"Finishing" moves

polergirl started this discussion · 4/19/2010

I spent about two hours yesterday just dancing for fluidity and flow, which is something I really really strive for...and it occurred to me: the reason I sometimes feel like my dances don't flow is because I am not "finishing" moves or concepts or thoughts or whatever. I cut them short to move on to the next thing, even if that next thing is a simple pirouette. Boooo, bad pole dancer!!! So yesterday, I decided if I was going to do anything, I was going to do it slowly, and languidly, and finish it out. And the result was, generally, a (IMO) much better dance.....plus, it was way easier!! Who'da thunk it?? Would love to hear some of your tips/thoughts on finishing out moves. Am I the only one for whom this is a daily struggle?

15 replies

azriel · 4/19/2010
Polergirl I've noticed this in myself too! "Finishing" a move or concept makes the dance look less sloppy & more graceful.. although it still takes a bit of conscious effort for me much of the time. Another thing i've noticed to help my "performance" look better is to hold the move/pose for a couple seconds. For example, i tend to move around a lot in my gemini for no reason, & it just looks sloppy. I found that holding a still pose for just a second or two gives the viewer a chance to really "register" the move/pose, before moving on to something else. The way you come out of a "finished" move is also important.. aaah so many details to making a performance look good!!!
PoleSkivvies · 4/20/2010
I think that's a great idea! I've been focusing more on the dancing part lately, trying to get that fluidity, so I'll be sure to think on this next time I'm on the pole.
PoleGrrrrl · 4/20/2010
I definitely notice when I practice either tricks or dancing, that I have to mentally tell myself to 'hold, hooollldd', and 'hooollldd' a little bit more - it looks much better! At first I thought I was lookin like an idiot staying in a pose for so long, but I think when you're on the pole you don't realise how quickly you move, and what seemed like a ridiculously long amount of time, was actually just about right. The same would work for dancing, if you hold the finishing pose for that move it gives the (often pretend) watcher the opportunity to admire the position and lines. If I'm doing a trick, I try and hold for a slow count of 5 secs before moving out of it - so often we just try and fit in as many moves as possible, but if you only ever see transitioning in and out constantly, its hard to go 'awww pretty!' 😀
amcut · 4/20/2010
Ooogh. I've been working on this too. I also have weak limb extensions... it's all a little halfassed. Like half squats or barely there booty shakes. Laybacks where the leg barely comes up and is bent, lol. A rockstar that lasts .3 seconds. Hell. All spins lasting .3 seconds. I have a bad habit of halfassed momentum/rotation. Dropping almost directly into handstand after a CKR/CAR. ... why didn't I just handstand if I was going to do that, lol? Lets call this the 3 Mississippi Challenge. Where all of us make a SERIOUS effort to have three mississippis for each pose. 3 MISSISSIPPI CHALLENGE!
polergirl · 4/20/2010
Amcut, I LIKE IT!!! Count me in.
azriel · 4/20/2010
Me too! my next vid will include amcut's 3 Mississippi challenge! 😂
polefairy · 4/20/2010
I'm really glad to see this thread. In the first set of classes we did the teacher did loads of spins and stuff but there was no 'performance' element to it. So when I seen pole dance videos (in fact, even when I just recently joined here) I'd watch in amazement at them actually performing the moves rather than just showing them. My new class is BRILL though, for every trick or spin she teaches us she teaches us fun, flirty ways to come out of them. Last night's class was all about finishing moves so for example, when we all did back hooks she got us to get out of them by doing something cute on the floor and finishing the move standing back up with a nice pose. It makes it all more fun too, a class full of women giggling and trying to flaunt it!! Hahahah the classes are great! 😀
mademoisELLA · 4/21/2010
Very cute, I just finished watching "The Blind Side" I agree that finishing is just as important as beginning and I too was frustrated that I had to consciously tell myself...DONT RUSH, FINISH THE MOVE! I had to imagine what I would like to see if I were watching myself perform and let me tell you it works! I had to do what I had to do. And I can tell when I see girls practicing at the studio that don't finish their movies completely, not saying that I am better just noting the difference and I like it. Now I have a new challenge, SPEED IT UP! I swear you could play a HAPPY CRACKHEAD 🤸 🤸 🤸 TECHNO SONG and I would find the slowest beat to dance to. My advice, find a happy medium! 😀
amy · 4/21/2010
one thing that i try to keep in mind when i dance is that it's not about stringing moves together, or linking moves with transitions. everything you do is a dance. even when you are standing up, it is a part of your dance, and every muscle that propels you should be expressing your style or an intention that is carried into your movement. even the moves inbetween a "transition" move can be part of a dance if they are expressed with fluidity-- going from a climb into a sit is also about what happens as you move your legs off the pole. if you think of dance like that, then it's less about "finishing" a move than it is about experiencing EVERYTHING as a "move".
NightFall · 4/21/2010
eeeee...this is what's been bothering me all week. How to come out of moves and get back up without looking like I'm having a "now what?" moment. All my transitions look clumsy and SOOOo disjointed, but I figure the only way is to just keep doing them until I stop thinking "I look ridiculous" and start beliving "hell yeah, i'm sexy!" and then maybe it'll show. And I'm still too weak to count for 3 secs, in ANY move..but I'll try when I get stronger! xxxx
polergirl · 4/21/2010
one thing that i try to keep in mind when i dance is that it's not about stringing moves together, or linking moves with transitions. everything you do is a dance. even when you are standing up, it is a part of your dance, and every muscle that propels you should be expressing your style or an intention that is carried into your movement. even the moves inbetween a "transition" move can be part of a dance if they are expressed with fluidity-- going from a climb into a sit is also about what happens as you move your legs off the pole. if you think of dance like that, then it's less about "finishing" a move than it is about experiencing EVERYTHING as a "move". This is actually how I look at it, Amy....I just wasn't very eloquent in my OP. How to DANCE every.single.thing. Every.single.thing. And part of that is not rushing into one thing from another. It's experiencing it, like you said. Thanks for putting it waaaaaaay better than I could!! 🥂
Mindy4pole · 4/23/2010
YoYo Ma, the great cello player said this: "There is something so extraordinary about the way Isaac Stern physically carved phrases. He was never not hot-blooded, but he didn't have overt sheen or vanity in his style of playing, so he made things count with less. ...Isaac Stern said, "In music it's not about the notes, it's what happens in between the notes."" I believe that goes for dancing as well, where your body is your instrument. I've seen some pretty incredible moves done, but without the quality of spaces in between, the artistry is lost. Mindy
polergirl · 4/23/2010
Mindy, that's a great analogy. I notice it with singers. There are folks who are magnificent technicians, but they lack a certain "soul" to their music, and that soul comes with phrasing and inflection and all the things that are ancillary to having the pipes to hit the notes.
pole-twista · 4/25/2010
i would say this is one of my biggest issues w my dances/vids. 😕 i tend to just fly through one pose or whatever to the next. i tend to rush to get up as soon as i get to the floor instead of taking my time. i always feel like i am holding things too long and people are going to be bored, 🤓 but than when i am watching the vids back i'm like wow that would have been alot better if i had hel things longer and just moved through things a little slower.. 😎 i am trying to work on this. well it's good to hear other peoples thoughts and ideas on this. great topic. 💡 💣
ottersocks · 5/1/2010
I love how amyxshi explained her thoughts on this. (I love *everything* about amyxshi, just btw! 😉 ) I have always preferred dancing to slow songs because, when I dance to fast ones, I tend to rush my moves and don't finish them as nicely. Just had a class with Zoraya on Thursday and one of her favorite lines, that I'm TOTALLY stealing, is, "Show it off." Meaning, get in a position, and hold it. If you're totally comfortable in a hold, just stay there as long as you can. Change your leg, change your hands, grind your hips. But hold it! She also likes to say, there is a move in between every two moves. Meaning, as you go from one move to the next, there is a move in between--a chance to be polished and beautiful. I teach my Sultry Pole students to do everything with intention. Make it look like every single movement is a planned move. Nothing is prettier.