Pole Dancing-101
Tonight marked my first step into the world of pole dancing and I have one thing to say, ouch ouch friggin’ ouch!! It hurts…and not
because I feel like I worked my muscles to the core, but because you’re gripping a pole and spinning around on it and it beats you up! Tomorrow, I’m going to have bruises in places I don’t think one should have bruises in (inner thighs…hello…damn!).
We learned three different spins and a few dance moves to go in between those spins to put together a sultry sequence of sorts. The first step we learned was the basic way to hold the pole, walk around it, and “lose your balance” so you effortlessly spin around the pole. Once we mastered that, we moved on to a spin. The first spin we learned was the fireman’s spin. For this spin, you are gripping the pole with your right hand as you step one foot at a time around the pole (as seductively as you can muster under the pressure of doing your first spin), opposite hand on your hip. On the fourth step you lift your left leg into the air and fall into the spin while you bring that leg to the pole and raise the right leg to join it as you spin around and down. The momentum you build up from letting go of your balance and falling into the spin enables you to go around the pole several times with both knees up with minimal effort (poles do spin, but ours were stationary). I say minimal cuz it is still hard, but in no where NEAR as difficult as some of the stuff I’ve seen these girls do. She made us do each spin on each side (it is a fitness class as well, so the importance of incorporating both sides of the body is stressed), so after the right side we always switched to the left.
The next spin we learned was a switch kick spin. Same concept as the fireman spin. You walk around the pole, one hand on at first and then you grab the pole with the other hand on the fourth step while you lift and spin your leg around and fall into the spin. This spin is a little difficult to explain, so just imagine standing still and kicking your legs straight out in front of you, one at a time. It’s kind of like that, only you’re holding onto and spinning around a pole 🙂
At this point, our instructor has given myself and the other girl (yeah, there were only two of us daring souls in this teaser class) how great we’re doing and how “excited” she is that we’re doing so well, so she gets all excited to get to teach us a third spin, “You guys are doing so great! You’re naturals,” she says! Not sure how I feel about being called a natural on the pole. So, the last spin she decides to teach us is a wrap around spin. Again, you walk around the pole with your right hand on it, on your tip toes, other hand on your hip. On the fourth step, you wrap your right leg around the pole and grab on with your other hand. You then “lose your balance” into the spin and you position your other leg just below the leg wrapped around the pole. You spin a couple of times and plant your feet on the floor and raise your booty in the air to stand up.
That’s it! Then we did a little cool down and we were done. At this point, I’m noticing that I’m actually sweating, which makes me think I did get something of a workout. It is difficult, I will say that. I have a newfound…ummm, respect…for pole professionals. Oh, I forgot to mention how dizzy you get!! We even took “dizzy” breaks. I remember when I used to dance in high school, you learned how to spot when you did turns…guess I’ve forgotten all those techniques. I did end up signing up for additional classes…six weeks to be exact. So we’ll see how it goes! I wondered on my way home how I was supposed to get any better or practice with no pole at home…but I guess you can buy poles that don’t have to be mounted into your ceiling…portable poles. Take ’em to the beach! Maybe some day…
Shannon…out.
The Many Faces of Sophie 
