Auditioning to teach pole classes...without a pole?!

glitterhips started this discussion · 6/1/2010

Ok so there's a new pole studio opening up near me and they are having an open audition on Friday for anyone who wants to instruct any dance there...however when I spoke to the owner on the phone she informed me they haven't gotten their poles delivered yet and they have false ceilings that are 12ft so there's no way I can bring my Xpole. The audition is going to consist of 3-5 minute routine of whatever you want to teach and then having to teach a move to a group of people. The woman on the phone I could just "improvise" but I'm not really sure how to improvise a pole dance without a pole! She asked me to come so they could at least meet me and wear dance attire so I'm not sure if they're going to expect me to do any actual dancing for them or not....however I'm going to look pretty stupid if I don't have a pole to dance with! I told her I could send her some videos and photos of me dancing so she could at least get a sense of what I can do and she said she would like to see them so I'm hoping that will be enough for her and she won't want to see me do another dance audition on Friday. But as far as teaching the group something, I thought I could maybe just teach 2 or 3 floor work moves that you can do without equipment, but I have no idea what moves to teach because I almost always lean against the pole when I do floorwork. I like that fish flop move where you roll forward but I feel like that might be a slightly complicated move to teach a group of people where I don't know their skill level and I also don't know how much space I will have. Anyone have ideas how I should go about this whole situation?! It seems like a fun place to work and I could for sure use the extra money so any ideas are very much appreciated! 🤔 🤔

18 replies

amy · 6/1/2010
um.... i've seen a lot of bad pole studio management. unfortunately just because you have a passion for pole, or see a business opportunity, doesn't mean you have business savvy. it seems like the studio would be best served (and be able to best assess teachers) if they waited until the poles are up. i totally udnestand you are excited to teach but i would be VERY wary of attaching myself to an establishment that can't get their #@$#@ together! ...that being said... you should be able to put together a cute floor mini routine or floor + wall and be prepared to teach that. stick to super basic stuff like a stripper push up (i dont know what else it's called... when you're on your tummy and you get up by sticking your butt up first as you push back with your hands) and a little leg work series. work on the walk! getting them to swing their hips. somethign along those lines.
aWiiPeanut · 6/1/2010
You could do the fishflop! I think that would be fine even for beginners. Maybe the trucker girl and some slides outward and the clock thing with your legs in the air. If you can just teach a few moves then that should be enough...if its for 3-5 minutes then its kind of silly of them to expect you to do a pole routine without a pole!!!! Surely they'll think the vids are enough!! Good luck girl!!
glitterhips · 6/1/2010
thanks guys! @amyxshi...yes i totally agree with you, i just passed up another teaching opportunity where the owner of the studio had a photo on their website of her using an upside down xpole.... 🤔 but i do want to go to the audition anyway to check it out and go through the audition process because i could always use practice doing job interviews 🙂
Charley · 6/1/2010
WALL! I am in total agreeance with Amy. Much of the time in beginner classes I show people how to take the pole moves we do and do variations on a wall so they can practice at home. If you really want to mix it up add a little chair work in there too!
Mary Ellyn · 6/1/2010
Well I would go just out of curiosity but I would also keep in mind would you want to work for someone who is proceeding with interviews even though they aren't ready to properly assess the applicants? I understand that part of hiring an instructor is matching personality, intelligence, communication and so many other points and skills but why would a studio waste their time without poles present, let alone waste your time to come out and interview. I would really think twice about working for someone who didn't respect my time enough to reschedule the interviews until the poles arrived. 🤔 I like Charley's idea to teach pole moves which can be done on the wall and teaching floor work is an important part of pole dancing too.
miss fern · 6/2/2010
just passed up another teaching opportunity where the owner of the studio had a photo on their website of her using an upside down xpole.... 🤔 Hahahaha I wanna see that! Do you have a link? As for your 3 min intro/audition class: I agree about being wary of this studio who is willing to a botchy job of interviews, rather than wait for poles. However, if they have advertised their open day or something, perhaps they would rather not cancel it, and would be willing to properly assess the poel instructors actual POLE ability at a later date, after they have demonstrated they can lead a class well in a demo situation. Sooo I say go for it, because what have you go to lose from just the audition? If you think they are a sub-par company then you don't have to accept the position anyway! As for actual moves - you can do lots of fun floor and pole work as other people have mentioned, and then possibly run through a quick 'pole prep strength training' thing. As in - if you're interested in pole classes do THIS, THIS and THIS at home, to get yourself ready! And briefly describe how each muscle group will be used - "it's important to build up your arms for all your basic spins, and we'll be relying on our core and legs a lot when you get to an advanced level that involves upside down tricks" etc. (Veena's beginner strength lessons would obviously be a great source of ideas for this in particular). Good luck!
Maria Joao · 6/2/2010
Hi Why don't you use a chair? And wall work, too. That's what I learned in the beginner's class: floor, wall and chair, we only used the pole to walk around it 😕 😂
sosagely · 6/3/2010
Do these people even know true pole dance? It doesn't sound like they have any idea what is involved, but rather think that you just grind and hump the pole. Not a good sign. What is it with the pole studios in your area? I think you just found your calling...open a REAL studio where REAL polers want to learn.
torrie24 · 6/3/2010
how about doing a half knee bridge into the speed bump/cobra then roll onto back going into dancer legs and clock legs to trucker girl.. just some things i learned in my classes. good luck with it oh and if you look up zensual dance on you tube theres a video from my instructor doing just floor work maybe itll help.
minicoopergrl · 6/3/2010
um.... i've seen a lot of bad pole studio management. unfortunately just because you have a passion for pole, or see a business opportunity, doesn't mean you have business savvy. it seems like the studio would be best served (and be able to best assess teachers) if they waited until the poles are up. i totally udnestand you are excited to teach but i would be VERY wary of attaching myself to an establishment that can't get their #@$#@ together! ...that being said... you should be able to put together a cute floor mini routine or floor + wall and be prepared to teach that. stick to super basic stuff like a stripper push up (i dont know what else it's called... when you're on your tummy and you get up by sticking your butt up first as you push back with your hands) and a little leg work series. work on the walk! getting them to swing their hips. somethign along those lines. I totally agree! I would feel weird teaching/audtioning for a studio w/no pole. I would totally work the floor, wall, chair aspect. DO THE FISH FLOP!!! It could be that WOW move that really makes you stand out between others who are audtioning. Good luck on your auditions, I want to start doing that but im not 100% sure if im ready yet.
nymphdancer · 6/3/2010
ok now I have to ask, what the heck is a "fish flop"????????
glitterhips · 6/3/2010
Thanks everyone!!! Yeah I agree I am not super jazzed about them not having poles but I am still going to go the audition just to get more audition experience under my belt and to check out the studio and see what they're all about, I don't have anything to lose just from looking into it. And thanks for all the suggestions, I think I'm going to choreograph a little floor routine today to teach everyone....I told them I would send them a video so I hope they can use that to judge my skills and then maybe have me come back when they get their poles installed to dance in front of them. But we will see how it goes! And I would looove to open my own pole studio but I'd have a tough time coming up with the money to start it up...maybe I should have a cupcake bake sale?! 😀
monica kay · 6/4/2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKcgAyfbdZY i had to google it...
velvetvixen · 6/5/2010
Personally, the fish roll scares me. lol Any move where I can hurt my neck if not done right scares me. If your teaching regular people for first time, you may have some reluctant people or they may do it anyway. They could easily get hurt, and that could cost you the interview! If its for showing off, go for it! Just my opinion. Good luck by the way!
angel6101 · 6/5/2010
IDK I'd be very wary of a place that's asking you to come in and audition without actually having a pole set up to show your skill. I'd definately still go and do a very basic floorwork routine just to see what their about. Keep it simple so you can highlight your ability to effectively break down a move and the details of transitioning out of and into it but be wary. Your a great dancer so you wanna make sure the studio your working for is up to your standards. If their that unorganized about the audition process I have to wonder about the rest of their business opporations!
miss fern · 6/6/2010
I see a lot of people slagging off this place and I stand by what I originally said. They seem to offer many styles of dance, not just pole dance. It's likely they have planned this open day for some time, and have done their advertising, and people have bought their tickets or at the very least made their plans to come. It's probably a lot more hassle to reschedule the whole thing, then contact ALL the other new potential teachers for other styles, and all the other prospective students to tell them of the change. All because of a delay in the equipment needed for ONE style of dance? If it was my business, I would not reschedule. I would go ahead as planned as let the pole teachers show me that they could lead a class, be friendly, communicate their knowledge well, hold the attention of an audience etc etc etc. And THEN at a later date I would call back the successful applicants and get them to demonstrate their pole skills. Unfortunately there has been an unexpected difficulty with the delivery of their poles. I think they are probably handling the situation as best they can.
nymphdancer · 6/6/2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKcgAyfbdZY i had to google it... ok sort of an open leg plow. The roll up your foot get up would never work for me with heels. Your feet don't bend that way in heels.
amy · 6/6/2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKcgAyfbdZY i had to google it... ok sort of an open leg plow. The roll up your foot get up would never work for me with heels. Your feet don't bend that way in heels. the fish flop is the part where you go over your shoulder, not the toe rise after. usually its less of a shoudler stand than a plow over one shoulder.