Hi from NYC

mish514 started this discussion · 2/11/2010

Hello forum girls (and guys??) My name is Michelle and I am from NY. Just set up my profile on SV and hopefully plan to get some videos up soon. And some friends 😕 I've been taking pole classes since September 09 and I have a platinum stages pole at home. I live in a studio apartment in a basement-like area so my ceilings are short and space is limited so it's frustrating to do much at home, which is why I haven't uploaded a proper video as of yet. My pole at home is about 6 months old and still super smooth, so i can't really do inverts/thigh holds without some mighty grip. Can anyone help? If it helps for you to see a pic or video I will upload soon. Just wish I could get better faster, patience has never been something I own LOL 😁 I am an S factor student about to enter level 4 and I take a few other drop in classes at other studios. I am truly impressed by all of the videos I see here and the people that call themselves beginners seem pretty advanced to me, so I am not sure how I would classify myself! 😳 I would love some input on anything...inversions...climbs, shoulder mounts...I can invert and climb, and invert from a climb, but i can't master the (chopper?? helicopter?) ❓ ...excuse the butchering of terms....I need a vocab lesson as well, seems everyone has different terms. I would love to learn the shoulder mount but I am not sure I have the strenghth. I currently do cardio at a gym and bikram yoga. Other than that and pole I don't have much time for exercise. I am a former gymastics student but haven't done that since grade school...boo hoo, i am in need of a refresher. I am starting aerial acrobats in 2 weeks with the ny circus arts academy, super excited and hopefully that will increase my flexibility. I am somewhat flexible but would love to know how to do the straddle split. advice please?? 🙂 Ok I will end my list of demands here and hope to chat with you all soon. thanks for reading 🫡 Mish

10 replies

amy · 2/11/2010
hey mish! welcome to SV and it'll be nice to meet you at the pole jam! ok in order, here is my feedback! 😀 if your pole is stainless, it will be less sticky than a chrome, brass, or titanium pole. when i had a stainless pole of my own, i actually used very very fine grit wet sandpaper on it really lightly just to get it more broken in. the sfactor poles are stainless but there are HUNDREDS of hours of use on them which is why they are so much stickier. for sfactor level4, you are very advanced! a lot of women in L6 can't climb and flip but then you know the emphasis at S is not on pole 'tricks' and more pole 'flow'. if you can't chopper yet, i would work on that with pull-up into snake and plows, because you absolutely should be able to do a slow controlled chopper before you work on the shoulder mount (in my opinion). if you think about it, it's really the same trick, just with a different leverage point with your arms. your core needs to be able to engage and lift in both the helicopter and the shoulder mount. i assume your'e doing the aerial acro 1 at ny circus arts? you will get WAY stronger, not just flexible. you will find that the stuff there will kick your butt, but you'll gain strength and find pole work to be much easier as a result. and, if you think about it, just doing strength work or any kind of class 2x a week instead of sfactor 1x a week will be good for you too. i think with splits (i am working on the straddle split myself) the only real advice is to stretch, all the time. there's no quick solution. try looking up the resistance stretching thread for additional stretching techniques. one other thing i will say is: it's not all about getting tricks. i know it's tough to feel like you're "behind" and "not as advanced" but everyone moves at their own pace. not everyone can do every trick (i, for one, HATE the cross ankle layout and i NEVER do it, i'm bowlegged and it frickin hurts me EVERY TIME) and you should enjoy the learning process as well as the accomplismnet of nailing a trick. pole is fun! don't let it become something else. 😀 by the way, who is your teacher at S? when do you take class? maybe i'll make up with you sometime! tracee and i met each other through SV and we are also both S girls. =)
mish514 · 2/11/2010
Wow that was fast and a wonderful response, I think you answered everything I wanted! My pole is stainless I think (I have to go read the paper it came with) I purchased it through S factor, it's the "willow" pole, so I also heard that it's harder to grab with the thighs since it's slimmer. I will try what you said about the sandpaper. thanks. So not to sound foolish, but what is a plow? As you know at S factor the progress is very slow, so we haven't even discussed anything past the snake (so impatient!!). Is that where you push up from the arms and butt and kind of snake your way up the pole?? I can't do that, I tried and I just fall 🙁 And of course everything hurts but I am willing to suffer through that pain. By the way I was at the pole super star event on friday and you were awesome, my S classmates were loving your leg ribbons and your moves! We were all in awe...! I just signed up for the open pole play on feb 28. I also take classes on Thursday nights with Ilov (she recently took over for Sam). I've seen Tracee on occassion and knew she looked familiar. I really like Ilov she makes class so much fun, you should drop in! You can teach us new tricks! LOL Do you have experience with aerial acrobats? I can't wait to start, I did the intro and I loved it, and I took flying trapeze at another school which I loved. Oh, and by the way I love that feather skirt in your pics you must tell me where to find cute stuff like that!! Talk to you soon. I will look for you on FB.
amy · 2/11/2010
the plow is a warmup exercise. it's when you lay on your back, and bring your legs up and over your head (slow and controlled) until you are folded in half. i'm glad you enjoyed the show! i had a teeny role but it was a lot of fun. =) i'm taking a pure dance on 2/19 with cat, and pole 2 w/ ilov on 2/20 (saturday). i forgot-- i'm taking a session off to explore other classes so i can't do makeups =( ahah whoops. i took a few sessions of silks at ny circus arts, and i tried a few other places in NYC before i signed up there. i keep meaning to go back-- i had to leave during a session because i fell on my thumb and jammed it pretty hard and couldn't grab the silks (But poling was fine haha) so i have a bunch of credit and i miss it. it's just tough schedule-wise! the feather skirt i posted about here: https://www.studioveena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2909&start=20
mish514 · 2/11/2010
Oh ok, I love that stretch, I didn't know it had a name! I will do those if you think it will help. Thanks for the info on the skirt I might have to invest in one soon! Are there many other studios in the city? I looked into crunch but it might be difficult for me to get there often. How do you like the pole classes there?
amy · 2/11/2010
plows will help. if you can do those, then work on crunching into your snake. if you crunch into the invert, tilt back, and are in a little ball upside down hanging there, the only thing different about the chopper vs the snake is where your legs end up. aside from S and NYPD, marlo fisken teaches at shockra (murray hill), she's amazing and a great person. lian tal has a new studio called body & pole (soho), where her and kyra from crunch both teach, and the class size is really small so you get a lot of attention. crunch-- i wouldn't recommend for beginners, the classes are overcrowded and it's tough to learn there. i go there for pole time mostly, but the advanced classes are challenging and there are way less people. there's locations in park slope, upper west, financial district, union square, and midtown east with pole classes so i think it's pretty convenient.
mish514 · 2/11/2010
Ok well I am signed up for the pole play and a march masters workshop at body and pole. I spoke with lian before i signed up and she was really sweet, it made me want to take her class...which i haven't done yet. for now i am sticking to nypd (in white plains) and s factor and body and pole, if i find more time i would like to try more studios. i will try the plow move and also i was able to do the chopper walking into it with the momentum it helped. i videoed a short clip and it looked ok i just need to work on holding it (which i guess is where all that core strength comes into play!). thanks for all of your help I will keep you posted on my progress 😎
Veena · 2/11/2010
Hello and welcome! 🥂 If your looking for some more advance moves you can always check out the online lessons here too. 👍
mish514 · 2/12/2010
I tried, how do I get access? I was looking for the option to sign up but couldn't find it 🙁
Veena · 2/12/2010
When you click on a lessons a banner to the side by the video explaining how to get started. 😀
mish514 · 2/13/2010
thanks i will try that 😁