Baudelaire
Forum Replies Created
-
What better inspiration to get your competition planning started for 2020? An Instagram Context! Open until Jan 16th – head over to the @PoleInStyle Instagram, like the comp post, tag a friend, and go in the draw to win store credit to purchase the book, or pole wear!
-
I love my pole journal! I started one way back in 2011 and love how it chronicles my routines and milestones as a dancer. Having something printed and offline so to speak, still appeals to the analogue person in me. Digital content is really not yours to own anymore, and could be taken down at anytime if platforms close. It’s also great to be able to draw costume ideas, print flyers for comps you entered, or add captions to photos about your pole journey. There are pics of my pole journal here – https://melnutter.com/2015/11/08/2011-2015/ and https://melnutter.com/2015/10/11/keeping-a-pole-journal/
-
It is so so so so so SO important to learn how to fall safely. There is great advice about falling in this article https://melnutter.com/2016/04/04/what-happens-if-you-fall/ but don’t forget to educate your husband about how to spot you correctly as well. The more he understands about each move will save both you and him!
-
There are lots of great wrist exercises in this article – https://melnutter.com/2017/09/16/wrist-care/
I’m always super careful even with training handstands. So many people in my family have carpul tunnel and have had to have their wrists fused. I’m pretty sure pole and aerial training has helped keep mine strong, but it’s always pays to play it safe. -
Make sure you are warming up the wrists and forearms when approaching split grip moves. There are some wrist exercises in this post, https://melnutter.com/2017/09/16/wrist-care/ including stretches and strengthening tips!
-
I love my pole journals! Such treasured memories! Mine has a copy of each routine I have choreographed, photos from performances, group shots with my pole family, and record of special events and workshops with my pole idols.
-
There are some gorgeous women who have already joined the challenge – would love to see some more StudioVeena peeps share the love for their lats this coming Saturday!
-
I started pole dancing in 2011. There were only 3 studios that I knew of in Sydney – Bobbies, PDA and Jamilla’s Art of Pole. I liked the emphasis on dance that was a strong point of Jamilla’s studio. We used to learn a new routine every two weeks in some classes! It was great for opening up your repertoire and get used to just dancing, especially for those like me without a dance background. As the studios evolved in Sydney, there was a trend for routine classes where you would focus on a song for a whole term, but they were full of lots of fancy tricks and less fluidity and dance.
So many people come to pole these days with training in other fields – gymnastics, figure skating, cheer leading, circus, dance, ballet, even crossfit. Their strength, flexibility and stamina are way more advanced than anyone I knew poling in 2011. It has allowed them to progress quickly and extend on tricks to the point of making them their own. For example, the rainbow marchenko was something we could only dream about in 2011, yet now it’s one of the most famous tricks out there!
It is great that the field of pole dance is so diverse but it does make it hard to have a single vision of where it’s headed – dance, fitness, sexy, Olympics? everyone has their own preference and opinions. It’s exciting to think about, we really are on the cusp of it turning into anything! -
Congrats Lucca!!!
-
A windmill is when you switch your body around the pole from a gemini to scorpio and in reverse. Unlike a like a leg switch through a pike where you change from outside to inside leg, in a windmill the same leg (your right or left) stays hooked while your body changes sides.
It probably has many other names too! -
Hi Butterfly0203,
Thank you for sharing your story. I had a bad fall from a windmill a few years ago, resulting in a concussion, and it’s been such a hard move to return to. Make sure your instructor understands your fear, and be honest with them. There are many moves between a scorpio and butterfly, and they are all building blocks. your instructor should be able to walk you through these safely acknowledging what elements make you feel unsafe. It took me a long time to return to the transition. I wrote about it here: https://melnutter.com/2016/02/28/turning-towards-fear/ ‎
I also found that learning how to fall really helped me get back on the pole. It’s a shame that beyond the “emergency exit – slide down the pole with your chin to your chest” is all that is really taught in terms of safety. Training falls and how to exit a move safely can really boost your confidence in trying without a spotter.
https://melnutter.com/2016/04/04/what-happens-if-you-fall/ ‎I hope you continue on your pole journey!
-
Hi Latte!
Runemist34 has some great tips for working up to the move! Proper progression through pole moves is really important to ensure you are training safely. Trying a move too soon could result in injuring yourself.
Make sure you are also cross training. Pole can be very onesided and it’s sometimes hard to find the right muscles to activate. Practicing off the pole can be a safe way to begin and it will give you the awareness and knowledge of what muscles should be working when you return to the pole.
Take a look here for handstand training (great for shoulders) https://melnutter.com/2015/09/10/cross-training-for-pole-part-2-handstands/
And here for using yoga – https://melnutter.com/2015/06/16/cross-training-for-pole-part-1-yoga/
And stall bars – https://melnutter.com/2016/03/18/cross-training-for-pole-part-4-stall-bars/
Hope you reach your goals!!
-
Sharing my progress with my hamstring injury. It has been a long road to recovery. I injured my right hamstring over 3 years ago, and my left just over 2 years ago. I’ve been treating them both very gently since, and slowly persisting with splits stretching. The other day I was feeling really warm and thought about revisiting my jadesplit. I still don’t have a flat split on the floor, but I’m so pleased to see improvements with my active flexibility! You can recover, but it will take time and patience listening to your own body.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKfWZ6rBKjD/?taken-by=melnutter_baudelaire
-
After I tore my hamstrings I had so much fear around starting to stretch again. I found that if I place my foam roller under my hips as I lower into a splits stretch, I can manage my fear by knowing that I’m not going to crash into the floor and hurt myself again. With middles splits too, there are ways to set yourself up with props to help you feel safer. It’s taken a long time to feel comfortable stretching again. I talk about my stretching journey on my blog if you’d like to read 🙂
-
I’ve dance to GhostTown by The Specials, and choreographed a group performance to the Adam’s family theme – pretty tacky but lots of fun!
-
Just caught up on this thread. I’ve had a few falls in my time and set out to find the best way to train myself to fall safely. Like @dustbunny says, if you learn to control the fall safely, you will have the muscle memory and awareness for when it counts. I wrote about what I learned on my blog – https://melnutter.com/2016/04/04/what-happens-if-you-fall/
and have also talked about overcoming fears
https://melnutter.com/2016/02/28/turning-towards-fear/So glad @LatinPoler that you are continuing to improve!!
-
Hi @hannimator!
Thank you for your kind words 🙂 i have both ballet and contemporary dance classes to be of so much help for pole. I hope you find a class near you to try it out!
-
I have some articles about floorwork and training away from the pole on my blog. Let me know if you find them helpful 🙂
https://melnutter.com/2016/06/03/floorwork-rising-up-to-the-challenge/
https://melnutter.com/2015/12/30/what-to-do-when-you-dont-have-a-pole/
-
I train at Sydney Pole in Camperdown, but also have a pole at home.
In Surry Hills your closest studio would be Studio Verve, and Sky Sirens which do pole and lyra. then Pole Dance Academy is in Redfern, and Bobbi’s in the CBD.
All have a different feel so you’d be able to find a class and instructor that you mesh well with.
Pretty exciting to moving country! Let me know if you have any more questions 🙂 -
I’m in Sydney! Happy to show you around or introduce you at Sydney Pole 🙂 Do you have an idea of where you might be located?
-
Thank you for the feedback @Poleisnewtome . It seems many people are finding it helpful 🙂
-
@kulotsalot so sorry to hear you fell. Butts are a good landing point though! Be sure to try it again with a spotter 🙂
@sandykarasik1848 what a nasty fall! Lucky you came away with just a black eye. Thanks for sharing your story 🙂
-
That looks sore Kelley 🙁 make sure you rest it until it heals!
-
http://melnutter.com/2016/04/04/what-happens-if-you-fall/
Post is up! Would love some feedback, on here on in the comments section. From the discussions here and on other online forums it seems this is really something people want to learn about.
-
After reading this discussion I got thinking about falling and safety while pole dancing. Turns out there is very little said on the topic, beyond grip aids, installing your pole correctly and “chin to chest” mantra.
I am currently putting the finishing touches on an article that will be out on my blog http://melnutter.com tomorrow. Collating ideas from martial artists, circus performers and the like, I can hopefully add to the knowledge of how to learn to fall safely. I feel that if we had this kind of training our confidence might not be blown so much when we do fall, and the chance of injury would be reduced.
I’ll post the link here to when it’s up 🙂
