches, I pulled something in my right thigh and it was acting up as I was walking down the street. I could also feel the kick-ass bruise that I just knew I was going to have right next to my crotch, on my upper inner left thigh. this was where my thigh, once crossing my leg at the top of the climb, hit the pole as I fell backwards. I KNEW it was going to be major. and it was. it killed to have shorts on that were rubbing against it. every time I had to go to the bathroom that night (and the night after) and pull my pants down over the bruise, it killed. it may sound silly, but it really did. I took photos of how purple it got, the darkest being on Sunday morning, but I can't figure out how to get them off my blackberry right now. killer!!



as a side note, I called my Mom after this class to talk to her about my pole dancing and she said the following: "you're not doing this for a living, so don't go crazy taking classes and spending money." which is true, but I did explain all the benefits to her and told her I wasn't going crazy. it's fun even though it hurts. it's not a cheap sport, but I am working off a discounted package and I want to get better. the other week was a little crazy with the class schedule, but hopefully I'll be working on the recital piece soon enough :)


* and I have no idea why the formatting is all crazy on this post.