Poledancefan
Forum Replies Created
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I just signed up for Karol Helms’ 8PM workshop at Body and Pole on Saturday. LOL, I am SO NERVOUS–I’ve never had a lesson of any kind before. I was so hyper about the whole thing I couldn’t even go to sleep last night. Oh boy, what a weekend that’s going to be. I’m terrified of flying, too! Look at it this way, if I make it on the plane, a lesson with Karol won’t seem all that scary.
Can’t wait to see all of you there!
Joel Lessing ( "Poledancefan")
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I’m definitely coming to the jam! I’ll leave some time Friday Afternoon, stay overnight…and drive back to Chicago right after the jam. I’m pretty excited about it–it will be my first official pole jam at a pole studio. I can’t wait to meet all of you–and see friends from the Chicago SV pole meet-up last year.
Joel
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Ha Ha…took me a while to find that (Eagan) in the Road Atlas…guess I should get with the modern age and use map quest. I will ask for the Friday off tomorrow. I’m planning to come. I’ll drive to Minneapolis on Friday, stay overnight…and come home right afterwards on Saturday. I’l try to get a final answer for you by Friday the 5th.
Joel Lessing
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Wow–this looks like great fun. I was aware something was in the works–and my sister lives in DC, so I would’ve had a free place to stay. But My mom’s Birthday is Christmas Day…and everybody comes HERE, lol–to Chicago. So it’s a crazy week and it all falls on Laurie to do all the cooking and I help do all the other stuff. So, no travelling for me that week!
I have to tell you…if it were 500 miles or less, I would just hop in my car and drive!! –Just to meet Azriel all the way from Greece. I know for sure I will meet the rest of you here in the US one day. I am trying to see if I can go to USPDF in March of 2010…
So, somebody could bring a lap-top with a web-cam, right? And webmaster could open the chat video window from California, right? Live pole jam on SV???
Have fun, everybody…and Fleur…hope all your workshops are filled to the capacity!
Joel
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Don’t get upset! Everybody probably has that one or two moves they can do on the pole without ever seeing one before–either because they were a gymnast before…or learned a few moves watching someone else pole. It’s the ability to put the moves together in a flowing sequence of combos and with good technique that distinguishes a real pole dancer or pole athlete.
One of the best things pole has taught me is how to be patient in setting my own goals relative to my own age, athletic ability, and aptitude. I don’t ask myself when am I ever going to be "good" at this anymore (Never, lol!)–I just watch videos and look for interesting and attractive moves that look like they are within my range of ability. Then I work on them until I succeed or fail. Because of the circumstances of my set-up–short pole in a basement–it is hard to follow a sequence of lessons. I don’t have enough room for many of them–so I skip around. That can be a bad thing, because I don’t build fundamentals in an orderly fashion.
As for men and the shoulder mount–except for that one accidental success..I still really can’t do that move. A boyfriend or spouse that spontaneously can do a S/M must have had some athletic background before coming to the pole! Either that or he is a natural born poler!
Joel
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Wow…just watched the link to Pole Kat (NashvillePoleQueen). She is going around unbelievably fast! I saw Ottersock’s explanation of Fleur’s use of the Allegra move in her comp performance. I was wondering if her expressive dance routine was ever posted anywhere…I know the mandatories were up on a YT video for a while…but I never saw a vid of the longer, individual dance done at the competition. Is USPDF planning to release an "official DVD?"
Joel
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I love your home built spinny pole. I had no idea you could buy a spinning flange for conduit or pipe. My homemade pole is built pretty much the same way–except that I have a wooden base on the basement floor so I would not have to mount the flange by drilling into the concrete floor.
I once saw a spinny pole on You-Tube that used a bearing set cannibalized from a lazy boy type recliner chair on the bottom. The top of the pole simply slipped inside a greased cylinder of pipe slightly larger than the bore of the dance pipe itself. The woman who built it did a few moves in the video–it seemed to work remarkably well.
If I had more room in the basement, I would try this–but our house has already reached maximum pole capacity according to my wife, lol!
Joel
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And speaking of cats and poles…I think Tigiee (Azriel)–just put up a video with her cats playing around the pole just a few hours ago! It’s an adorable video…her cats have really unusual coloration and get along really well.
I noticed the cat-pole thing very early on when I started watching pole videos. Symone Corby’s* cats were real glory hounds in her videos from Hong Kong (SYMONESAL). I remember she did an old timey burlesque number with a chair dance and a purple wig and the cats kept jumping up in her lap while she was recording the video. She ended up just making the cats part of the performance.
I think that Tiff is the only poler I can think of whose dogs regularly showed up in vids–but we don’t see them as often in her new studio room. I can remember that one of them used to sit on the bed throughout the entire video..sometimes watching…other times fast asleep.
Karol had a great dog video up a while back in her old place. Her husband’s dog PeeDee was freaked out by the X-stage on spinny in the kitchen. It was a hilarious video. And Karol is briefly seen rescuing PeeDee in the North Carolina flood footage on the 10 O’clock news that was broadcast last spring.
Joel Lessing
*(Symone uses her name publicly)
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Oh…Good Heavens, LOL!
How did I miss this one? I’ve got to check those little schedule icon things at the bottom of the screen more carefully.
Happy Birthday, Webmaster!
Let me express my appreciation for the "invisible" hand that guides the technical wizardry behind all of the many bells and whistles on SV. The two of you have created a brilliant partnership that has enhanced and complemented the "pole scene" here in North America….especially with the video hosting, pole blogging, and chat features unique to SV. All this…and a family man who takes the kids hiking, whips up IT solutions for businesses, and is a wonderful husband to the lovely Miss Veena!
Thanks to You for all of your hard work….and I hope you got a good present!
Joel Lessing
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Everyone….
This news came to me very late…from Glitter, who told me about it in chat just a few hours ago…Saturday night my time. I was familiar with CaramelDlite from her posts…but had only recently met her in chat when JC was demonstrating some of his latest moves and Veena and Caramel were all on the videophone exchanging funny remarks on chat. Caramel had a great sense of humor!
….. I am never good at moments like this…at wakes and stuff I am always the one hiding in the kitchen setting up the coffeemaker or something because there never seems to be anything you can say that can possibly compensate for the death of a very young person before their life has really even begun. I hope I can take a lesson from her life and situation because right now I am struggling with a conflict in my extended family and I have not spoken to someone (out of anger) for a few weeks…so I’ll pick up the phone and call them…for Gina’s sake…
Joel Lessing
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Welcome to Studio Veena…I live in Forest Park…an Illinois suburb jsut west of Chicago!
Joel
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Congratulations, JC! Finding a place to take lessons has been a real problem for me…there just isn’t that much pole to begin with here in Chicago…even harder to find if you are male. I more or less gave up trying to find a class. TO some extent Iam bothered more by the lack of a suitably tall enough pole to work with than I am by the lack of formal instruction. Right now, I’d settle for an extra room in the house with a 10 foot ceiling!
But, hey…your news sounds GREAT…Keep us all up to date!
Joel
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I don’t like to pole ALONE in the house–just for safety reasons
But I can’t stand it when anybody is right nearby. I feel very self conscious. It was a problem all summer, since my son was home from college and his room is next door to the pole room.
I think it’s pretty natural to be a little self conscious–no matter how positively we all regard the pole sport, I guess some of the negative stereotypes have rubbed off a little bit on all of us and we have to overcome them in our own minds, too…
Joel
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Oh…one other thing…I could NEVER see page one all the way to the bottom on the NEW POST page.
I would have to RECYCLE the page to page 2….then re-set to page 1 to see all the way to the bottom.
That has been fixed, too. Now I can see the entire length of page one…all the way to the bottom post.
Great job!
Joel
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Webmaster..
just wanted to let you know that the reply box text has stabilized quite a bit. I don’t know what you did…but the annoying fluttering and instability in the page as you write a submittal has gone away. Recently, it wasn’t even letting me type in more than 5-6 lines of text before the text would disappear to the "bottom" or underneath the screen!
Don’t know what you did…but it’s all better now!
Joel
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I’m glad the situation was not as serious as you thought!
Fleur gave you solid advice, I think…take your time and do your research so that you arrive at the doctor with a good background of information. I am open minded about SOME of the alternative treatments. I have known situations in which accupuncture has helped with pain. And I think seeing a nutrtionist is neither east nor west…just a good part of a sensible strategy for staying healthy.
I won’t really take a position on the traditional versus modern medicine debate…though I’m personally very much science oriented (married to a biologist who has done dissections!), I think everyone has to make this very personal decision based upon an informed analysis of their own situation. But, in all fairness, I think scientific medicine has a lot to offer.
One of the problems, I think, is that western medicine has lost much of the "tender loving care" aspect of treating the patient. I think if we could somehow get that back, we’d have less of an argument about traditional versus western medicine..and doctors could spend more time taking care of the "whole" patient…
Well, best of luck to you…. hope you will make a full recovery. Now…get back on that pole and practice, LOL!
Joel
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I am on Facebook as Joel Lessing…and can be searched and friended under my common name…or..my e-mail adress is mailto:Joelowen@aol.com.
My network is CHICAGO. I don’t think there are any other Joel Lessing’s , though!
Joel
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Laurie and I have a few home made dance hoops we made from 160 PSI tubing and hose connectors. We tricked them out with colored duct tape from Michael’s craft store. I have one or two hooping vids up on my channel. I am really terrible…can just make the hoop go round, that’s about it. But it is loads of fun.
I wish my wife would consent to posting a video..she’s actually pretty decent at the hoop…and can even turn around and walk while hooping. But that whole high school teacher thing has her nervous about ever being in a video!
"Hoopgirl" has a great website and a female fitness and empowerement message similar to much of the poling movement. She is into nutrition and vegetarianism. She was part of a video project that never got released…but clips of the movie, HOOPWORLD, float around on the net. SHe has an outrageously sexy video of herself hooping over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fran..or Oakland…and gives lessons at a place called something like the Dance Junction…or something…on Divisadero Street in Oakland, I think….
Veena and/or Fleur…I would be surprised if you ladies had not encountered her at one point or another because she is quite a fixture on the Dance Exhibition and street festival circuit inthe Bay Area. I think her website is just simply HOOPGIRL.com. Her real name is Christabel.
I REALLY want to see a hoop video with the TRIPLE THREAT: CHARLEY, QULIA, and JENNIFER.
Come ON, ladies…that would be something to see!
Joel
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Name : Joel Lessing
Age: 48 (12-4-60)
Location: Forest Park, Illinois
Stage Name: I don’t really have one…but I always use the username POLEDANCEFAN across forums to be consistent. I decided to stop being anonymous about the poling a few months ago and posted my real name on my You-Tube channel for anyone who wanted to do Facebook. Joel is my real name. I did this when I found out Allie got fired for being a pole dancer by her employer because a co-worker ratted her out to her boss and the boss thought pole dancing wasn’t the "right" image for the company. What a load of sexist bull****! Even nowadays, plenty of men working at Fortune 500 companies schedule parties at dance clubs. So it’s ok to GO to a strip club…but you can’t pole dance in your living room and WORK here? I’ve noticed there are lots of dance clubs around Charlotte NC….and the headquarters of many banks and insurance companies–is that a coincidence?
Lessons: Help from fellow You-Tubers, Jamilla’s DVD, Studio Veena Forum and PJ’s.
Static!
Shoes: I always pole in NIKE runners or NIKE leather Golf shoes. Nice and grippy shoe leather, LOL!
Favorite Move: The airwalk, the split grip aerial body wave, and the Eros (or "Flight Attendant" –as it is known in the Pacific Region). Lately I am a fan of the TG lift…I am really enjoying watching everyone trying to master this move.
Day Job: Basically, I am a nursing home inspector…but with a wider range of duties involving auditing Long Term Care and Geriatric Care settings.
Best Feature: Aww…no way! I am too shy and embarrassed to talk about my own physical features, LOL! I can’t even stand to watch my own videos after I post them..honestly, they are mortifying to me!
How I got into Pole: I fell in love with the videos on You-Tube and I felt stupid always making comments and critiques and having no "street cred" on the pole. So I built my own pole and started trying to learn.
Studio Veena: Veena actually sent me a PM and invited me to join. I was very scared and nervous about joining a forum of mostly all women. She broke the ice for me and I am very grateful to her for this! Thank You, Veena!Joel
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Definitely worth buying the whole set, I think. The Aussie conversion rate was VERY favorable when I got mine…and since you pay the same shipping more or less no matter how many DVD’s you buy…may as well get all five.
Most of my "formal" instruction on pole moves has come from her DVD’s. I do her stretch workout 3x a week. I actually rescued an old, dead television from the attic and set up a DVD player in the pole room. It works well enough that I can see her lessons right in the pole room!
Her DVD’s are worth every penny, I think!
Joel
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I love the Flips…we have 3 of them inthe house…all the old Ultra models…not HD.
But I’ve heard the HD Mino is a good cam.
The older Ultras save in Windows format, so they are easy to use with PC’s bought over the counter with Windows Movie Maker.
Had just one problem with a FLIP–a sticky button. I mailed it to the company, they mailed a new one back. No Problem.
FLIPS have like 3 buttons. Stop, Go, and Record..basically…and they fit in a Universal Mount. I have dropped one off my bike onto a concrete bike bath at 20 miles per hour. The camera cracked slightly. I taped the case with Scotch tape…it works PERFECTLY. If you use Windex or Grip Product, the FLIP is very forgiving of pine tar, grime, and sweaty hands.
And if you DO manage to break it…it’s relatively cheap. KMART has the old ULTRAS on clearance for 75$ now. Mostly only the HOT ORANGE or LIME GREEN are left. But hey, it’s just for the pole room!
Joel
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Congratulations, Qulia! Actually, I think you have a really cool name…and I’m glad you made it work for you and ended up with an awesome prize.
Hey…you ladies still hooping over there in Michigan???
Joel
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I honestly can say that I don’t have too many pet peeves when it comes to other people’s videos. I mean, I think we should all recognize that people have all sorts of different reasons for getting into pole–and that many different factors may affect levels of performance.
There are casual polers for whom poling is like a social sport–a time and place to get together with other people and get a decent workout. One subset of this group are the You-Tube polers (like myself) who don’t really have any studio access. And then there are serious amateur pole athletes. There is also a professional subset of erotic dancers interested in perfecting their skills for work and as a way to improve their income (nothing wrong with that!). And finally, there are competitive polers.
Some people don’t have time…or a decent space…or a decent camera to make a video that looks nice, or they don’t have or can’t figure out how to use editing software. Even so, they want to participate and make the effort and I think it’s important to be as supportive as possible. I HAVE seen some pretty wild videos where it’s been hard not to cringe…young ladies taking a running start and HURLING themselves at a Carmen Electra on Springs, wedding rings scraping the ENTIRE distance from ceiling to floor, LOL! But you can often see the fire and the desire in their eyes…so I think we just have to search hard for one good thing in those videos and point it out…then pray they sign up for Studio Veena!
I hope I don’t come off as being too critical of the thread…I just think that maybe we need to acknowledge that many ladies are basically poling for fun and their videos are just a way of being part of the conversation and having a social exchange with other polers.
LOL–on a much lighter note, I think I have committed just about EVERY peeve listed in this thread…including stealing somebody’s song!
I have this EXTREMELY annoying tic of pulling the right shoulder strap on my sleeveless T-shirts. It shows up in all my videos–I hate it…and I often chop up clips to edit this habit out!
Joel
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Welcome to Studio Veena!
Joel
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Yeah, I agree with Veena. Also…if she is not so savvy about poles and moves…there might be issues with insurance and accreditation. I’d be real careful and cautious about the situation. I mean…really…DIAMETER is the most basic pole issue of all…as there is so much variability in hand span and such…
