[horsecrazy12987]

I would like to see a tutorial on a sultry bedroom eye look. Think Angelina Jolie, only maybe a little more subdued? I’ve looked up tutorials on her look before, and they all do really, really heavy eyeliner, which I’m not into. So maybe a sultry look with a brown, or just less of the black. Something you could wear out pretty much anywhere and not feel like you were out of place because you’re not in a club or something.

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That’s too bad. I think she should give it to us anyway. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif I would love to do a workshop with her, but I’m not sure that’s ever going to happen, so a DVD is the next best thing.

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Yeah, it’s definitely painful. I have this massive bruise on my shin from it that I am oddly proud of. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif I showed it to my boyfriend yesterday and I plan on showing it to my sister at work today. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif

I definitely think hooking the ankles will help me–a couple of times I actually had a pretty stable hold and could let go, and then my feet would slip because they were only locked at the top of the foot and I’d fall. So I think if I can really lock those ankles I should start being able to consistently hold it.

Thanks for all your suggestions, guys! I’ll make sure to try and implement them all during my next practice.

[horsecrazy12987]

Don’t feel too bad–when I was younger, before I started plucking my eyebrows, I could have put Brooke Shields to shame. I’ve been plucking them since I was a teen, though, so now I only get a few stray hairs underneath the brow. I don’t even get them in between my eyebrows anymore because the hair there just won’t grow back. I just want to shape them more.

[horsecrazy12987]

Upper body strength training will help enormously when pulling yourself up into an invert, aside from abs training. I inverted only about two weeks into dancing because I just couldn’t resist the temptation anymore, but I was very careful about it and went very slowly and cautiously. I never had a problem jumping into any of my inverts because I’ve done chin-ups for a long, long time, and to me it was basically the same thing except on a vertical bar. You don’t want to use your legs at all; you should just be engaging your abs and your arm muscles and pulling hard with your hands. I might try and post a video of a dead lift basic invert too, if I remember; maybe that will help you guys to see a couple of different people do it.

I would really suggest doing some kind of upper body training, though. It will help you a lot in any of your moves. Also, to prep yourself to move into an invert, try doing pole ups, which is pretty much just like it sounds. Stand facing your pole, grab it in a basic grip, lift your feet off the ground so your thighs are touching the pole and then pull yourself up. Repeat as many times as you can. If you can’t pull yourself all the way, just go as far as you can and keep doing that. That will build up the kind of strength you need to do a dead lift invert.

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Can’t wait to see it! Thanks in advance for helping out those of us who are plucking impaired. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif

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https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_eek.gif I think I would have crapped myself a little if I found out the eyeshadow I was about to buy would set me back $20! I am just way too cheap to spend that much on an eyeshadow. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif

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My town just got an Ulta actually! Thanks for the info. I’ll have to pop in there next time I’m in the area.

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I don’t think I actually wedged it into the heel, but it does kind of look like it. I should have done the video in bare feet, because it’s actually kind of hard to tell what I’m doing with the boots. The top of my foot was just getting really chafed, so I put the boots on so I could keep practicing a little longer.

I was trying to lock the ankles like you described, but I feel like I’m just barely hanging on or something–it’s hard to describe. It feels like an awkward position for me. I’ll try to really concentrate on getting them snugged up against each other next time I practice.

Edit: Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I think I was locking more just on the tops of my feet–if I slide my right foot farther back and actually get more on the ankle, that would probably help stabilize me a lot. My shin isn’t up to anymore knee hold practice today, but I’ll try that tomorrow.

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Yeah, I don’t think I am quite locking my ankles correctly or something. I think part of it is just getting to a point where it doesn’t hurt so much–it’s reeeally uncomfortable right now, not unbearable, but definitely painful, especially after hours of working on it. I think part of my problem is that I’m kind of subconciously flinching and not keeping my leg as tight as I should because it hurts.

I know this is a move that usually takes people a while to nail, so it’s probably mostly just a matter of getting used to it.

[horsecrazy12987]

Amen to this! I’ve really been in the mood to shape my eyebrows lately but am afraid of screwing it up and looking weird, so I just settle for plucking any stray hairs. I don’t have the money right now to get it professionally done.

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Pretty much all of my friends know I pole and either don’t care or think it’s cool, but last time everyone who was on my friends list knew about it as well–I think it was a friend on someone else’s account that saw it and got offended, so at least if I make up one that is strictly for fellow pole dancers, they’ll probably just have all polers on their friends list as well. It was such a huge hassle last time that I have just never gotten around to making up a new one–I kind of got into the why bother mindset since I wasn’t sure who had flagged my photos and figured it would just happen again. I just use SV for my photos and videos right now.

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I don’t think FB allows non-members to message people, does it? I guess I’ll have to finally make up another account. I just haven’t gotten around to it since they kicked me off for having my pole pictures up. I think I’ll make up a strictly pole account and only friend other pole dancers so I can be sure no one will get offended and flag the photos this time.

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I guess that when you stop overthinking it, thing happen. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

This has been my experience. I’ve nailed hard moves before in just a try or two because I wasn’t really thinking about them, I just did them. That happened with my reverse grab–all of a sudden one day I was just kind of messing around and I went into one, stopped and kind of did the ‘What the hell did I just do?!’ thing. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif Yet it took me an embarrasingly large amount of tries to get the fireman down when I first started poling. Go figure. Also, I’ve noticed that if there is a move I’m really really struggling with if I just leave it alone for a while and work on something else and eventually come back to it, all of a sudden I can do it.

I’m going to work on my caterpillar/climb some more today, and probably give myself another move to work on since I finally have the mechanics of the caterpillar now and just need to make sure it’s smooth and pretty everytime I do it. Maybe I’ll go back and smooth out my butterfly, which was another move I sort of just dropped when I started having really severe grip problems. I’m just really excited–I feel like I can actually do something now instead of just slide all over the pole and get mad because I can’t hold on for anything.

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from my understanding she has shot the DVD already. At first we hear summer but then Ive got no idea.

That’s what it said in the interview. It sounded like at the time of the interview the DVDs were in post-production, and said they would be released summer 2010, but I can’t find anything else about them. I haven’t had the opportunity to take one of her workshops, so I would love to get ahold of any DVDs she produces. I hope she included a lot of stretching techniques–I need to improve my bendiness in a big bad way.

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I’m going to echo what smalltownboy said and remind everyone to not sand a chrome pole; sanding is strictly for those of us who own a stainless steel, and frankly, even then you shouldn’t do it until you’ve tried pretty much everything else and are desperate. I have a stainless steel Lil’ Mynx, not a chrome pole. If you sand a chrome pole, it will strip it and ruin it.

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Hmmm; never heard of this one before. I’d be interested to know as wellm especially since Amazon doesn’t have any reviews on it. I’ve never seen a pole DVD so cheap, though, which sort of makes me suspicious.

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This morning, a thought came to me about the copying thing… I think the ethics of it vary by degree. If we are just dancing together, no one owns the moves or the combos. But doing routines gets into another matter. If you do the Allegra, that’s one thing. If you do a whole segment of Allegra’s routines, that’s a whole other thing.

Stealing moves = ok
Stealing choreography = not ok

Mindy

Good point. Sticking someone else’s combo or move into the middle of your own choreography? I don’t see a problem with that. However, copying someone else’s routine step by step and then passing it off as your own? That’ a whole ‘nother story.

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I actually love the fireman. I know it is the most basic, beginner newb move that most people teach as their very first pole trick, but even now that I’ve moved on to intermediate inverts, I still do the fireman all the time. It is probably my favorite move out of any of them for some reason.

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I agree that what sets you apart is your style. I also think that if you are going to ‘copy’ someone’s moves, that you try to think of ways to make them your own stylistically, for example – go into or out of the move differently than the creator.

That’s a good point–that’s usually what I try to do. Or if the dancer has a combo that they’re sort of known for that I like, I’ll do part of it, but then throw in something of my own so it’s not just a complete clone of whatever it is they’re doing.

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Damn you!! *Shakes fist helplessly*

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Well, I picked up my sandpaper today. Here is what I did:

First of all, sandpaper is labeled in numbers, and the higher the number, the softer the grit. I picked up some 320 which is meant for surface finishing, which is exactly what I needed it for. I then did what Amy said, wet the sandpaper (which just makes it a little softer,) and then warmed up my pole, which I did by standing on a chair so I could reach the top, taking a microfiber cloth, and giving it a good rubdown so the friction could heat up the metal. I would then go over the section I just warmed up with the sandpaper, molding it tightly around the pole and basically just turning it in a circle so that I was going around the pole instead of up and down. I made my way down the pole doing this, first warming a section and then going over it with the sandpaper. After I was done, I took a couple of spins on it. I’d sanded very, very lightly and cautiously the first time, so I ended up actually going over it a second time because I felt like it wasn’t enough. Again, I sanded very lightly, making sure not to get overzealous. Always err on the side of caution, even if you feel like you’re not doing it hard enough–if you have to go over it a second time, it’s no biggie–better than oversanding the first time and not being able to undo it. In all, it probably took me about twenty minutes, and that was going slowly and carefully, making sure I warmed up each section before I sanded it.

The results:

You should definitely notice a difference in the surface of your pole. Remember that burn you first got when you were that brand, shiny new dancer screeching in horror as you slid down your new pole? Say hello to it again, ladies! This didn’t really occur to me before, probably because I was just so eager to finally render my Lil’ Mynx actually danceable, but it makes sense because you are now dancing on an entirely new finish. Basically it’s like going to a different pole, although I can’t really compare it to anything else because I’ve never had the opportunity to dance on any other pole. I can still get just as much momentum on my spins, they just hurt my hands now the same way they did when I first started dancing. I’m already starting to build up some calluses like the ones I got when I first started. However, I can stand a little pain, and I’m willing to put up with it until I adjust to the new finish, because I think in the long run it’s a small price to pay for not sliding pathetically down over and over again every time I try to air invert.

I’ll keep everyone updated on progress, but I can tell already there is a definite difference in the grip of the pole.

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Dear Studioveena,

I really like you a lot, but I need to go get in the bath now and start getting ready for bed, ok? I know you and I get along well and you have lots to offer me, but no one likes a smelly person, and besides that, I started reading this new book that I’m really enjoying and I’d just like to relax in the tub with my book. So if you could please loosen your death grip on me, I’d appreciate it. (Also, if you could please not feed my pole video addiction I’d really appreciate it as well.)

Love Always,

Horsecrazy

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Love the floorwork, Veena! So bendy and graceful. Love the setup too. Looks very club-ish. Also, I’m sure I’ve said this before, but god damn woman, your legs go on forever! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_eek.gif

[horsecrazy12987]

Veena, I think a lot of younger siblings would understand where you are coming from. I’m actually an older sister, but my younger sister has been compared to me a lot, and there’s no way it can’t bother her. Actually, it bothers me sometimes; I really wish people would just accept that she’s her own person–I don’t see why I have to enter into the equation at all. We are two separate human beings. And it really bothers me when the way she looks is compared to the way I look; there are a few guys who have said some pretty hurtful things to her and it seriously pisses me off. She is very pretty all on her own; why does she need to be compared to me in that regard? She was compared to me a lot in karate too, because I was always at the head of the class; I had very strong basics and I was aggressive in sparring and picked up on things quickly so I always did very well, and while none of the other students got compared to me and found lacking, she did simply because she was related to me. So even though I’m coming at it from the opposite end of the spectrum, I actually understand why you would be a bit oversensitive about that sort of thing, and I highly, highly doubt anyone will look down on you for it.

For the record, I’ve actually never compared your dancing to anyone else’s. I’ve watched a lot of pole videos, and you honestly have never reminded me of another dancer. To me that says you do have your own style whether you know it or not, because I don’t see echoes of someone else in your dancing despite the fact that we’re all pretty much doing the same moves.

I do copy moves as well if I see a combo I really like or some new floorwork, but I also try to think of my own stuff. For me, copying someone is the highest form of flattery; I would not be emulating their move or combo if I didn’t think it was amazing. I really don’t know why some people get bent out of shape because someone used the same combo as them. We’re all a community, aren’t we?