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Let’s get to know each other!
First, I want to share what brought this idea of wanting to know you all better into my mind.
I’m not sure how many of you know that back in the day when I started studioveena.com, the website was like Facebook for pole dancers. It was all about community. SV was the place to meet other pole dancers, support each other, share videos and photos, learn new things, and participate in monthly challenges, all without the issue of “muggles”, non pole people bothering us. You know those folks who leave nasty comments about your body, what you wear (or don’t), and how you dance. Studioveena was a safe space for all because I was adamant that if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
So what happened to the community here? In short, Instagram along with the acceptance of pole as a hobby in which “normal” people participate, influenced how pole dancers felt about being seen by anyone and everyone. Before pole dancers loved the idea of having a private space just for them, but rapidly, things changed when IG came along; soon there were no more videos being shared, people stopped participating in challenges here, and wanted them to be on IG and have a prize to win. Studioveena became a dumping spot for people to upload videos, not to share with friends, but to archive videos they didn’t have space for on their computers. I struggled for a few years trying to keep people interested in a community, but I realized it was time to accept that people had changed. Members where here to learn, not connect.
With all of this knowledge several years ago, my husband (webmaster) and I made the decision to remove the community aspect, along with the ability to upload user videos. As hosting video is costly and, as mentioned, members had stopped communicating on the website and preferred public platforms.
I decided to pivot and focus on education instead of community. However, this change meant most of the interaction is no longer seen by anyone but myself. I respond to member questions and comments daily, but I’m guessing most of you think you’re the only ones using the website? This is far from true.
This year we reimplemented video and photo uploads for paid members, and we reintroduced member profiles. Which provides the option to “connect” with members and message myself and your Studioveena pole friends.
With all that being said, I’m curious if any of you are interested in getting to know each other? As of today there are 65,898 Studioveena members! As you can see, you’re not the only one using the website, I promise.
So my question is, can we get to know each other? If so, lets get the conversation going. I think a good start is to answer the questions below.
Where are you from? Do you prefer static or spinning pole, and why? Bonus points if you add a photo of yourself!
I’ll go first:
I grew up in North Dakota, and have lived in many different cities, I currently live in the St. Petersburg area of Florida. While I enjoy spinning pole and offer instruction on spin, I tend to gravitate towards static. Mostly because I don’t pole dance often and I’m the type of person who needs to acclimate to spin so because I don’t consistently pole dance my body isn’t ready for spin. But I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of creating movement on static pole. My love of static pole dance is strong!
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12 Replies
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Hi I’m Vicki
From the uk, I’m 56 yr old been poling for about 13ish yrs had a few year off , an found studio veena as I wanted to start back at the beginning and build my strength back up , an as for static or spin I’m getting used to spin , but I think static is the one for me , although spin will take time to get use to xx ❤️
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Hi, I’m Hazel!
I’m from the UK, Bournemouth.
I love my static pole & have been pole dancing for over 10 years. Static is the one for me as its the one I learnt to pole on & I only pole dance at home so don’t think I have enough space for a spinning pole. I have tried spinning pole a few times over the years but always missed my static!
Since the first lockdown my pole has been a permanent fixture in my living room & I have been poling from home using your great tutorials 😀
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Hi!!
I’m Paola, 40yo, and I currently live in Germany. I discovered Pole dance in 2014 in Australia and been Pole dancig since then, with breaks in between due to my two pregnancies. There are no Pole studios where I live, therefore I completely turned to online classes and Veena has been for me a must ever since. I particularly enjoyed the assessment challenge with level certification where Veena gave a feedback to the submitted videos.
I love statistic pole when learning new moves or working on strength but prefere spinning when dancing.
Xx ✨
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@mummypole I love this! Thanks for sharing and being so active here! It’s fun for me to wait for your replies.
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@hazelbourke81617 It’s nice to meet you! Thanks for sharing and great to hear from more people who love static. I feel like everyone does spinning pole now.
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@PaPole Thanks for replying! I enjoyed working with everyone during the certifications.
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Hi, I’m Serzi. I’m an old school poler from Michigan and have resided all over the state. I lived the first half of my life in the Upper Peninsula, then moved below the bridge to the Lower Peninsula about 20 years ago.
What first brought me to SV was a video Veena had posted on YouTube wayyyyyyy back when it was still the Myspace days. It was one of the first “Monthly Challenges” and she was dancing in tie-side shorts to Korn’s song “Coming Undone”. I was probably new to pole at the time and had just bought an X-Stage from Karol Helms. I remember I was searching desperately for full tutorial videos at the time and then realized Veena had an entire site dedicated to it.
I was hooked. I pretty much had no use for any other site in my earliest days of pole except to keep in touch w/ non-polers. Almost all of my friends were members on here at one point or another and, lemme tell ya, it was a Golden Era I deeply miss.
So, what happened? Well…life, of course. One by one, all of us had our own personal trials and tragedies which seemed to rip us away from our beloved sanctuary that was pole. Many become first time parents (myself included), others suffered with loss of loved ones (ditto), health problems (yup), demanding careers (you get the idea), and just life problems in general seemed to get in the way of being able to participate.
There were several times I’d renew my membership and, each time, another unforseen circumstance would prevent me from dancing again. Tbh, I’ve kept my foot in the door because I love this site, but I’ve ended up feeling like an outsider because I am unable to dance anymore. Pretty much everyone I interacted with on here has either been dormant, distant, or even deceased for quite some time. I still check in, though, because even though I don’t dance I love to be a part of pole somehow. I felt most alive when I was up there, and seeing others finding themselves through dance makes me want to get up there and experience it all over again. In fact, long before I ever poled I admired the art of expression through dance. So…I will always be a part of it somehow and encourage anyone else to begin their journey.
Btw, some of the best days of my life started with the friends I met on SV.
Thank you, Veena.
💜 ~*Serzi
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@Serzi I don’t pole dance much either, maybe 3 times a month. It’s very disheartening that you and I are often the only ones who use the discussions. I also long for the days of feeling like community.
I need to stop trying to get people to engage with each other here, but as you can see, it’s not something people want.
Even though community aspect is out of the question, the website and tutorials aren’t going anywhere so if you read this, don’t worry about that….
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Hi I’m Lisa,
I’m 54 years old and live in New Zealand.
I’ve been poling since 2014 ad instruct. I love spin pole (and teach that) but static has a hold on me as well, that’s why I love this site, I can get tutorials for both! Currently about to start training again as I’ve had time off for a shoulder injury (not pole related) so will be aiming for my intermediate certification soon.
I also suffer fro Psoratic Arthritis so ctoan be out for weeks when I have a flare, whichakes my pole progression slow.
I’ve just walked my first half marathon and am hoping to do a full one next year 😊
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Hi
I’m Christina, I grew up in Edinburgh and live in Australia now, I am 55. I have poled on and off for about 6 years. I prefer static pole, spin puts me into a real spin! I love Veena’s tutorials and after a long break with a few injuries will start from the beginners tutorials once again.
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@lisaemmerson403135 I’ve never done a marathon other than for church as a kid. That’s impressive.
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@tinab2002 Thank you for sharing! 💜
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