Pole Level 3/4 @ Xpose Fitness in Annapolis, MD

Wed, June 9th: pole level 3/4 @ Xpose Fitness in Annapolis, Maryland

I've been home in Southern Maryland since Fri, 6/4th and it was about time that I made my way to Xpose for a pole class. I only knew that this studio was here b/c Lauren (from NY Pole Dancing) started pole dancing at their Towson location years ago. I called the other day to ask if I needed a reservation and if I could wear my stilettos. NO & NO. damn, so my (well, Annie's) broken stilettos made it all the way to Maryland for nothing! a little disappointed that I couldn't dance in stilettos (your heel has to have the surface space of atleast a quarter), but I happily went barefoot and everything was ok. I figured I could skip to levels 3 and 4 b/c I know how to climb. it all worked out for the best :)

first it was super easy to find, off of Riva Road in Annapolis and everyone there was super friendly! from the front desk to my instructor, Rachal and my fellow classmates, it was awesome. one thing that I was not prepared for was the existence of brass poles in the studio. damn. I could tell my fingers were hurting more than ever, but I didn't realize that trying to do the spins on the brass pole was actually rubbing my skin to the side and opened up like a blister would. brass poles are used by top level dancers b/c they are "stickier" than chrome poles (which we use at NY Pole Dancing). my hands (and tops of my feet) were not prepared, as you can see!

in the beginning of the routine, Rachal demonstrated a carousel spin, where you are basically in a sitting position and you whip around your outside leg, ending where your outside leg is straight and your inside (pole) leg is bent. I tried this, but had trouble keeping my core straight and legs up, so I did a chair spin, where it looks like I'm sitting on the outside of the pole while I spin around. I just need to work on getting my legs up and not just underneath me, dangling for dear life!

Rachal took that straight into a reverse hook spin, which I had previously worked on with Lauren during a few sessions. I knew that I jumped into them and am still working on getting that height from pulling up while going backwards instead of jumping up and into the spin, allowing my inside leg to hook around the pole and my body to spin backwards. all the other women in the class were able to combine these two spins into one combo, but I was just working on touching down for a hot second between both to get my position correct.

after that and some figure eights, we took it into a climb. just a regular climb and I can tell you that I did feel a difference there with the brass pole. my legs definitely stuck to the pole. that explains all the pole burn on my legs and wrists (from spinning). at the top of the climb, Rachal took it into a straddle, where (rightside) her right arm was across her body at her chin, gripping the pole at her elbow and her left arm was at knee height in a reverse grip. once secure, she sat back from the pole and held her body away from the pole in a straddle position. since I hadn't done this, she introduced me to the push-pull effect. instead of gripping the pole with my bent arm, she had me (rightside) sit down from the pole and place my right hand high up on the pole. sitting back a little allowed me space to space to place my left hand in a reverse grip at the height of my knees. now all that was left to do was to push away from the pole with my left hand (bottom) and pull with my right hand (top). It was relatively easy! that is a fantastic grip! getting that bottom grip was a little testy a few times and as soon as I started to push my body away from the pole, I started to spin. you can see this in the video I'll post at a later time. just gotta get those straddle legs up and hold it for longer than a second, but I feel really accomplished about this one :)

between the limited air flow in the room and that fact that I was determined to nail these new moves, I was sweating buckets. no joke. even said so. I don't think I've sweat that much in a pole class ever!

now from the straddle at the top of the pole, we went directly DIRECTLY into a figurehead pose. this was awesome to watch. I do it in the video and am not very graceful, but it did get easier and easier as time went by! and it looks kickass. you pretty much look like the woman at the front of boats. like I said, kickass.

it's sort of hard to explain, but I'll try (rightside): place your right hand high, fling your body to the front of the pole, while hooking your left leg around the pole and straightening your right leg, hooking your right foot behind the pole. now reposition your left hand, so you manuever your head/torso underneath your right arm and you're in front of the pole. now bring both hands down behind you on the pole and lean forward, arching your back. at this point in time, Rachal mentioned that depending on your strength, you could do a lot of things with your legs. you could keep them bent and straight, or bend them both and do some kicks. I think I'd need to work on grabbing the pole higher up n my thighs for me to feel comfy letting that right foot loose from behind the pole. but it was awesome and two moves I'll be putting into my August routine.

we finished up the routine with some floorwork, some booty pops, some butt scoots (which I could not do without shoes or socks on). Lauren would have been proud- I'll have to show her :)

the atmosphere was awesome and of course I had to buy a tank and tee to support the studio. called Suzanne and left a distracted message on her cell's vm (I was in target) and talked to Pheon on ym way home. told her all about the brass pole and my hands being torn up and she recommended that I not go to any more classes until I return and let them get back into shape. I had been thinking about taking a classes tomorrow and saturday mornings, but she's right. along with my Dad. my hands need to heal if I want to take class and not hurt next week at NY Pole Dancing AND do my semi-private class with Gabby, Suzanne and Pheon on Sunday the 20th. gotta prepare my moves for the August student recital!

so, this was a super long blog post! I promise to keep up as I continue my pole dancing journey and to post the video of the straddle and figurehead pose asap.